Day 3: Brussels

Our final day in Brussels was somewhat disappointing. All the shops were shut because the city had the same Bank holiday as London!

I don't know why I took a photo of a semi-collapsed building.

Yes. We're back at Rue de Bouchers.

Sick of all the seafood, we opted to have Greek for brunch.

Erm, back in the Grand Place.

Another Chinese Camera Stance. I can't resist photographing them.

Oh this is cool! Tin Tin is running down the fire escape.

With little else to do and only cafes open, there was no choice but to eat a waffle.

This time it was strawberries and cream.

Yeah, I'm embarrassing.

Smee winning this battle easily.

Alright, so clearly these photographs do not represent our timeline, but we did waste a few hours before deciding it was waffle time again. I do have to clarify - I decided it was waffle time.

Me and waffy. Chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream.

All gone.

As a result of our trip to Belgium:

• I am sick of Frites
• I am sick of waffles
• I am kinda sick of moules (mussels)
• I could eat another Beef Carbonnade
• I've decided I prefer Bruges over Brussels. It's small but it has it's charm.

Day 2: Brussels

Our second day in Belgium was spent exploring Brussels. First stop was the Parc De Bruxelles, close to the Belgian Royal Palace.

Smee taking a photo.

In front of one of the main fountains.

Now, pretending to read on a park bench.

Me pretending to walk in the gardens.

My turn to pretend to read.

And another photo, just to admire the symmetry.

Unfortunately, the Royal Palace at the edge of the gardens was not open to the public. Poo. A photo of it nonetheless.

Me "smoking" a ciggie with a Belgian cop.

Stopping past Rue de Bouchers again, just to see how it looked during the day.

Brussels city centre, often referred to as the Grand Place was the location of the main market in medieval times. Gothic-style buildings line the perimeter of the square.

So many photos.

The time came again for food. Our aim in each city is to gorge ourselves on the national cuisine, as an attempt to compensate for the lack of variety in Londinium. The secondary aim is to eventually become repulsed and never crave such food again.

Here's the Friterie.

Smee in queue.

Our bunch of Frite "Flowers".

Smee battling his food again.

My pretty Frite Flowers.

One jumped into the mayo.

Next, I insisted on having a waffle given that the shops shut too early yesterday in Bruges.

The queue at the waffle cart.

Always ready to buy me food.

Voila! Chocolate coated waffle.

Must take embarrassing photo prior to consumption.

Me getting super-excited about my waffy.

I do think that the waffle company below consider a new marketing director.

Not THE best, just 'probably the best'.

For some reason, one of the 'must-see' things in Brussels is the Manneken Pis, which is essentially a statue of a little boy pissing. They do dress him up in little outfits and today we managed to catch him in a soccer outfit. I can only assume it's a Belgain team of sorts.

Here he is, doing his thing.


The crowds.

No, I didn't buy a waffle but I wanted to!

Belgium is also known for it's comic strip culture, being the land of the Smurfs and Tin Tin. Whilst I didn't get to visit the Comic Strip Museum, here are some pics of art on public buildings.

And now, here we are back at Rue de Bouchers.

The paella. I know it's Spanish but some reason everyone restaurant served it. It was fairly average.

Here's Smee battling with his yabbies again.

The poor mussell. About to be devoured by me.

Belgium Day 1: Bruges

For the long weekend in London, Smee and I decided to go to Brussels via the Eurostar. It's always difficult to wake up at 5am, hence our train ride was uneventful as we napped the entire time. Once we reached our hotel, we napped again. Too tired, we were. Once we woke from our slumber we headed off to the quaint town of Bruges, about 50 mins train ride from Brussels.

Yeah, me with a map again. I love maps.

Bruges is a lovely bit of space on the Belgium map. It's appeal lies in the medieval architecture that remains unspoilt and unaffected by the modernisation of surrounding cities. Cobblestone streets have never felt so befitting. It made me want to don a medieval wimple.

Bruges City Centre. For some reason, this tiny town had a lot of well-dressed people.

No trip is complete without a food diary of sorts. What do Belgians eat? Frites (hot chippies) - they're everywhere! Smee and I were starving and the smell of waffles was making me cry in utter joy.

Smee counting our Euro-funds.

Waiting in line at the Frite trailer.

Ordering the Frites Speciale.

Waiting patiently for the Fritties.

Ta-dah! Frites Speciale - chippies with onions, tomato sauce and mayo.

Can not wait to dig in.

Photo posing time.


Europeans are so doggy-friendly.

That's one grey horse.

More pics of us in the other part of the city centre.

Bruges is also known as "Venice of the North" because the entire city is encircled by a moat and branching canals snake their way through the town.

Watching all those other tourists gleefully making their way into boats sold us on the idea.

Smee buying our Bootexcursies tickets.

A few photos from the canal cruise.

Off the boat and now in front of the church that contains a relic from The Crusades.

Begging for chocolate

Tin Tin's dog, Snowy also begging for chocolate.

After spending about 3 hours in Bruges (plenty of time) we made our way back to Brussels for dinner.

Escargots from a street stall. Or so we thought - the sign also had 'sea snails' written on it. We suspect that they were welks rather than snails. They still were yummy.

Rue de Bouchers. The heart of eating in Brussels.

We settled at Chez Leon, a Belgian institution which came recommended in all the guide books for it's reliability and genuine chow.

Erm, yes, I took a photo of the Chez Leon napkin.

Smee and his Belgian or more specifically Brugge-ian beer.

Traditional Belgian Carbonnade a la Flamande (Beef and Beer Stew). Very Medieval looking, very yummy. Mmm mmm mmm. Check out my frites!!! So crisp on the outside and so soft on the inside. Just how I like them.

Mmmmmm the first bite to a satisfying dinner.

Moules, moules, moules.

Smee showed the mussels who was boss.