We made it! (9/10/09)

After the PDX hotel alarm clock went off at 4:15 A.M., we shuttled down to the airport and boarded around 6:30. We had a connecting flight in Chicago and a short layover in Dulles. In Dulles, we were met by Trixie's dad Bing and her friends Yanigni and Dan for a short visit and a coffee.



The flight to Brussels from Dulles was about 7 hours we think. We landed in Brussels around 7:30 A.M. on September 10th so basically cost us a day in travel. I had the chance to order my first coffee in French (cafe americano regular) at the airport. Too easy...



We took the train from the airport to the city center for 6 euros and then connected on the smaller metro train for a few more euros. We should have packed lighter!

We walked from the Sainte Katherine Church to our hotel, The Hotel Atlas. Nice rooms, clean, simple. After a quick nap to catch up (1 hour turned into 5 hour nap) we walked to the Grande Place to check things out. Beautiful buildings, shops, cafes, bars, etc.



















We stopped at a bar/cafe and tried to order our first Belgian beer and a cheese platter. I guess our French wasn't quite as good as I thought. But we got the beers at least (a Maredsous Blonde draft and Maredsous Brune). We walked back to the Grande Place for an order of frites (Belgian twice fried fries). Mmmmmm!



After going back to the Atlas Hotel to freshen up, we tried dinner at a local restaurant, La Villette. We ordered in French again...this time with better success. Trix had a nice salmon in a cream butter sauce with vegetables and I had moules au vin (mussels in a white wine w/ vegetables) which I hear are a local dish. We loved them both. Trix had a Belgian Trippel and I tried a Trappist Saint Sixtus from Westvleteren. Evidently, the beer is not distributed and quite rare. [read more at: http://www.whitebeertravels.co.uk/sixtus.html] The restaurant/bar must pick it up at the monastery only! Dinner was followed by a delicious creme brulee.







After dinner we walked back to our hotel, first stopping by a convenience store to cap off our evening with a Belgium Geuzze (sour Lambic) followed by a great night's sleep!

That was our first day in Belgium. Tomorrow we will explore some sights around town.