Belgium! My Half Homeland!

Hi Pau Pau! I know that you came to read this today! Love you and I hope you enjoy it!

On Friday, we left for Belgium. We decided to take a bus similar to a Greyhound because it was significantly cheaper than a train. We first landed in Brussels but wanted to journey to Bruges where we were staying that night.

The Brussels Gare du Midi is not a train station, it is an underground world. Oh, and the bathroom is in the farthest corner of the place, and you have to pay for it. Pretty much any bathroom at a public place like a train station, shopping area, movie theatre, etc costs about $0.75…. so when you have to go to the bathroom all the time like me, I’d estimate spending a whole lot of cash on les toilettes in the upcoming months.

In Belgium, they have unofficial languages of Flemish, German, and French. Most of the people we met were so knowledgeable and could switch languages at the drop of one word. Quite impressive compared to our sole English language in the states.

So we went off to Bruges, which is probably the most classically amazing part of Europe (that I’ve seen so far). Imagine medieval style buildings, EVERYWHERE, with colossal and stunning cathedrals everywhere, and cobblestone streets everywhere and tours by horse drawn carriage. Oh and the most popular mode of transportation is by bicycle! We settled down in our hostel, tried the house beer a Kreik that was cherry flavored. I liked it because it tasted like cherry punch ha but Julie was not a big fan.

Next day, experienced the Markt in Bruges. The main Markt is also where the movie "In Bruges" took place for a bit of it, though I haven’t seen it. We visited 1 of 2 rivaling frites companies, apparently fighting for business for many many decades.

Despite the name, “French” fries, they were actually invented in Belgium, so let’s just say we had a lot of unbelieveable fries with our favorite sauce called andalouse (which still and always will remind me of Andolasia … Kira will know the reference) We also went to a Belgian Chocolate Museum, which taught us the history of chocolate, how it is made, and most importantly, gave samples.

Off to Brussels where we stayed in a hostel literally 10 feet away from the Grand Place, the center and most recognized cluster of buildings in Bruxells, coined by Victor Hugo as “the most beautiful square in the world”. So for whatever stroke of luck, we arrived in Brussels for Belgian Independence Day (like the 4^th of July) and were welcomed heartily by weekend festivities, loud music, marching bands, and giant crowds!

Would like to say we planned on coming to Belgium on one of the most exciting weekends of the year, but we definitely had no idea until we met some of the band after their performance and asked what they were doing…

For dinner, we had an authentic meal. It is said that Brussels is the unofficial food capital of the world, so yes, we loved the food. Julie and I shared beef stew brewed in beer with mashed potatoes and saussices with mashed potatoes. Delicious! (we’ve made a pact to have one authentic meal everywhere we travel no matter if it is a bit more pricey than street food)

That night we went out with some friends we met in Bruges also traveling to Brussels. (can’t go to Belgium without visiting both incredible places). Next morning, we went back to the Grand Place and looked more closely at the architecture on the buildings. Every crevice of every building has an intricately designed statue within it. And the buildings themselves are probably 8-10 stories high. Incredible but almost unbelievable.

We visited the famous little boy peeing statue, Mannekin Pis, which is globally recognized as a symbol of Brussels. It is legend that this young boy defused a bomb that was set for the Grand Place.

Truthfully, it was installed to supply water for the community during the reign of Albert and Isabelle. Jeanneken is the statue of a small girl squatting to pee which was installed shortly after to promote equal sex. Jeanneken also marks the most popular alley with bars features thousands of different beers (called Delirium)

Anyways, got some great beer steins from a flea market for less than a euro, hit up the grocery store for Belgian chocolate at much more affordable and non-tourist prices (best tip we could ever have received!) and then went to a movie to take it easy.

We saw Inglorious Basterds in the most incredible theatre shown below, the screen was almost twice as wide as any regular theatre I'd been to, and it was not too expensive either surprisingly.

But unfortunately, for any of you who have seen the movie, its not spoken entirely in English. So for all of the parts (about ½ of the film) spoken in French, the only subtitles were in German. Still, I was mighty proud of me and Julie for understandig most of the French! Pretty good movie, though I think that Brad Pitt’s character was given too thick of a personality without enough background.

Next day, headed back to Rouen, only after enjoying our last Frites avec Andalouse et Waffles au chocolat. MMMM. Had a mild scare about losing my passport when we hit border check returning into France. Details are unnecessary, but lets just say it won’t happen again and I have it without question. Dedicating my entire afternoon to Yoga today and heading to the beloved Carrefour. Classes start tomorrow (all two days a week of them) before we head off to Germany!