The program I studied abroad with last fall included two 10 day breaks during the semester and for the first of these breaks my mom flew all the way over from the States to travel with me to Berlin and Brussels. While the history of Berlin is fascinating and the city is a weird combination of old and incredibly modern, it was really the quaint little city of Brussels that really captured my heart on that trip. We were only in the city for about 2.5 days total and we made the most of our stay by exploring the streets of Brussels, sharing whipped cream covered waffles and talking to the locals.
I’d read a lot about the Grand Place in my French courses in both high school and college but the Gothic architecture and towering steeples were so much more impressive in person than in my textbooks. I can’t remember exactly what the purpose of the buildings are (maybe public offices?) but we made sure to make time to have (an extremely over-priced) lunch of mussels and french fries in a restaurant overlooking the square.
The beautiful flowers that were for sale in the plaza. The colors were even more brilliant in person!
We had signed up to take a group tour of the city which, must to my mother’s horror, was actual one of those bus tours where everyone wears headphones and listens to a prerecorded tour guide in their respective languages. A definite bonus though was the fact that we got to get up close and personal with one of Brussels most famous landmarks–Atomium. Originally created in 1958 for the Brussels’ World Fair and is a replica of an iron crystal blown up 165 billion times. I’m not science-y in the least bit and I’m still blown away every time I come across a picture of the monumental sculpture; it’s absolutely incredible.
We wandered down into the crypts of the local churches before stopping to buy chocolates for family and friends back home. I have a confession to make–I really truly dislike chocolate. I try it at least once every year to see if my taste buds have changed but, alas, I still don’t understand what all of the fuss is about. Usually people just act like I’m crazy when I tell them but the woman working at this chocolate shop was legitimately offended when I said that I don’t eat chocolate. She then proceeded to trick my into trying some by saying that it was a sample of “dark coconut,” which I thought referred to the color of the coconut, but instead was a mixture of dark chocolate and coconut. I somehow managed to get it down and further infuriated the woman when I admitted that I hadn’t liked the sample despite the fact that it was one of their best selling products. Whoops.
We continued our exploration of Brussels’ famous chocolate world the next day with a walking tour to all of the chocolaterias in the city…. and mom and I even managed to be 30 minutes late to our tour which is what the two of us are famous for! My favorite part of the tour by far was when we got to don aprons and make our own chocolate creations.
And now on to the whole reason why I wrote this blog post… the incredibly delicious Belgian waffles that my mom and I still talk about almost a year later. I love pancakes just as much as the next person but I’ve never really been a waffle kind of gal. That totally changed after this trip. I have no idea what kind of magic they use to make their waffles so damn good but add into the mix whipped cream and sliced fruit, and I was a believer. We shared a waffle our first day in the city, devoured it in milliseconds, and then returned the next day to the same stand to share another.
A huge moment for me in Brussels, other than eating waffles of course, was getting to see Manneken Pis in person. I’ve studied the sculpture in past Art History classes but the statue of the little boy is so much smaller and cuter in person. Also, I would like to note that the name is Flemish and therefore should not be pronounced “mannequin piss.” That really drove me batty.
And here I am posing with a much bigger, greener copy of the famous statue in front of our beloved waffle stand.
With just a few hours left in Brussels before heading back to London, mom and I walked over to Basilica of the Sacred Heart. We explored the interior of the church before making our way up to the very top to look out over the city. The views were incredible and although I don’t know the urban landscape of Brussels that well, I was still in awe.
Although our stay in Brussels was short and sweet, the city is absolutely beautiful, the food is mouthwatering delicious, and the people are always willing to point a lost tourist in the right direction. I hope that I get the chance to return one day!
