Brussels: A feast for the stomach, perhaps not the eyes

 For the weekend before my 21st birthday, I decided to celebrate with a few friends in Brussels.  As it turns out, Brussels is a pretty eclectic and quirky place.  Some pretty things, but mostly a place for eating/drinking.  It's the city of beer, chocolate, waffles, and french fries. (why, hello, weight gain, sclerosis, and heart disease....)  On the map given out for free to "young and hip tourists", written by "young and hip locals" there was a section on "How to act like a local" the advice was not always awesome, but it was amusing.... here are the top few quotations....

1. "Drink the real sour Gueuze beer. Tourists say it tastes like vomiting beer instead of drinking it, but they don't know anything." So, I did not follow this advice.  I would prefer not to taste things that tourists thing tastes like beer-vomit.  I am a tourist, and I want a pleasurable experience.  I did, however, have another Belgian specialty....fruity beers.  As my friends and I found out, they are "special-super-tasty-only-for-adults-fun juice."  Like, really, had I not ordered it at a bar, where they serve 2000+ types of beer, I would have thought that it was soda.  Kriek is the cherry beer, and a Belgian specialty, and very very good.  Nice and refreshing, not too sweet..... (and yes, I was drinking before my 21st birthday, but seeing as I am in France/was in Brussels, and the people next to me in the bar were still in high school....)

2. "Brussels is ugly, and we love it." This is pretty true?  There are definitely pretty parts....Victor Hugo thought that la Grand-Place was the prettiest plaza in the WORLD.  It was pretty spectacular.  And then, near the Palais Royale, there were pretty things...But, then, the "emblem" or "mascot" of Bruxelles, Manneken Pis, is kinda strange.  And they really really like him, and he is EVERYWHERE and on ANYTHING....which, yeah, I  just don't know.....

First, la Grand-Place

Some shops in the Grand-Place

A museum/Cultural center in Grand-Place

The Hôtel de Ville de Bruxelles

And there was also some pretty things near the National Royal Library, and the Palais....

Skinny shops

Looking into Centre-Ville, Nat'l Library on the Right, tower of the Hôtel de Ville in the middle

Looking towards the Royal Palace from a park

Architecture in the Parc Cinquantenaire

Manneken-Pis

There are also magnets, chocolates, notebooks, t-shirts, ANYTHING that could have a Manneken Pis on it, does....

Public Urination=totally cool in Brussels.....

3. "First eat, then drink...'tapissier l'estomac' (carpet the stomach)" I just really enjoyed that advice. Yes, friends, this is always a good idea.  It's recommended by people who "drink starting at 13!" That is according to a Belgian friend I made at Delirium (the bar with 2000+ beers, yes, they have a World Record)

4. "Brusseleirs take eating and drinking very seriously, so also look for specialties like...steak américain (cold minced meat with raw egg)" Ummmmm.....NO!  No, no, no.  This was in all the Belgian restaurants/cafés....I have no idea where they got the idea that americans eat their meat cold, raw, minced, with a raw egg.... NEVER.  EVER.  EEEEWWWWWW.  I have no commentary besides that. also, I saw someone eating a nice plate of cubed sausage and cheese with beer at a café.  That wasn't so weird, except they put pepper and mustard on their cheese....a lot of pepper and mustard....I guess it's like a sandwich? I dunno, seeing people eat that with toothpicks was a little disturbing....

The waffles were really good, though.  They have little sugar crystals in them, and they are served piping hot off the griddle.   YUM. Also, french fries were AMAZING and CHEAP.  But, of course, fries are usually amazing... fried. potato. what more can I say?

So, yeah, those are the biggie pieces of advice from the silly tourist map... Also, it tells you when to drink what beer, so you don't look silly....

I also went to the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles where they have Jacques-Louis David's "Marat Assassiné."  My friend and I went on a wild goose chase looking for this painting, and when we saw it, we audibly gasped.  I had to restrain myself from touching it.  I had just studied it in class, so it was super exciting.  And we got to sit in front of it, and stare, uninterrupted for many minutes.  Art history major heaven.

I was over the moon.

The museum was pretty too.... Here's the main lobby/entryway.....

To end, I flew Ryanair.  A discount airline based in Ireland that flies places for very very low prices (9.99€ to Morocco!).  They are also kinda shady.... There are TONS of hidden fees, and the landings are the WORST EVER.  The whole plane let out a collective sigh of relief and applauded when we finally stopped bouncing down the runway....  Oh, and if your plane arrives on time, you get to hear a trumpet fanfare and a cheesy announcement about them being awesome.  If you watch this video you will find a Ryanair bumpy landing at 0:40 (note the thud, and then also, mine landings were FAR WORSE), and then the lovely jingle at 1:20.... Also, as I looked up recordings of the noise, I found that one of the most searched Ryanair things is "Ryanair crashes"....good. NOT.  Oh, discount travel, sigh.....

This weekend I'm traveling to Lyon. (On easyjet, another discount airline).  Apparently, it's the gastronomic capital of France!  I'm super excited.  A bientôt!