Basically, this sign sums up my visit to Belgium (if you add in some beer and chocolate as well).
I met up with two friends that I met while at UW (Jessica and Kevin!) and also made new friends with their roommate (Piper) and childhood friend (Tyler). Together we explored the wonderful sights and sounds of Brussels and even took a day trip to the adorable town of Brugge.
Our first day, we walked around town and explored one of the main Christmas markets (of course with hot wine in hand). Our second day, we found even more Christmas markets spread throughout the town as well as a skating rink, Jules Verne-esque carousel and a giant ferris wheel!
We paid a visit to Manneken-Pis, a fountain with a sculpture of a naked boy peeing. I have not read up the history on it, but there has to be a reason or logic as to why this icon was selected to represent the city. It was even conveniently dressed up for the holidays.
Just as we were about to leave, we spotted the procession of a parade with some stilt walkers and other characters, so we stayed to enjoy.
Our trip was not complete without a visit to a local brewery that offered many local Belgian beers as well as beers from around the world…I think over 200 kinds total or something like that). I tried a delicious fruity beer and absolutely loved that it was pink!
We rented a loft apartment that had a kitchen, so we took advantage of being able to make food by sharing some family style meals together and even homemaking eggnog!
We even caught a nice little performance from a gypsy street band during our explorations!
Our last morning in town, we couldn’t help but explore the local flea market in Brussels. Even though we didn’t buy anything, I had fun drooling over the adorable teacup and saucers from around the world as well as the fabulous sets of cheese plates for sale. The thought crossed my mind that I could transport them safely home (I might have safely brought a tea set for one home from London last time I was there), but I resisted the urge to buy any dishes. I also really wanted the green chair below, but thought it might not make it through a security check very well. Instead I just marveled at everything being sold.
Brugge
One day was spent in the small town of Brugge, which is about an hour train ride from Brussels and was the location for a movie with Colin Farrell! The city is even home to the 3rd best Christmas market in the world. Not sure how that is calculated or determined, but the town was absolutely adorable, had some really good fries and the Christmas market was pretty magical as well.
In Brugge, Piper and I climbed to the top of the church in the main square’s bell tower to get some amazing views of the city and see the inner workings of the church’s bell.
And of course we also visited another popular brewery that had a giant book for their menu since they had so many different types of beers (and each one was even served in a different glass coordinated with the brand and style of beer). I was very impressed! It was very difficult to come to a final decision...
I think my favorite place that we stopped in Brugge was a small lace store. The shopkeeper knew so many languages because of all the tourists that come to the town while in Belgium and his native language was Flemish, which is not widely spoken. Apparently there are a lot of Japanese tourists, so he knew enough Japanese to get by. It was very interesting to talk with him about his experiences. Unfortunately the shops basically have to close when the sun goes down because they have had issues with theft after that time.
Even though the town was fairly small they happened to have a street named just after me! What type of shop was on the end of the street? A tea room! How perfect is that?
