We had an awesome time in Belgium last weekend! When we were trying to figure out a place to go for a little birthday celebration for me, I wanted somewhere to indulge in some delicious goodies (what better way to celebrate a birthday right?) so Belgium immediately came to mind. With its abundance of chocolate, waffles, beer, seafood, and more, plus being only an hour and a half flight from Dublin, it seemed like the perfect weekend getaway.

The night before we were supposed to leave, things were looking a little dicey. Isaac threw up a few times and I had no idea if he would be ok by the morning. I was starting to feel a little queasy myself, but it could have just been from anxiety about not knowing how Isaac would be feeling and whether we should cancel. We had to wake up super early because our flight was at 6:40am, but it seemed that once we were up he was a little better (no more throwing up) so we decided to go for it. Off to the airport we went!

Once we arrived in Brussels and got to where we were staying, we all crashed and took a long nap. Between the early morning and not feeling 100% we all needed the rest, so our first day in Brussels turned out to be pretty lowkey which was good. We did get out for a bit of a walk and a late lunch/early dinner. We had mussels in Brussels (mussels are a Belgian specialty) and they were delicious. I also had my first waffle which was so yummy. I learned there are actually two styles — Brussels and Liege (another city in Belgium) and I prefer the Liege style. Here I tried it with Nutella but subsequent ones I just had plain because they really don’t need any toppings.

After our meal, we walked around the main square, Grand Place, which is gorgeous. It’s got opulent guild house buildings and the old town hall building that towers over the square. In 2010 it was voted the most beautiful square in Europe and it truly is stunning. Hard to capture in pictures but here are some:

We also stopped by the famous fountain statue of a boy peeing called Mannekin Pis…not sure how or why it became famous but we figured we should check it out. Sometimes they put beer in the fountain to make it look like he’s peeing beer, but we only saw water.

The contrast between the gorgeous old architecture and the Mannekin Pis kind of captures the funkiness/zaniness that Brussels (and Belgium in general) is known for. I learned through my reading that Belgians are typically pretty laid back and don’t take themselves too seriously. Someone compared Belgium to Canada in the sense of being friendly and relaxed. There’s a strong history of comics in Belgium (Tintin and also the Smurfs came from there), so there’s a comic museum and also tons of murals around the city of various comic figures. It was just interesting seeing such a variety of all kinds of architecture and design…from medieval to gothic to art nouveau to even kind of ugly socialist bloc type buildings…all of which makes for an interesting cityscape.

I was also surprised at how everything in Brussels is written in both French and Dutch. I had always only known of the French influence and community in Belgium but I didn’t realize that the Dutch (Flemish) community actually makes up the majority. It seems most people in Brussels speak both, though we were always greeted in French. We felt a bit ignorant in that regard too, as neither Jeff nor I speak any French, but we managed to get by! Most people spoke English too, but I still felt a little sheepish not knowing anything besides bonjour and merci.

Well I’m pretty tired so I think I’ll continue with part 2 tomorrow (Bruges) — off to bed for now!