A Weekend in Belgium: Brussels & Bruges

Well, it's about time I talk about my trip to Belgium!  After this, I will pretty much be up to date on my fancy European experiences.

...  Until I get behind again, and we all know that'll happen at some point.

So, two weekends ago, I went on a weekend trip with Johanna, Alexandra, and Vanessa.  We took a Eurolines bus to Bruxelles Midi.  We booked the tickets for Friday at 5PM, and at least three of us had grammar class until 4.  Not a lot of time to get to the station.  Personally, I rushed.  I asked if I could leave my class a little early, so that I'd be on-time (I thought I'd be finding the place on my own) and dashed down the streets of Paris, stopping to get a sandwich and some snacks at a grocery store for the (very long) ride.  We all met up at Alexandra's foyer and had quite a time trying to get to the bus station...  The metro must've been pretty backed up that day, because we kept stopping randomly between stations.  It was very stressful, considering the rush we were in.  If we didn't check in by 4:30, we supposedly wouldn't be able to board.  Needless to say, we ran pretty much the entire time we weren't standing in a metro car.

[On somewhat of a side-note: when we were on the RER, which was very crowded, I noticed something strange that made me angry.  We were pretty much packed like sardines in there, so there wasn't a lot of personal space.  It didn't help that we had several bags between us.  I had my travel bag with me.  It was pretty full and it was slung over my shoulder.  I'm very conscious of my belongings when I'm in a crowded place.  I got this weird feeling and turned to my left, and, sure enough, this girl had her arm on my bag.  I say this, knowing in full that I probably seem like a terrible person, but she looked like she could've been a gypsy, and I was ready to freak.  Touching MY bag?!  She saw that I was looking and said, « Pardon », or something like that, but I was already annoyed.  I mean, she could've just had her arm on my bag because of the lack of space in the car... but I was not feeling sympathetic.  Not that there were a lot of interesting things in there, but I was annoyed.  I didn't pursue anything, though.  I just dropped it from my mind until we got off.  End of rant.]

By the time we finally got to the station, totally breathless, we realized that our effort was in vain.  We had about 12 minutes so spare, which was great, but totally unnecessary.  We didn't end up leaving until about 20 minutes or so after our scheduled departure time.  Every seat was filled (and I saw some pretty angry people outside of the bus, who I guess weren't allowed on due to lack of space), and the four of us were, for the most part, spread out.  I sat toward the front, and everyone else was further back.  It was not the most comfortable ride, but it was pretty cheap, and that was important.  My ticket cost 40€, round-trip.

We got to Brussels a little after 9, and then took a train to Bruges, where we would be spending the night.  We had a room booked in a hostel there, waiting for us.  Our goal:  Check in by 11.  Our problem: ... Where are we going?

Once we got off the train, we had to figure out which bus to take, and where to take it to.  The funny thing about Bruges is that it's a part of Flanders, so they speak Flemish.  We were advised by Alexandra's coworker (who is Belgian) to speak English there, rather than French, due to tension between the north and south.  Whatever the reasons, we heeded her advice, and even took a little comfort in being able to return to our native language... but it was definitely an odd feeling.  We asked what we needed to ask, and got to the part of town we needed to be in...  Just without any clue as to where the hostel actually was.  We tried stopping some people to ask for help, but didn't really get anywhere with that (although quite a few of them knew English).  Even a girl who had lived in Bruges for a long time wasn't sure what to tell us.  Not exactly reassuring...

... but then Alexandra randomly found it, so it was all good.

The hostel, Passage, was a nice little place.  We spoke English at the desk, got codes for the doors, and headed upstairs.  We had a private room with two bunk beds, and a gorgeous view of the brick wall outside.

In all seriousness, though, it was cozy.  We put our things down and decided to go out and explore a little.  We sought fries and entertainment.  Fries were easy to find, and they were quite tasty.  Belgians definitely know what they're doing when it comes to frieten.  Then we continued our quest for entertainment... which lead us to two bars, juxtaposed in a little corner of town.  After being greeted in Flemish and then broken English by some intoxicated fellows that argued over which one was the "real" Bin Laden (I kid you not), we went into one.

the first of many frites

I don't drink back in the US, but since I'm allowed to here, I've tried a few things.  I hadn't tried beer yet at this point.  There was a good deal during what was apparently happy hour there (2,50€), so we ordered four.  Johanna waited at the bar while Vanessa, Alexandra, and I tried to move to a less crowded area.  We got our beers and, well, drank them.  I took a tentative sip, decided that it really wasn't that good, but a little better than whatever else I'd tried before.  Eh.  I'm just not a drinker.  However, I think that Belgium wanted to turn me into one, because the promo for happy hour was actually about 8€ for 8 beers, and that's what we got.  Johanna thought she was done getting the drinks, but the bartender just gave her more!  We were confused, but amused.

We saw some Justin Bieber look-a-likes, avoided dancing with the short guy that kept trying to get our attention, and headed to the bar next door (which had lots of colorful lights), just to check it out.  We didn't stay long and didn't get any more drinks.

Once we were done with all of that, we started walking back to the hostel, to rest up for the next day, in which we planned to eat as many waffles, fries, and chocolates as possible.

After a comfortable night's sleep, we went in search of breakfast and found a little cafe that had beautiful (and delicious) waffles.  Check!

We took a boat tour on the canal (a popular, touristy thing to do in Bruges) and saw many bridges, a house that cost a million euros to live in, a beer museum, an old hospital, and the town's mascot (in the form of a stone bear), among other things.  The tour was given in both French and in English by a man with a fabulous accent.  I really did like it--particularly how he said "century" in both languages.  I'd never heard a Belgian accent before and found it very interesting.

After the tour, we stopped in a lace shop (very pretty things), where I picked up a few souvenirs, and then we continued wandering.  We visited nearly every chocolatier we passed, but it's a good thing we didn't make purchases at all of them...  I allowed myself to get a small box of assorted chocolates hand-picked by someone at Dumon (a well-known artisinale chocolatier in Belgium).  Not a bad choice at all!  I told the guy that helped me that I preferred dark chocolate, so he gave me a good amount of that (all delicious), and it only cost me a little over 5€.

The Belfry

We visited the Belfry (the bell tower), but, in the interest of saving money, decided not to climb it.  Instead we admired it from the outside, as it is quite beautiful, and ate more fries outside of a Disney-themed merry-go-round.  We also visited a church that contained an elaborate sculpture by Michelangelo, "The Madonna and Child," one of his only pieces that is not currently in Italy.  Toward the end of the day, we headed to the train station to head to Brussels.

The Madonna and Child

I have to give Johanna a ton of credit for planning this trip.  It was so organized.  She set up the hostel in Bruges and the hotel in Brussels (yes, a hotel), and booked the train tickets, as well.  Everything went pretty smoothly.  As far as pricing goes, it was wonderful.  Our hostel, from what I remember, was only about 15€.  That's one of the cheapest fees I've ever heard of for a hostel, and this one was very good.  It was really lucky for us that it wasn't expensive.  I was grateful for the fact that my memories of my first hostel would be from this one...!  The hotel in Brussels wasn't bad at all, either.  Johanna decided to go with a hotel because the price was comparable to that of a hostel.  For 30€ per person, with breakfast included, it was definitely a good choice.  We had two rooms (I shared with Vanessa), separated by one floor.  Once we took care of our stuff, we wandered, because it was considerably early in the evening, and had dinner at a place that had decent prices.  It was slightly disappointing, though, because they happened to be out of what Alexandra and I planned on ordering... but we made due.  I surprised myself by ordering a beer, and by being the only one to do so.  Alexandra's roommate told us that Belgium is also quite well-known for their beer, and I was willing to give it another shot when I saw a bière framboise on the menu.  A raspberry beer!  You know how I feel about raspberry-flavored things.  It wasn't expensive so I decided to take a chance on it, and I ended up really liking it.  Not enough to order another one or anything, but enough to say that I, you know, enjoyed it.  Success!

We were tired, so we rested up in our hotel for a while after, and then went in search of some fun.  We explored the city by night, which felt a lot different than Bruges.  Brussels is much bigger and busier in comparison, and it was obvious.

We tried to go into a bar we passed by, only to be told by the man at the door that it was « pour les hommes »--for men only!  We had found ourselves in the gay district in the city.  Brussels, from what we were told, is the pretty much the gay capital of Europe (I don't think that I made that up but I'm probably describing it incorrectly), so it wasn't surprising that we found the area so easily, and without even trying.  Afterward we walked by a bar called L'Homo Erectus, and, well, I'll just let you ponder that one for a bit.

We eventually went to a place called Ice Bar, which actually wasn't an ice bar at all.  I asked Vanessa what to get, and we ended up each having a Malibu with pineapple juice.  "It tastes like what suntan lotion smells like," she described.  Extremely accurate.  I liked it, but was disappointed when I saw the price.  It was ridiculous to pay 7,50€ for so little alcohol.  It really wasn't a lot!  That was far too much, paying extra to have some juice mixed in--I don't see drinking becoming a regular hobby in my future.  Vanessa wasn't exactly happy about it, either, but whatever.  We all danced a little and called it a night.

Breakfast has become more dear to me since I've been in Europe.  I never made a big deal out of it back home, but I love it here.  Breakfast in the hotel wasn't fascinating or anything, but there were plenty of carbs available.  Pains au chocolat, bread for toasting, croissants, cereal, cheese, Nutella, juice, milk, tea...  There was a lot to choose from.  Awesome!

The Palais Royal in Brussels

After we ate, we checked out the open-air market going on outside, without buying anything, aaaaand did some other stuff.  I don't know how many times I can say that we wandered... but, yeah.  That's what we did.  We asked the man at the reception (in French, because we were trying to be good study-abroad students now that we were back in an area where French was acceptable/encouraged) for some recommendations.  Where could we find good fries? waffles?  What sites are worth seeing?  He pretty much gave us an itinerary to follow, which was much appreciated.  We went in search of another church, a park, the Palais Royal, a gigantic museum (which we did not go in), and, finally, the Manneken Pis.

Oh; the Manneken Pis?

Oh, that's a statue of a child peeing.  Hello, Brussels!

There were plenty of waffle places near the statue, so we indulged.  I stopped for another small souvenir, and that was pretty much the end of our day.  We got more fries (pretty much sick of them at that point), ate them on the steps of a grand forum (uhhh), which is apparently a popular thing to do there.  Then came the time for us to get our belongings and catch the bus home.  We were exhausted from the weekend's events.

Oh, Eurolines...  We had quite a time trying to find the bus stop.  It wasn't where it normally was, because we were departing on a Sunday.  We asked for help several times, only to keep ending up in the wrong place, until we finally found it...  It was amazing that we were able to.  It was not easily identifiable.  The Sunday stop was a pole that had a Eurolines sticker slapped onto it.  Fabulous.  Not sketchy at all!

And, to conclude this entry, we met a nice girl from Montreal that is also studying in Paris and we all chatted amiably on the ride home.  That's about it!

...   I MISS MY CHOCOLATES!  They didn't last very long once we got back.  :(