MKNonline Blog

I was watching In Brugesthe other day and it reminded me I never finished my vacation series.

Stunning little canals, colorful townhomes, quiet, desolate cobblestone streets, and lots of chocolate. Every 100 paces or so in this town could go on a postcard.

We never really intended to go see Bruges, but Brussels was a bit of a bust. On a suggestion that Bruges was a must-see, I pushed for Plan B to only minor resistance (Ezeibe wanted to stay in, relax, and use the internet…no comment). Our Brussels hotel, Le Meridien, was conveniently right across the street from the local train station. Even better, there was a train promotion that got us round trip tickets to Bruges for 8euros each. Huzzah for cheap daytrips!

The train ride to the countryside was pretty spectacular. I didn’t get a seat in the crowded cabins, so I hung out by the doors feeling like a stowaway. I didn’t even bother taking a seat when some became available. Just me and lots of green grass, small village rooftops, an occasional windmill, and European countryside whizzing by. Pretty great.

When we got to Bruges, it was just a day of strolling. It’s great when there are no expectations of a place, and you can just explore. We just wandered aimlessly (surprise) and got lost amongst the cobblestone streets and small parks. No one minded a bit. Bruges was utterly charming. The canals were smaller, but just as stunning as Amsterdam’s. Nothing is big and pretentious here. Long lines and plenty of people about shopping those post-Christmas sales in the boutiques and in the Christmas markets, but still, it never felt all that crowded to me.

Nothing like a stroll down a canal to lighten the mood

You know a place a is pretty romantic when there are horse-drawn carriages on cobblestone and brick.

Zeebs and Alan have an epic chess match.

The canal bridges are worth the visit alone

The Good:
- The three of us, after being fairly thrifty thus far, practically bought out a small chocolate shop. The prices seemed reasonable and Ezeibe brought up a good point: Who doesn’t love chocolate? It was the perfect gift to bring home. We tallied up close to a 100euro bill each on chocolate. I ended up eating most of mine before giving it to my friends. So if you never got a souvenir from me, now you know. The owner was awesome, claimed he ate chocolate every day, with every meal. I kind of worried for his teeth, but his passion for chocolate only led me to buy more chocolate. In comparison, there were some super fancy chocolate shops we passed that wouldn’t even allow you in the store without dropping 50euros on their chocolate.
- Besides the chocolate, all the other food we had in Bruges was amazing too. 2euro frites. Might have been the tastiest fries yet, and definitely the cheapest we had come across. I also made Alan and Ezeibe stop everything to order a bratwurst dog in the Christmas market. Every bite was orgasmic. It rivaled the first dinner in France. Ezeibe ended up eating half of it, which annoyed me greatly. He should know that my definition of sharing is 80/20.

The Bad:
- Locals would be crazy to be in the medieval section of town during the day. The tourists literally run rampant through the village. It kind of felt like we were just going through an outdoor museum of sorts, as there were no signs of local life. Just tourists and out-of-towners.

Beautiful houses, but anyone home?

- Going back from the train station, we got back with some time to spare before our train departed. So we grab a seat in the station lobby and rest our feet. Not smart. When we got to the train platform, the train was already packed in with people who were smart enough to wait in the platform rather than the lobby.
- There’s a belfry tower in the middle of Bruges, but we decided the line was too long and too expensive to go up. I still kind of regret that. I think the view would’ve been spectacular.
- Alan and Ezeibe didn’t let me go ice skating in the Christmas Market.

No ugly from Bruges. It was the perfect way to spend our last day.

We got back with a whole evening to enjoy. Ezeibe and I decided to spend even more money and buy more chocolate by our hotel. You can never have enough chocolate.

Hot choco by the Brussels chocolate shop. I'll take a Venti please.

Our last supper would ironically be at a Vietnamese/Thai restaurant. We kind of just wandered into Vietnamtown part of Brussels while searching for another restaurant and just ended up there. Ezeibe wanted to get back quickly to watch a documentary on world religions (don’t ask). My parents would’ve been pleased. We ordered off the prix-fixed menu and had another minor paella incident when Alan and I thought a 3-course meal for two people meant we were splitting the cost of the meal, which was reasonable. Instead, it meant, we were both paying the cost listed on the menu. Alan and I were not pleased. I also remember dessert taking a ridiculously long time, because I think they forgot about us, but it was still delicious.

Ezeibe had left halfway through dinner to try to catch his documentary. It turns out he got the time wrong and it didn’t even start for another hour or something. Alan and I got drinks at our English pub we found the other day and watched some European football. I again tried to convince Alan to do karaoke at said pub, but we didn’t quite know where it was going on (turns out it was in the building next door) so we joined Ezeibe and his documentary.

We packed ourselves up and got an early night’s sleep, because tomorrow, after 16 days of traveling together, we were finally going home! And you had no idea how exciting of a prospect that was.

After one of the most memorable New Year’s I’ve had, it was time to head off to Brussels.

And another train station, another debacle. You see, it doesn’t matter that we got there a full hour before the train departed at 8AM (quite an accomplishment after last night’s New Year’s). Why? Because I had forgotten to pick up our tickets in France. You know, when we nearly missed the train to Amsterdam.

I pre-ordered our tickets in France, which meant we could only pick it up there. This dawned on me as the ticket machine failed on me once again. The lady manning the ticket counter expressed her sympathies, but I still had to purchase three new tickets at full price. Ouch. She offered to book tickets to the train leaving in two minutes. The thought bubbles rose from my head of the last time we tried to catch a train with only two minutes and I refused. I didn’t tell Alan or Ezeibe of this oversight until a good week after the trip out of shame.

Brussels got off to a bad start, when the three of us spent a good half an hour trying to figure out how to get to the hotel. Alan believed we could walk. I thought a metro would be more fitting. Ezeibe wanted to get a cab. Ezeibe won out, and it was a good decision, as the hotel was miles away from the train station. In the process, Ezeibe accused Alan of being a racist while cab driver and I stared at each other uncomfortably.

We stayed at a Starwood Le Meridien hotel in the heart of the tourist area. Great location, fancy hotel, except I booked the room for two instead of three (I actually had no choice). I was too chicken to ask for an extra cot because of our reservation thinking that I might get charged more. I volunteered to sleep on the floor the remainder of the trip because the other two were too diva about their sleeping arrangements.

Unfortunately, almost everything was closed because it was the day after New Year’s. Hungry from traveling, we basically chose the first restaurant that sold food. It ended being a big but cramped cafe that served delicious Belgian waffles and frites. The Belgians, much like the Dutch, know how to make fries. I can’t stress how much I miss them.

The streets were definitely quieter, and that silence had its own charms. We saw Royal Palais, the big plaza with these insanely ornate facades surrounding it. Behind those facades, nothing really struck our fancy or was closed.

Alan snaps a few picks of Royal-Palais. This square is the definition of ornate.

And therein lies our issue. After seeing two amazing cities with spectacular scenic views and cultural museums, Brussels really couldn’t measure up. I think we would have been more impressed if we started off here, but by Day 15, it was simply charming, not really cathartic.

If you ever go to Brussels, you will inevitably go to the pissing statue, Mannekin-Pis. I can tell you to no end that it is a huge disappointment, but you will still go. It happened to me, it will happen to you. The issue is that Brussels markets Mannekin-Pis to all get out, that you’re brainwashed into believing that this tiny fountain is a must-see. Only in Brussels can a statue smaller than a bedside lamp of a little boy peeing can be a major tourist draw. It’s an interesting case study on how to attract stupid tourists, I’m sure.

Unofficial slogan: No, really, that's it. Now go buy a keychain.

Really, that’s all we saw. We chilled in a cool bookstore/record shop for a bit, thought about going to a beer museum, but otherwise, we were scratching our heads what to do next. Ezeibe’s answer was charging my hotel room with 20€ internet. My and Alan’s answer was to drink at the local Irish pub a few blocks away. That pub was awesome because of their strong Belgian beers, European football matches, and the fact that karaoke happens most evenings. No, we didn’t go to karaoke. Yes, I regret it.

For dinner, we ate at Le Cap, on the recommendation of the concierge. Apparently, it was a pretty trendy restaurant that served local Belgian cuisine at a very reasonable price. We all walked out of dinner fairly pleased with the recommendation. Ezeibe even tried a mojito.