Blog
5th - 9th April 2007
Belgium - Food Glorious Food!!
To sum up Belgium in one word...food!! And lots of it..All we ate while
we were there was waffles, mussels, chips and chocolate..oh and
beer...the perfect diet!
Day
1: Arrive
in Brussels
Our trip started early (5.15am) to be exact. We caught the bus from our
place to Waterloo station, where we caught the Eurostar train at 8am.
The Eurostar is the best way to travel from London to Europe. Its
comparable in price to flights, but takes less time in terms of mucking
around at airports and security. The journey from London to Brussels
took 2 hours. I thought I would get a glimpse of the tunnel connecting
London to France, but surprise, surprise, I was asleep within 10
minutes of the journey!
We arrived in Brussels at around 11am (they're1 hour ahead of London).
Most of the day was taken up wondering the cobbled stone streets and
checking out the amazing food.
Things to do in Brussels:
- Visit the Grand Place. It is considered to be one of the
most
beautiful squares in Europe and I must admit it does live up to it
reputation!
- Explore the Atonium
- Shop at Avenue Louise. Lots of flagships stores from all
around
Europe
- Eat as much chocolate as possible..after all apparently the
people of Belgium consume up to 8kg of chocolate a year!
- Drink lots of the Belgium Beer!
|
|
Starting
the journey on
the Eurostar to Brussels
|
All
rugged up on the
train..we
were asleep within 10
minutes of this photo
|
|
|
Arriving
in
Brussels
|
"Grand
Place"..the main
square in Brussels (where we spent most of our time) |
|
|
| Nav
posing in the centre
of Grand Place. The building behind him is actually a hotel |
Waffles!
Nav
digging into
some mean chocolate and cream waffles..
|
|
|
The
hips had a definite
workout in Belgium!
|
Some
of the city sights
(or more commonly known as, I forgot where this was taken!)
|
 |
 |
| The
5am
starts are a bit
too much! |
"Mannekin
Piss" (how
ironic)..a very popular statue of a little boy, well pissing! There
were
tons of people standing next to us taking pictures, so we're not the
only weirdos. Legend is he saved the city thousands of years ago from a
burning blaze by doing what he does best! |
|
|
Our
aim was
to try a new
beer everyday...
|
Note:
Chimay, whilst it
looks good, may
not be the best beer to try!
|
Day
2:
Day Trip to Brugge
Brugge is a small town an hour away from Brussels. It is very
picturesque and looks like something out of an old movie. The town is
mostly for tourists, but is definitely worth a visit.
The must do's in Brugge are:
- Take a canal ride around the town
- Check out the old Market Place and climb the 366 steps of
the
Medieval Belfry (I wanted to do this, but Nav was a bit sick on the day)
- See Michelangelo's Madonna & Child in the Church of
our Lady
- Take a stroll along the Lake of Love
- Take a tour of Chocostory - the story of chocolate.
Highlight of the
tour is definitely the free chocolate at the end!
 |
 |
We
arrive at Bruggge
station having caught one of the local link trains
|
Ashika
having a rest on a
park bench on the walk from Brugge station to the town centre
|
 |
 |
| The
same park from a
different angle |
Canals
surround the main
town area of Brugge and canal rides a quite a popular tourist activity. |
 |
 |
Our
boat awaits us..
|
Striking
a pose
|
 |
 |
Trying
to take a pic on
the boat without losing control
|
Shots
from the boat..
|
 |
 |
The
bridges are some of
the highlights of the cruise..
|
The
cathedrals in Brugge
are very spectacular
|
 |
 |
The
views from one of the
hotels
|
Shots
from the canal tour |
 |
 |
| Shots
from the canal tour |
Shots
from the canal tour |
 |
 |
| Shots
from the canal tour |
Shots
from the canal tour |
 |
 |
| Shots
from the canal tour |
Shots
from the canal tour
|
 |
 |
Shots
from the canal tour
|
Shots
from the canal tour
|
 |
 |
The
Medieval Belfry
|
Nav
posing in the old
Market Place
|
 |
 |
Mr and
Mrs Chand
|
The
old Market Place
|
 |
 |
I
recommend a tour of the
Chocolate factory
|
The
free chocolate at the
end of the tour
|
 |
 |
Digging
into the
chocolate..yumm!
|
The
pretty swans
|
 |
 |
Nav
trying to read a
map..it's upside down honey :)
|
The
Medieval Belfry..If
you dare take the 366 steps up to the top, the view is supposedly
amazing!
|
 |
 |
The
Lake of Love
|
Trying
to get a photo at
every opportunity
|
 |
 |
The
Lake of love
|
Getting
romantic whilst
walking along the lake of love
|
 |
 |
A trip
to the local pub
is always a must
|
Coconut
and Banana
Beer..yumm! Don't diss it until you've tried it..
|
Day
3: A
visit to Mini-Europe
If you have ever been to Cockington Green in Canberra, Mini Europe is
essentially like that. The park is full of mini replicas of European
cities and monuments. It is very pretty and the intricacies in which
the cities are created is amazing. The Eiffel Tower especially is quite
spectacular. Well worth the visit!
 |
 |
| The
Atomium, used in the
1958 world fair. There are lookout points in 4 of the balls (there a 9
to represent the 9 regions of Belgium). The top ball has a restaurant.
The atomium is meant to represent a dna strain. |
Eiffel
tower in
Mini-Europe |
 |
 |
| Big
ben in Mini-Europe |
Nav
dressed as a viking
warrior!! As if! |
 |
 |
| Dutch
countryside in
Mini-Europe |
|
 |
 |
| Ashika
dressed as a
British Guard. |
Big
ben again |
 |
 |
| Nav
and Ashika in front
of the Eiffel tower. |
Ashika
on the other side
of the arc de triomphe |
 |
 |
| The
Greek pantheon |
The
ancient Olympic
stadium |
 |
 |
| Ashika
trying to hold the
Leaning Tower of Pisa up |
Nav
actually doing a
better job (and only using one hand!!)
|
 |
 |
Nav
dressed as a dutch
farmer
|
Nav
loves posing for
photos
|
 |
 |
| Ashika
loves posing even
more |
Replica
of the Greek ruins
|
 |
 |
Nav
digging into banana
and ice cream waffles (one of the many we had during out trip!!)
|
The
Grand Place at night
|
 |
|
| The
Grand Place at night
again |
|
Day
4:
Sight-seeing around Brussels
On our last day in Brussels, we took in a bus city sightseeing tour.
These tours are a great way to see the city, without getting cramps in
your legs the next day!
During the tour we got to see the Royal Palace, the Botanical Gardens,
the countless bars and restaurants and much more.
Note: These 'City Sightseeing' tours are everywhere in Europe (and also
other parts of the world). Keep your tickets, as
you can get 10% off the next trip!
 |
 |
City
sightseeing, the company we went with. We have used these buses in
other places like Oxford, Cambridge, Dubai etc
|
Obligatory
morning photo with
the Nav's 'long reach arm' method!
|
 |
 |
| Royal
palace |
Random
photo from the bus
|
 |
 |
Random
Cathedral
|
Palace
of Justice
(currently
under re-construction)
|
 |
 |
Obelisk
commemorating
fallen
soldiers from WW1 and WW2
|
The
main Cathedral in
Brussels
|
 |
 |
Random
Gardens
|
The
Royal Palace (again!)
|
 |
 |
Saint-Catherine
Church
|
The
summer residence of
the Hapsburg family. It was from here that Napoleon declared war on
Germany many years ago (theres a bit of history for you! and who said
we never pay attention to tour guides!)
|
 |
 |
The
Atomium again. The 9
balls represent the 9 provinces of Belgium.
|
Another
Cathedral
|
 |
 |
S-T-E-L-L-A!!!!!!
|
Botanic
Gardens
|
 |
 |
Nav
& Ashika at the
Botanic
Gardens
|
Nav
posing again (will
this ever end!)
|
Belgium was a beautiful country and well worth the trip. Stay tuned for
our next adventure...:)
For those of you who may be planning to go, here are some tips: -
Belgium
tips
- Stay near the Grand Place. We stayed at Hotel Bedford,
which was
a great and central hotel. It was close to the city centre and walking
distance to the Eurostar terminal. The hotel itself was pretty good.
Not 4* quality, but decent rooms and a good breakfast buffet
- Eat as much mussels, chocolate, waffles and chips as you
can!
- Drink as much beer as you can. There are 400 different
variety of
beers in Belgium. Our favourites include banana and coconut...yummm!!!!
- When travelling to Belgium, it's good to spend at lease 2
days in
Brussels, a day in Brugge and if you have time, either a day trip to
Gent or Antwerp. Enjoy!
