BRUSSELS | Euro Trip Part 3
Stop 3: Brussels
13th August 2018
Another day, and another bus ride. This time we were headed to the main city of Belgium – Brussels. Our Flixbus got us to the capital in about 3 hours. We got down at the North Station of Brussels and had to somehow make our way to the South to a town called Ruisbroek. Little did we know what a roller coaster this ride was going to be. Brussels is a tad bit confusing when it comes to communication. They don’t have announcements or screen alerts in English. We managed to find out where the train station was located and got the tickets as well, but unfortunately got into the wrong train. The ticket checker was kind enough to issue new tickets for us and we quickly hopped on to our actual train to Ruisbroek.
Our hotel in Brussels: ibis Budget Brussels South Ruisbroek http://www.booking.com/Share-D7Gu8x
Here started our adventure with all the ibis Budgets. They are not bad to be honest, and quite convenient for the price they charge, but I am a creature of comfort, so it quite didn’t align with me too much. Our hotel was located at about 5 minutes walk from the Ruisbroek train station, but the only drawback was that you had to be really timely with the trains or you would have to wait 30 minutes until the next one.
As usual, once we reached at our hotel, we quickly laid out our luggage, took a shower, and set out to explore the main area in Brussels – Grand-Place de Bruxelas. This was the most touristy place I’d seen so far on my trip. Dotted with cafés, restaurants, souvenir shops and of course, chocolatiers, the Grand Place in Brussels is an obligatory must visit. But honestly what I loved the most about this place are the cobblestone buildings and pathways. So typical European! I had three things on my list before I got to Belgium – Belgian Frites, Belgian Waffles and Belgian Chocolates, and in that one evening I checked two off my list. Twice!
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At first I thought it was a little overrated, these Belgian fries, or Frites as they are locally known. But you have to try it to believe it, right? These twice fried lightly salted fries from a corner spot called Cafe Georgette were THE BOMB. Served in a classic newspaper cone, these crispy spuds come with a sauce of your choice. Honestly, there were quite a few sauces to choose from but I didn’t know which was what, so I just went with Curry Ketchup. After trying them, I could gladly confirm, yes, they are right when they say you need to try these Belgian Frites. After all, what’s life without some fries?!
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But the food wasn’t done just yet. After the fries, we walked around the Grand Place and in a few minutes it started to drizzle, so we quickly hopped into one of the steak restaurants on the side of the street. One of the most famous dishes in Belgian cuisine, Steak & Frites is available across most of the restaurants around the city. This one at La Rosa in the Grand Place had steak portions that would suffice two people each. We opted for one medium well beef and one chicken steak and both were perfecto! The mushroom pepper sauce was simply bliss and I could eat those peppercorns as is anyday. Quite filling, each dish was priced at around 12 Euros, which isn’t too bad, considering how touristy this place was. We paired our steaks with the classic Belgian Belle Vue Kriek and Hoegaarden.
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And then, to end it on a sweet note, we walked into… YES Haagen Dazs! Did someone say waffle? Remember when I said I’d already checked off 2 of 3 things from my list in one evening? After Belgian Frites, this was the second one. Surprisingly the original Belgian waffles are not as dense and doughy. Dusted with powdered sugar these ones are quite light and crispy. The Liege waffles on the other hand are what comply with the dense texture.
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We tried the Belgian ones of course, and went all out with Belgian chocolate ice cream and chocolate fudge sauce. And just incase that didn’t satisfy our sweet tooth, we also got one brownie with vanilla ice cream! While I really wanted to try the waffles from a street side cafe, it was raining a little too much, so we thought what better than Häagen Dazs right? P.S. The street waffles were still on my list though. Although the next time it would be the Liege waffles! Read on…
14th August 2018
When I am on a holiday, I hate sleeping. Yeah I really do. If I wanted to sleep, I would have just stayed back and rolled over in my bed. But when I am on holiday I like to start really early and make sure I don’t waste a single minute. So on our 2nd day in Brussels we decided to go all around the city being as touristy as we could and cover all the places we possible could in a day. Thanks to our tricky train situation, we got an early head start into the city and went back to the Grand Place for a quick (indulgent) breakfast at Gaufres de Bruxelles. We literally licked off the plate of the best Liege waffle topped with a hearty scoop of ice cream and loads of chocolate drizzle. Also, it’s for the very first time I realized I can eat dessert for breakfast!
Following that, we stopped at the center for some pictures at The Grand Place which houses the City Hall of Brussels and is most frequented by tourists. That morning, the large centre square started getting decked up for its biannual Flower Carpet show. The show that was scheduled to run from the 16th to 19th of August 2018, was something I really wanted a glimpse of. Well, we just had to wait and see how things would pan out. Apart from the large centre square, the Grand Place is surrounded by tons of shops and restaurants, including the best chocolatiers, beer museums, a Starbucks and more! Our AM stint at the Grand Place was followed by a visit to the Belgian Beer Museum: Brewer’s House. Taking us through the history of beer making in Brussels, this place showcased all the old and new brewing equipment and ended with a glass of draught.
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Next stop was Choco Story Brussels where we got to watch live chocolate making and learned a thing or two about the magic of cocoa beans. Of course, we opted for the Choco Pass that got us the opportunity to taste chocolates from 5 different chocolatiers of our choice around Grand Palace. But we kept that for later in the day, for next up we were off north to experience a little choo choo ride all the way to Mini Europe.
As the name suggests, Mini Europe located in Brussels takes you on a miniature tour across the cities, landmarks, famous buildings and remarkable features about Europe – all built in miniatures. The models are built with such intricacy and detail, it is almost like the real thing. Right from the Buckingham Palace and Chateau de Versailles, to Eiffel Tower, windmills, Greek temples and everything in between, this place allows you to learn so much about the country in such short time. And it’s not just the buildings, but also the water, ships, airports and even an earthquake activation that adds so much life to the mini-world. Highly recommend this place if you’re planning to visit Brussels. My favorite part in the entire park was the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the numerous attempts behind it to get the right pic.
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This one’s a miniature version of the Grand Palace with the flower carpet and all.
After Mini Europe we walked over to the nearby Atomium to try our brains at science and get a bird’s eye view of that side of Brussels. Too tired after all that walking and super hungry, we decided it was time to head back to the centre and try those chocolates we had been saving the passes for all day.
Along with watching some street performances, we snacked on Godiva, Neuhaus, Mary and Bruyerre. And since we still had to hit higher walking targets on our health app, we grabbed a can each of a new drink and walked over first to Mannekin Pis, and then all the way to the Royal Palace of Brussels.
That night was a tough one. While we were tight on schedule to leave to yet another town the next day, we also had to tend to our really tired feet. But I was glad to be making every minute, correction, every second of my Euro Trip count.
After those 2 days of chocolate adventures it was time to head to another Belgian gem. Click here to read about City 4 BRUGES
