Brussels - Pardon my French (and Dutch and German)
This marked our first day in Brussels and the start of our longest stay on our trip. We choose to stay in Brussels for a month, despite knowing nothing about it, because it's centrally located for day and/or weekend trips and the airbnb prices were so cheap! Brussels is also the capital of Belgium and the center of the EU. And I certainly won’t forget to mention, famous for their waffles and chocolate. A little background on this... Brussels has a famous statue of a little boy peeing called the Manneken Pis. Locals and tourists alike walk through the streets of Belgium to find the statue and check out what costume it's wearing. The statue changes multiple times a week and has TWO official wardrobe changers that choose from over 1,000 costumes. Isaac and I went to the museum where the costumes were showcased and it was wild - a costume for every holiday, country, and iconic celebrity. Needless to say, the Belgians are proud of their statue and the tourist shops use this as an influence for their products (see donut shapes above). The neighborhood we were staying in, Ixelles, is about a 20 min walk from the city center and packed with local restaurants and shops. We were just off the beaten path so we got to enjoy a quiet neighborhood while being a 5 min walk from anything we needed. After our experience in Amsterdam, we were pumped about the free walking tours. We signed up for one in our first few days in Brussels, and when it started raining, our tour guide led us to this church. I've sat in a lot of pews during mass but would love to be offered this swing as an option. The next day, we explored The Park (that's actually what the locals call it), and, similar to other European parks we visited thus far, had a cafe. So we did what any normal person would have done and ordered some drinks and fries, sitting among the trees and fountains. Full disclosure: While my drink looks like a fancy margarita or slushy, it is actually a beet juice drink. This isn't because I am no fun, but I was convinced it would rid me of the current cold I had contracted. Also, this is the point in our travels that we learned most Europeans eat fries with mayo... After being filled up on fries, we headed over the the Belvue Museum (Belgian history) and the Palais du Coudenberg (remains of an old palace). See pictured: Isaac showing off his strength in an underground chamber of the palace. Obviously I couldn't let Isaac show me up so I proceeded to back squat the concrete pillar. All the squatting and lifting made us tired so we headed to the Begium beer festival to fill up on some craft beer and food truck chili nachos (as I type that, I realize we sound so unhealthy but I swear we were walking 20k+ steps a day). I love going to these types of festivals - my goal is to try to pick out the weirdest, most interesting flavors. I found a stout that literally tasted like candy which led to Isaac and I battling to the death over the last drops. As mentioned above: chili nachos. As we walked back towards our apartment, we ran into an open air art exhibition. It featured 50 photos showcasing the history of photography in Spain over the last 80 years. A happy little accident to walk through. The Palace of Justice and the Ferris wheel were so close to our apartments and offered beautiful views of the city, perched on top of the hill. After dinner, I would try to convince Isaac to come with me to watch the sunset (pictured: success!). The view of the Palace of Justice at sunset. The Ixelles Ponds was one of my favorite parts of the city and the place where we often ran. The ponds are surrounded with stunning houses and beautiful trees. Within our time in Brussels, we were able to see the trees change from green to orange. Issac and I were thrilled to find this cafe, Café du Sablon, near our apartment and The Park. They had the best baguette sandwiches for 5 euro!!! It was also across the street from the Church of Our Lady of Victories and had killer people watching. We ended up getting the Begium museum pass since there were SO many museums in Brussels and we had a month to explore. We went to the Museum of Musical Instruments and I found this quote that resonated with me deeply. We went to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts (which, by the way, was NOT on our museum pass but we accidentally wandered in on the first Wednesday of the month after 3pm so it was free entry?? I call that fate) and we were absolutely blown away by some of the paintings. Look how tiny Isaac looks next to this mammoth piece of art. Another epic piece, making me reexamine my life and its purpose. Comic museum was next on our bucket list. We enjoyed the main exhibit and learning about the history of comics as well as the art side of creating a comic book. The life size characters were a great addition. Ok, but who did it best? Isaac and I love browsing museum gift shops and have become particularly good, considering the number of museums we have frequented. The comic museum's shop was mediocre at best, definitely not picture worthy, but they had this cool mirror... After all, I am sucker for a mirror pic. We wandered around the Brussels botanical gardens before popping in an exhibit at Le Botanique. Le Botanique is a cultural center in a former botanical glasshouse - the building is so cool! It also hosts concerts, art exhibitions, and theater. As Brussels is the de facto capital of the EU, we were excited to explore the European Parliament. We got tickets for the Parlamentarium which offered an interactive tour with a journey through European history, creation of the EU, and explanation of the workings and process of the EU. The tour ends with a picture and encouraging message (free advertising?). The local coffee shop was doing a partnership with Oatly and we snagged some free (my favorite thing) coffee (Isaac is starting to believe in my lucky girl syndrome) and explored the Mont des Arts Garden. I am not sure how we managed to get this far along in our Brussels trip and NOT get a waffle?! Isaac made sure we fulfilled our tourist duties as we opted for the nutella waffle from the waffle van down the street from our apartment. St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral is Belgium's national church as is incredibly breathtaking. I went to a Sunday morning mass and even though it was in French and Dutch, it was such a surreal experience accompanied with a full choir. We went to a favorite local Italian restaurant, run by a friendly Italian couple, and Isaac bravely ordered an unknown appetizer off the menu. We thought it might be some sort of melted cheese dip but instead got a chunk of deep fried cheese. And we loved it. With Autoworld on the museum pass, we knew that it was a must see. As you may have guessed, I am not a car guy, but was entertained by the exhibit with cars dating back to the late 19th century. Isaac had fun sending pictures to his teenage brother who is in fact, a car guy. Supposedly some crazy nice expensive car? Idk, you tell me. I take competition seriously. Isaac was obsessed with this glass so much so he wanted to buy it and take it home. I convinced him to buy some knock-offs on Amazon instead. The gorgeous fall colors and art nouveau buildings in Ixelles. More art nouveau buildings in the neighborhood because I was *obsessed*. Now if there is a story to tell, it's from the Brussels vs Sweden game. We were pumped to go to a European football match and the first half, ending at 1-1, was a much more competitive game than expected. After a 30 min half time, I turned to Isaac and said that I have never been at a half time that was so long. About 10 minutes later, there was an announcement in French. We were absolutely clueless and tried to google local news or find someone that spoke English. A teenager in front of us told us there was a shooting, someone had shot 2 Sweden fans about a mile outside of the stadium, and they were holding us for our safety. After 2 long hours, with the police trying to locate the shooter, they decided they had to let us go. The teams had agreed on a tie and would not make up the remaining half. We got home around midnight with the shooter still out on the loose. The police ended up finding him the next morning, but the journey home was quite unnerving. There was a boutique workout studio close to our apartment and I convinced Isaac to do his first spin class with me! The studio was so cute and aesthetic and the class was such a blast. Lucky for us it was in English, not even one of the three official languages of Brussels (French, Dutch, and German). The rest of Belgium mostly speaks one language based on the region, but as Brussels is central, it is a melting pot of languages and culture. Behold, the Atomium! Brussels hosted the World's Fair in 1958 and built the Atomium as the centerpiece. It is one of the tallest buildings in Brussels and shaped like an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times. Visitors can take stairs to the various viewpoints, or "atoms", with exhibits in each one. This was the view from the top, and if you look to the right, you can see the park of Mini Europe (more to come on that). There was a light show with music in the center atom. A better view of the Atomium (and us). Mini Europe! This park features reproductions of famous monuments in Europe on a scale of 1:25. We plan on recreating this leaning tower pic when we are in Pisa. Belfry of Bruges! Look for the post of our trip to Bruges to see the real thing. We couldn't leave Brussels without going to the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History (that's a mouth-full). Basically, we saw every military uniform ever worn and a whole lot of tanks and armor. Both of us were very close to our museum limit at this point. Is this what boys love to geek out on?? The park adjacent to the military museum was one of the best in Brussels. We enjoyed ice cream and a couple of lovely fall days here. One of our last days we wandered into the hipster neighborhood of Brussels and found this funky little cafe. Peep my lavender latte and my photo editing session. We also got the best vegan meal here, coming close to the best food we ate on our trip this far.
