Beers, Frittes and Waffles in lovely Belgium

I confess Belgium is kind off a strange destination. Why fly to Belgium when Italy shares a boarder with Switzerland? The answer is that I am, above all else a cheap traveler. I am open to all new experiences and so when I discovered an 60 euro round trip flight to Brussels, I booked my flight right away.

Plus I heard they had good beer...

My friend Micheal and I found a great flat on airbnb.com right in the center of Brussels. Belgium as a country is so small that it was easy to use Brussels as a base for day trips. Arriving in Brussels I was quickly charmed by the tiny squares and  stunning Flemish buildings. The town is heavily touristed strangely they are all confined a few square blocks. The symbol of Brussels and strangely enough, the entire country of Brussels is the tiny Mannekin Pis. This tiny cliche fountain would be like Reno representing the US. Why? There's so many wonderful things about Belgium!

Everyone is wondering, "why are we here?"

The first day was spent walking about the city and going to the Musee Magritte and Musee Royaux des Beaux-Arts. Rene Magritte is a famous Belgian painter famous for his surreal works. I enjoyed the Magritte museum but I am not a massive fan of his work as well as most of the pieces were the less famous ones. The Royal Museum was a great treat as I turned a corner and stumbled into one of my favorite painters  Hieronymus Bosch. The Museum also had a "Rubens Room" which had ten massive scaled painting by the local master.   

I wrote my very first research paper about him!

The rest of the day was spent eating waffles and french fries around the Art Nouveau buildings. Art Nouveau is my favorite architectural style. Brussels was home to the architect Victor Horta and the Nouveau buildings scattered around the country really helped me fall in love with Belgium despite the endless rain. 

This boat house was in Antwerp.

We took two day trips over the four day trip. The first of which was Antwerp. A small town with lots to do Antwerp was a  great town. Although I must confess most of the reason I liked the town was the legend of its name which involved a Roman warrior fighting a giant, chopping off his hand and throwing it in a river. A friend recently accused me of "liking everything". Despite the Brits believing they have a trademark on bitterness, I have been known to have my fare share. Still, I dare you not to like a town with a landmark like this statue.

Also has great beer...

oThe second day trip was to Bruges which was less bloody than  Colin Farrells trip. Bruges is a quaint medieval town based on a series of canals. The weather was miserable driving away the bulk of the visitors. The first stop on our wander was the Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk, a 13th century church which houses a Madonna by Michelangelo. The piece was quite small but it was clear to even my uneducated eye that it was vastly superior to the works that surrounded it. 

  

The rest of day was spend strolling the old and new parts of town. Just walking around....with Frittes and beer. Are you starting to see the pattern of my trip?  

Also everyone should see In Bruges. As all can think of when I look at my vacation photos is chase scenes. 

Bruges had its fair share of heart break as well. For example I really really needed to see the holy blood of Christ at the Heilig-Bloedbasiliek. I am obsessed with relics. Not because of some misguided belief in their authenticity but because of the objects have a terrifically morbid history.  The vial of blood was brought to the city in the 12th century and is paraded annually through town.  The viral may have arrived in Bruges after the sacking of Constantinople, a fact that would make the object more than worthy of a parade around town. The heartbreak comes in when we discovered that the vial is only on veneration for a few hours every week and that we missed the relic by 20 minutes. 

These angels are holding all of my hopes and dreams. 

It wasn't a complete loss. The Basilica was one of the prettiest I had ever seen. Every pillar, every wall, every surface as painted in bright colors. The paint is young by European standards (just over 100 years old)  and the colors help is stand out in my mind from all of the other Flanders style churches.

We then returned to Brussels for one more day of, say it with me now, Beer and Frittes. Oh and if you ever find yourself in lovely Brussels make sure you get frittes at the stand behind the European Parliament. They were the best i've tasted. And trust me, I ate a lot of frittes.