Brussels sans les moules... (9/11/09)

Friday, we awoke to partly sunny skies and some wind. I have found I wake very early over here (unlike at home!) which is perfect for recapping honeymoon blogs as Trixie sleeps. We first tried out the hotel's breakfast which is included in our stay. Trix loved the baguettes, lattes, cheeses, etc. There was even a station set up to hard boil your own eggs. Great way to start the day.

After breakfast, we decided to explore the city a bit more. We went downtown to exchange some dollars for euros. We spent most of the day doing this as the exchange rate was not very favorable. In doing this, we got to explore many sights, galleries (malls with many H&Ms!!!), a university, some government buildings, a huge library, and banks. We also bought a couple Francais to Anglais books to help us around town. After walking around most of Brussels, we found a gold exchange business with the best rate (about 1.47 dollars per euro -ouch!). We also tried our first Belgian waffle au chaude. Epic.























With money in hand we were finally able to eat lunch. An Italian pizzaria near the Grande Place worked out fine. We shared a Margherita pizza which was awesome and sampled a few beers as well. Trix had a Leffe Blonde while I tried a draught Maes Pilsner.



After lunch, we went in search of Le Mannekin de Pis which if I have this correct means the little boy peeing! Evidentally, people from all over send outfits for this famous little statue to wear. Check out the latest here...





From there we went in search of the Belgian beer Museum. After looking all over the Grande Place, we found it right in front of our eyes in the middle of the center/square. You get a look at some primitive brewing equipment, watch a video, and receive a free sample of a "special" unnamed beer. But the best part was watching Trix speak fired up French with the beer guy since he overcharged us! And, she won. We got the correct change finally. Honest mistake.





After a nap back at the hotel (vacation is pretty rough), we walked nearby our hotel for dinner. There was an outdoor concert going on with Techno/Trance/House music or something like that. We would come back to check that out after dinner. We ended up walking around for a while until deciding on a Thai Restaurant. We shared an excellent spicy seafood soup, Trix had shrimp in yellow curry, and I had Lamb Panang all served in these candle heated clay bowls. Once again, it was all delicious. Trix switched it up to a vin au rougue and I tried a very light tasting Velek Extra Blonde which is made by Duvel. I hear this beer is popular with the younger Belgians due to clever marketing and its session beer style.



Instead of dessert, we decided to stop in at a pub we passed earlier near the outdoor concert called Monk. We sat outside and people watched. Fun to watch the younger crowd enjoying the music, laughing, and celebrating. It looked like they enjoyed their beers too! For a dessert drink, Trix tried a few Belgian krieks from Mort Subite, which is a lambic made with cherries. A lambic is made like beer but uses spontaneous fermentation from wild yeasts and is matured softly and slowly in oak casks for years. The addition of fruit adds additional flavors. Trix loved this one as it doesn't taste like a typical beer but more like a non sweet fruity champagne although that description doesn't do it justice. I went first with a draught Palm Pale, a nice bitter/sweet balanced beer. These two beers only cost 5 Euro!!! For a nightcap to the nightcap, I had a Trappist Chimay Cinq Cents/White/Tripel on tap which was, as always, great!







That did it for night two in Brussels. Tomorrow, we will travel by train to Roselare to our next hotel. This is where our bicycle trip will begin. We also will probably have to scrap our minimal French knowledge for some Dutch. Wish us luck!

We are not sure if our next hotel(s) have wifi, so it may be a few days until we're able to update the blog.

A bientot!

Abe and Trix