Cook. Travel. Eat. The Adventures of Kurt and Cristina

Eglise Sainte-Catherine

Our last city in Europe, Brussels, is just a short three hour train ride from Amsterdam. It took a little time to figure out their public transportation system especially since we had to make sure that it covered transportation to the airport.

Brussels doesn’t really have a lot of must do things that aren’t food related. This made it a perfect last city for our trip. We could just relax. Our hotel was right outside of the city center in a charming little neighborhood. An old church with grimy rustic appeal (and I mean that as a compliment) was right next to our church. The square next to us was full of restaurants and apparently a large Spanish population.

We headed to the Grand-Place to have supper. When in Brussels, you must have the mussels and fries, so I did. A large pot of mussels cooked in white wine and garlic sat in front of me. Cristina went with a chicken dish. We sat outside in the middle of the square which was being transformed into a staging area for a joust. We then went find a Belgium waffle and some chocolate for presents.

A View of Brussels

The Grand-Place in Brussels

The Grand-Place in Brussels

The Grand-Place in Brussels

The Grand-Place in Brussels

The Grand-Place in Brussels

Cristina in The Grand-Place in Brussels

Kurt with his mussels

At this point, our hearts weren’t into traveling anymore. We missed our bed. We missed Naya, our cat. We missed not doing anything. We were tired. We needed sleep. Unfortunately for us but great for my cousin Mary, Spain won that night and the neighborhood went nuts. Vuvuzelas argued all night with car horns. Not a restful night to say the least.

The next day we went out without an agenda. We basically walked around and did more shopping. We visited the Tin-Tin store. We went look at Manneken Pis.  We discussed the difference in definitions of pralines with a chocolateer. We ate more waffles. We ate Mexican food because we were too tired to walk any further. We went back to the hotel and slept.

A perfect treat

Manneken Pis in Brussels

The next morning we wearily made our way to the airport. Then we made our way home with a lifetime of memories and a desire to make even more.

Related articles

• Why Brussels? – Brussels, Belgium (travelpod.com)