Beer that could be colder, museums that could be cooler, and Dohmeenoh
Another day in the books...another wonderfully fun day filled with a little bit of everything.
Tuesday July 11 we took the Eurostar train from London under the English Channel to Brussels, Belgium. Having done this route to Paris two years ago, I was not as foolish this time to get all excited about getting to see the grand entrance to the Channel Tunnel (sometimes called "the Chunnel") - nope, the only clue you are nearing the tunnel is that if happen to look out the left side of the train, you start to see the back up of large trucks that access the tunnel for commercial reasons.
Then before you know it... there is a "whoooosh" noise and all goes black outside... you are in the tunnel.
About 20 minutes later you emerge and viola...you are in France... oui, merci bou coup, oui, uh huh le resistance.
Well this time as noted, we hooked a left and headed for Brussels instead of Disneyland Paris.
The ride was generally without incident and before knew it the 2 hour jaunt was over and we had arrived at Brussels Midi (Brussels Sud or Zuidstation) eager to start our 5 days centered around the Belgian and European capital. By the time we arrived at our hotel and got our bearings, unpacked, etc. It was around 8pm local time...so we decided to be brave, pack our umbrellas and make our way to the Grand Place to spend an evening grabbing dinner among the lights and sounds of the main square in Brussels.
Sounds good, eh?
Yah except the Metro station nearest to us has ZERO working ticket machines... none.
It was a 3-4 block walk to the next station, but given the conditions (wet, late) and that we were hungry, and we really did not have a good bearing or feel for the neighborhood, we headed back to our hotel somewhat defeated. Dinner was provided courtesy of the "local" favorite pizza joint known as Domino's. Yes, that Domino's. But in Brussels it is said "Doh-mee-noh"... and when my sister placed our order, she was Brosina. I loved the options at Dohmeenohs. They had the "Classic American" menu and then the more sophisticated and interesting regular menu. I got their four cheese which was mostly Belgian or French cheeses, the ladies wanted cheese and olive...so they had to dismantle a pepperoni and add olives...which ended up being green to their dismay.
My sister got a veggie... which came without cheese. So I had 4 exotic cheeses, the ladies had green olives, and Ro had no cheese. We ate quick. Dohmeenoh to the rescue.
Today was mostly Brussels old city core - the Grand Place, the Mannekin Pii (peeing boy statue), the City Museum, lunch on the Grand Place, breakfast at a waffle store, sights sounds, and the Museum of Musical Instruments.
I sampled 3 Leffe beers at a café on the Grand Palace... they were good but not ideally cold.
We found a frites (fries) stand after I chugged 3 beers and along the way discovered the Church of St. Nicholas just off the Grand Place. Beautiful church for sure. The Frites were great... gave us a break from the renewed rain but maybe the waffles were better.
They have two types of waffles... Liege or Belgian.
As far as we can tell, the Belgian style would be the kind you make at home with a Belgian waffle maker... firm yet light and airy.
The ladies all ordered one of those... Alyssa and Simone both with Nutella... my sister with chocolate.
I went rogue and got a Liege style waffle with banana and crème on it. Ooooh lala! That Liege style is the BOMB!!! Firm yet creamy and dense - waffled perfection.
We visited the city museum to see historic costumes of the Mannekin Pii only to see just a few and them a computer database... (BOOOOO!!!) and that place was hot as sh**!!
Later we hiked up the hill to the Museum of Musical Instruments which was Alyssa's request.
This was a very fun, interactive place....and best of all the rooms had A/C. Not the main corridors though - those were stuffy as sh** too. But step into one of the exhibit rooms and the air was much more tolerable.
From here it was off on a trek by regional train to Ghent. Bummer to arrive just a few moments to late to go see the famous Ghent alterpiece... but St. Bavo's cathedral was amazing nonetheless!
Ghent is fun...would like to head back and see more some time.
Maybe in the winter...so the museums won't feel like a sauna.
Belgium... good for waffles, beer, chocolate, frites... and stuffy a$$ museums.
More to come....
Tuesday July 11 we took the Eurostar train from London under the English Channel to Brussels, Belgium. Having done this route to Paris two years ago, I was not as foolish this time to get all excited about getting to see the grand entrance to the Channel Tunnel (sometimes called "the Chunnel") - nope, the only clue you are nearing the tunnel is that if happen to look out the left side of the train, you start to see the back up of large trucks that access the tunnel for commercial reasons.
Then before you know it... there is a "whoooosh" noise and all goes black outside... you are in the tunnel.
About 20 minutes later you emerge and viola...you are in France... oui, merci bou coup, oui, uh huh le resistance.
Well this time as noted, we hooked a left and headed for Brussels instead of Disneyland Paris.
The ride was generally without incident and before knew it the 2 hour jaunt was over and we had arrived at Brussels Midi (Brussels Sud or Zuidstation) eager to start our 5 days centered around the Belgian and European capital. By the time we arrived at our hotel and got our bearings, unpacked, etc. It was around 8pm local time...so we decided to be brave, pack our umbrellas and make our way to the Grand Place to spend an evening grabbing dinner among the lights and sounds of the main square in Brussels.
Sounds good, eh?
Yah except the Metro station nearest to us has ZERO working ticket machines... none.
It was a 3-4 block walk to the next station, but given the conditions (wet, late) and that we were hungry, and we really did not have a good bearing or feel for the neighborhood, we headed back to our hotel somewhat defeated. Dinner was provided courtesy of the "local" favorite pizza joint known as Domino's. Yes, that Domino's. But in Brussels it is said "Doh-mee-noh"... and when my sister placed our order, she was Brosina. I loved the options at Dohmeenohs. They had the "Classic American" menu and then the more sophisticated and interesting regular menu. I got their four cheese which was mostly Belgian or French cheeses, the ladies wanted cheese and olive...so they had to dismantle a pepperoni and add olives...which ended up being green to their dismay.
My sister got a veggie... which came without cheese. So I had 4 exotic cheeses, the ladies had green olives, and Ro had no cheese. We ate quick. Dohmeenoh to the rescue.
Today was mostly Brussels old city core - the Grand Place, the Mannekin Pii (peeing boy statue), the City Museum, lunch on the Grand Place, breakfast at a waffle store, sights sounds, and the Museum of Musical Instruments.
I sampled 3 Leffe beers at a café on the Grand Palace... they were good but not ideally cold.
We found a frites (fries) stand after I chugged 3 beers and along the way discovered the Church of St. Nicholas just off the Grand Place. Beautiful church for sure. The Frites were great... gave us a break from the renewed rain but maybe the waffles were better.
They have two types of waffles... Liege or Belgian.
As far as we can tell, the Belgian style would be the kind you make at home with a Belgian waffle maker... firm yet light and airy.
The ladies all ordered one of those... Alyssa and Simone both with Nutella... my sister with chocolate.
I went rogue and got a Liege style waffle with banana and crème on it. Ooooh lala! That Liege style is the BOMB!!! Firm yet creamy and dense - waffled perfection.
We visited the city museum to see historic costumes of the Mannekin Pii only to see just a few and them a computer database... (BOOOOO!!!) and that place was hot as sh**!!
Later we hiked up the hill to the Museum of Musical Instruments which was Alyssa's request.
This was a very fun, interactive place....and best of all the rooms had A/C. Not the main corridors though - those were stuffy as sh** too. But step into one of the exhibit rooms and the air was much more tolerable.
From here it was off on a trek by regional train to Ghent. Bummer to arrive just a few moments to late to go see the famous Ghent alterpiece... but St. Bavo's cathedral was amazing nonetheless!
Ghent is fun...would like to head back and see more some time.
Maybe in the winter...so the museums won't feel like a sauna.
Belgium... good for waffles, beer, chocolate, frites... and stuffy a$$ museums.
More to come....
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