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| In Grand Place, the main center of Brussels |
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| The Mannekin Pis statue with its funky costume |
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| In front of the EU Commission |
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| Eating waffles - the one with the ice cream is mine! |
Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belgium. Show all posts
Friday, March 4, 2011
Brussels in pictures
Here are some photos since I didn't have time to add them with my previous post about Brussels.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Belgium: Brussels
I spent the past few days in Belgium and it exceeded my expectations, the food not an exception. I arrived in Brussels Friday evening to find that yes, it was considerably colder than the lovely near 70 degree weather I had left in Jerez. Not to mention it was cloudy and overcast the entire time, but that didn't put a damper on my trip. I decided to go get something to eat shortly after I checked in and after eating I decided I would look around at some shops close to the hostel. There was this shopping center that the metro I took ended in so I headed over there. Too bad when I got there all the shops were closed, even though it was only 7:30 on a Friday evening.
On Saturday I got up sort of early seeing as the alarm of one of the people in the room I was staying at went off and on for nearly an hour that morning. The guy slept so deeply that when other people tried to shake him to to turn off his phone he didn't even move. One guy even turned his phone off, but aparently that didn't do anything for the alarm. I'm pretty sure if I ever hear the song again I'll immediately think of this.
I went to the tourist office first to get a map and then headed over the the Mannekin Pis statue. It's of a little boy peeing who supposedly did some brave heroic thing way back when although there are several different legends. First off, I thought it was going to be a lot bigger. Second, I didn't even realize it was the statue of it at first seeing as it was wearing this funky, multi-colored, evil bird-devil looking costume. I knew that sometimes the statue was dressed up, but honestly, I couldn't even tell it was the statue! I'm thinking it may be wearing this particular costume in honor of Carnaval which starts this weekend. After seeing the statue I wandered trying to find out where certain things were and went to the Brussels Museum which has a bunch of the different costumes that the Mannekin Pis statue has worn in the past. Cowboy costume, Elvis outfit, Union soldier outfit, and some crazy balloon outfit all included. You could look up on computers your country and all the costume it has worn from it. Pretty cool.
A trip to Belgium just isn't a trip without going to a chocolate museum. Not only do you see a demonstration, you also get to samply delicious chocolate. Not exactly free since you pay to get in, but it was worth it. One way to get free chocolate is by going in the chocolate stores and trying their free samples. There's plenty!
I came back to the hostel where I met an Australian girl who was going to be an intern for the EU Parliament. We talked for a bit and then decided to go look around together. We went to the comic strip museum since apparently Belgium is pretty big on comics. Most of them were in French or Dutch so we didn't understand any of them and some of them were way too serious and slightly disturbing. We also made sure to eat at this famous waffle place. Apparently the real Belgians eat their waffles plain, but really, what's the fun in that?
Earlier that day I finally found a movie theatre that showed movies in English since Spain decided it would dub all of its movies in Spanish. The Black Swan was premiering in Europe this weekend so I bought a ticket for Saturday evening. The movie theatre that night was packed and I'm glad I got my ticket early. The show was so filled, and over sold I suppose, that they even had to bring in some seats. The movie started twenty minutes late, but it was pretty good, although slightly disturbing. Natalie Portman did do a good job though and it was definitely more of a thriller than I thought. I kept expecting things to jump out later on.
That night I had the true hostel experience. It was after midnight when this obviously drunk guy comes in and he gets in bed. He gets out a few minutes later and goes in the hall where I swear I heard him throw up. I was just thankful he didn't do it in the room. I spoke to soon. I'm pretty sure over half of the 14 people in the room woke up at quarter til three in the morning to the sound of a waterfall of vomit. The guy, who was on the top bunk and by the lockers, just sat up in the middle of the night and started vomiting over the side of the bed. It went on for at least five minutes and it was pretty awful since nobody could do anything because reception closed at 11 and opened at 7:30. When I woke up the next morning I went to the reception and told them what happened since his vomit was in front of my locker and I needed to get my things. Totally gross.
The next day the girl I met with Australia and I went to a cafe with a guy she was going to maybe room with if they and another girl got a flat they were looking at. He showed us to a different part of Brussels, pretty far south, and then the girl and I walked towards the EU buildings. We also tried to go to the royal palace, but apparently it's only open in summer although none of the signs indicate this. This was the day we also waited outside for over a half an hour in the windy cold for fries. It sounds crazy, but this place was in both of our guide books about having the best fries in Brussels and they were so worth it. This was also the day where it rained and hailed for five minutes. Crazy Belgian weather.
Belgium is a small world. At my hostel I met a girl from Lexington and we started talking about stuff from back home, like Graeters (although she'd never had Skyline or LaRosa's before. I made sure to inform her) and Tolly Ho's near UK. It was definitely nice meeting people to talk to and explore the city with.
On Saturday I got up sort of early seeing as the alarm of one of the people in the room I was staying at went off and on for nearly an hour that morning. The guy slept so deeply that when other people tried to shake him to to turn off his phone he didn't even move. One guy even turned his phone off, but aparently that didn't do anything for the alarm. I'm pretty sure if I ever hear the song again I'll immediately think of this.
I went to the tourist office first to get a map and then headed over the the Mannekin Pis statue. It's of a little boy peeing who supposedly did some brave heroic thing way back when although there are several different legends. First off, I thought it was going to be a lot bigger. Second, I didn't even realize it was the statue of it at first seeing as it was wearing this funky, multi-colored, evil bird-devil looking costume. I knew that sometimes the statue was dressed up, but honestly, I couldn't even tell it was the statue! I'm thinking it may be wearing this particular costume in honor of Carnaval which starts this weekend. After seeing the statue I wandered trying to find out where certain things were and went to the Brussels Museum which has a bunch of the different costumes that the Mannekin Pis statue has worn in the past. Cowboy costume, Elvis outfit, Union soldier outfit, and some crazy balloon outfit all included. You could look up on computers your country and all the costume it has worn from it. Pretty cool.
A trip to Belgium just isn't a trip without going to a chocolate museum. Not only do you see a demonstration, you also get to samply delicious chocolate. Not exactly free since you pay to get in, but it was worth it. One way to get free chocolate is by going in the chocolate stores and trying their free samples. There's plenty!
I came back to the hostel where I met an Australian girl who was going to be an intern for the EU Parliament. We talked for a bit and then decided to go look around together. We went to the comic strip museum since apparently Belgium is pretty big on comics. Most of them were in French or Dutch so we didn't understand any of them and some of them were way too serious and slightly disturbing. We also made sure to eat at this famous waffle place. Apparently the real Belgians eat their waffles plain, but really, what's the fun in that?
Earlier that day I finally found a movie theatre that showed movies in English since Spain decided it would dub all of its movies in Spanish. The Black Swan was premiering in Europe this weekend so I bought a ticket for Saturday evening. The movie theatre that night was packed and I'm glad I got my ticket early. The show was so filled, and over sold I suppose, that they even had to bring in some seats. The movie started twenty minutes late, but it was pretty good, although slightly disturbing. Natalie Portman did do a good job though and it was definitely more of a thriller than I thought. I kept expecting things to jump out later on.
That night I had the true hostel experience. It was after midnight when this obviously drunk guy comes in and he gets in bed. He gets out a few minutes later and goes in the hall where I swear I heard him throw up. I was just thankful he didn't do it in the room. I spoke to soon. I'm pretty sure over half of the 14 people in the room woke up at quarter til three in the morning to the sound of a waterfall of vomit. The guy, who was on the top bunk and by the lockers, just sat up in the middle of the night and started vomiting over the side of the bed. It went on for at least five minutes and it was pretty awful since nobody could do anything because reception closed at 11 and opened at 7:30. When I woke up the next morning I went to the reception and told them what happened since his vomit was in front of my locker and I needed to get my things. Totally gross.
The next day the girl I met with Australia and I went to a cafe with a guy she was going to maybe room with if they and another girl got a flat they were looking at. He showed us to a different part of Brussels, pretty far south, and then the girl and I walked towards the EU buildings. We also tried to go to the royal palace, but apparently it's only open in summer although none of the signs indicate this. This was the day we also waited outside for over a half an hour in the windy cold for fries. It sounds crazy, but this place was in both of our guide books about having the best fries in Brussels and they were so worth it. This was also the day where it rained and hailed for five minutes. Crazy Belgian weather.
Belgium is a small world. At my hostel I met a girl from Lexington and we started talking about stuff from back home, like Graeters (although she'd never had Skyline or LaRosa's before. I made sure to inform her) and Tolly Ho's near UK. It was definitely nice meeting people to talk to and explore the city with.
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