Chocolate, Waffles, and Beer

Hello from Belgium!

Over the weekend, my friends and I visited Brussels and Bruges, best known for their chocolate, waffles, and beer! It was fantastic! To make it even more amazing, Belgian people speak both English and French. It was so nice to be able to ask for help in the language that I know best. Also, they use the same currency so I didn't need to go exchange my euros. All in all, Belgium was a very convenient trip for a student in Paris and it was an amazing country because of the friendly people, the beautiful sites, and most importantly, the food. Here are some highlights of our trip. 

We took a bus from Paris to Brussels in the morning. I started off my day with a quick ham and cheese sandwich. It's very Parisian and very delicious.

We arrived in Brussels!!! It was a beautiful day out. I didn't add any filters or edits to this image, the sky was actually this blue.

We dropped off our luggages at the hostel (much more affordable than a hotel for traveling college students, and very safe if you travel with friends). We couldn't check in till three so we locked up our stuff in their luggage storage and headed back out. I thought it was hilarious that they sold waffles in their vending machines. There was no way I was settling for this one euro snack when I could go out for the one euro street waffles that everyone recommended.

We decided to spend a day at Bruges, a neighboring city only an hour away by train. It's a quiet city with beautiful little houses and cobble stoned streets. Bruges was a more picturesque version Brussels. It's a very walkable city and it sold more chocolate than we could fathom. 

Check out this store front with a Queen of Hearts figure made entirely of chocolate. 

Galler sells the most delicious chocolate eggs. I'm pretty sure that's a fact. It was just a coincidence that we visited as the chocolate stores started to sell their Easter goods. The holiday was still a month and a half away but the stores were all decorated with bunnies and eggs.

The Belfry of Bruge is humongous. It's a great way to navigate and find your way back to the middle of the city. 

Bruges is known for their lace as well. Their intricate hand-made lace is wonderful. You'll find a lot of lace shops along with the chocolate and waffles. 

We went back to Brussels for our second day in Belgium and guess where we stopped first?

The waffles were amazing and the plain ones sell for only one euro! I recommend adding strawberries and whipped cream. Yum. 

The front of this chocolate store was lined with bars of chocolate. It looked and smelled like chocolate heaven.

What is Belgium without beer? Hellena and I toasted to the beautiful country with "silly beer" at a cafe called Peck 47. It was such a nice day out that we were able to have lunch outside. We all ordered dishes with poached eggs which were highly recommended online. They were so good and cooked perfectly! I had mine with ham and an English muffin. It was amazing! The line waiting to get into the restaurant shows how great this cafe is. It is a must try.

More chocolate!

A friend of mine says that the reason why the fries in Belgium are so delicious is because they are deep fried in animal fat twice. This makes them twice as good. (Usually, there is a sauce that they drench the fries with but I'm picky and I skipped it. If you are a sauce person, you are really in for a treat.)

Did I mention chocolates because the chocolate is absolutely amazing as well and great for souvenirs. 

Missing you already Belgium,

Gwen