Brussels and the Belgian essentials: chocolate, waffles, fries and beer!

All right, here comes a long overdue post: my weekend trip to Brussels. I'm stuffing it all into one long post so bear with me! I had bought my ticket in December last year (for a cheap €65 round trip), but I forgot to take into account that early February was still winter. So when I arrived in Brussels, it was pretty cold! I did manage to explore the city and have a good time, and all in all it was a nice weekend trip.

I arrived on Friday evening, so I just had a simple supermarket dinner and rested up so I could start early the next day. The Belgium city center is pretty small, so I spent the day just walking around. They do have a metro, but I didn't have to take it since I just stuck to the city center. I walked the 15 minutes from my hostel towards the center and came upon my first stop: the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, a shopping arcade with vaulted glass ceilings. Built in 1847, it's one of Europe's first shopping arcades.

The Saint-Hubert Galleries stretch 200 meters and are divided into three parts: the Galerie de la Reine (of the Queen), the Galerie du Roi (of the King), and the Galerie des Princes (of the Princes). In the past, you actually had to pay to enter the galleries, but now, they can be visited for free.

The gallery is lined with boutiques, restaurants, and even a cinema.

Many of the boutiques are chocolate shops, selling some of that chocolate that Belgium is so famous for.

Next I headed to the touristic heart of the city: the Grand Place (in French) or Grote Markt (Dutch). In Brussels, most people speak French, but Dutch is also an official language in Belgium, so you will see several street names and landmarks listed in both French and Dutch.

Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it was rebuilt after a French bombing in the 15th century. It houses the city's Town Hall, the City Museum, and several fancy (i.e. pricey) cafés and chocolate shops. This beautiful cobblestone square is decorated with flowers in the summer, and the whole square turns into one big flower carpet. That would be really lovely to see one day!

The City Hall

It was quite gloomy most of the day, and the light wasn't great either, so my pictures came out so and so. And I'm no camera expert, so I tried my best. Haha.

Me with the City Hall

The comic strip culture is big in Belgium and Brussels. The country has 650 professional comic artists, and is the largest concentration of comic strip authors per square kilometer in the world.There are several comic strip murals on walls across the city. This is the first one I stumbled upon, and it was completely by chance. And it just so happened to be of Tintin, which brought back nice childhood memories since I grew up reading the comics.

Tintin mural along Rue de l'Étuve

Of course, no trip to Brussels is complete without a visit to the Manneken Pis. Brussel's famous peeing boy has actually been named one of the most disappointing landmarks because of its small size. I knew though that the statue was small, so I wasn't disappointed myself. There are several different stories on what he symbolizes. According to my guide map, the legend goes that "he put out a fuse from a canon while peeing, but the truth is less exciting: statues of peeing boys used to indicate where the poor could sell their urine to leatherworkers." The statue really wasn't anything much, but it was fun to visit nevertheless. He's even dressed up in costumes several times a year (he has a Spanish costume, a Santa costume, etc.), but he was just plain ole naked when I visited. You can actually view the costumes at the City Museum at the Grand Place.

The tiny Manneken Pis

And then I tried my first of Belgium's finest: waffles! I popped into a store to buy one, but they also have these cute waffle trucks all over the city.

I kept mine simple with just some Nutella smothered on top. Delicious!

I then decided to walk to the South of the city, and saw more comic strip murals. Bobo moment: I only found out on the second day that my map actually stated where the comic strip murals can be found. But it was okay, cause there was something fun in just stumbling upon them when you turn a corner. ;)

Comic strip murals and cobblestone streets

I made it to the flea market at Place de Jeu de Balle, which is a huge square with an assortment of the most really random things. Everyday local vendor set up shop and leave at around 2pm. They sometimes leave some of their things behind which you can just pick up.

Next I walked up to the Palais de Justice / Justitiepaleis (Palace of Justice), which is the largest building constructed in the 19th century. It wasn't much really, but it was located on a hill, and you got a nice view of the city from up there.

Square outside the Palace

Palais de Justice

Another comic strip mural I happened upon...

It was so cold so I frequently ducked into several churches to warm up a bit. Just a bit, because the churches were cold too.

Notre-Dame de la Chapelle

 I spent some time praying and admired the lovely interiors while I was at it. This one was the Notre-Dame de la Chapelle, a large Romanesque-Gothic church.

Then I popped into another nearby church, Église Notre-Dame du Sablon.

I ventured onto Grand Sablon which had many beautiful Art Nouveau buildings. There are several aintque shops and restaurants along the road. You'll also find the fancy and pricey chocolate stores in this square (think Godiva, Wittamer, Neuhaus, etc).

Grand Sablon

Grand Sablon

This building below was the Museum of Musical Instruments. I didn't go to the museum though, just stood outside admiring the gorgeous Art Nouveau building.

I was supposed to meet a friend of my sister's so we could check out the Magritte Museum, but she was unfortunately sick. I headed to the Palais Des Beaux Arts anyway to check it out. The Palais Des Beaux Arts (Royal Museums of Fine Arts) actually contains six different museums, and a student discount combined ticket is just €3! I originally just wanted to go to the Magritte Museum, but at €3, I just ended up visiting all. The museums were pretty small, but it was still such a steal.

The ticket allowed me to visit the Old Masters Museum, Modern Museum, Fin-de-siècle Museum, Wiertz Museum, Meunier Museum, and the Magritte Museum. I enjoyed the Fin-de-siècle the  most which had several Impressionist works. The Magritte Museum was also great though. It actually had a notice that several of its works were on loan to the Art Institute of Chicago, which was the exhibit I had visited last year.

For merienda I tried some of Belgium's famous fries. Apparently what makes them so good is that they are baked twice on different temperatures. I headed to one of the many friture or frietkot (Belgian fries shop), and ordered a small serving of fries.

A frietkot or friture

I tried some with the traditional mayonnaise on top, and they did not disappoint. So good and so filling, you can eat it as a meal.

Like I mentioned earlier, Belgium has a pretty big comic strip culture. My second to the last stop of the day was the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée (Comic Strip Center). It had the history of comics strips plus exhibits on several Belgian comic strip artists. I especially loved the exhibit of Hergé and Tintin.

There was also a big exhibit on the famous little blue dwarfs, the Smurfs, who were invented by the Belgian comic strip artists Peyo. There were many more other Belgian comic greats who I hadn't heard of, so it was nice to read up on them.

Then I heard mass at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula to end the night. This gothic cathedral started out as a small chapel in the 9th century, and has since expanded throughout the years into the church that it is today. Fun fact: it's also the place where Belgian royalty gets married.

It started to rain a bit, plus it was really cold, so I just had dinner then headed back to my hostel. The next day, I got up early again and decided to explore the East of the city, on a route that my map dubbed the "European Walk." It took me first near the poorer parts of the city, which is evident in the building styles and streets.

I continued walking east to what is an Art Nouveau area. I spent some time at Square Marie Louise Plein which was once a swampy area (it wasn't much now in the winter, but must be nicer in the summer). Aside from the one remaining lake, the other creeks and swamps were paved over, and it became a residential neighborhood. The city decided spruce it up some more and ordered the houses to be built with a beautiful façade and decorative ornaments. Thus, Art Nouveau houses are found in this area. 

From Square Marie Louise Plein I walked up Avenue Palmerston which was lined with more Art Nouveau houses.

I then headed to Schuman Square which is the center of the European quarter. It's really nothing much; just a random rotonda with some buildings that house the European Council and the European Commission.

The "heart" of Europe. Okaaay.

A short walk from Schuman Square is the Parc du Cinquantenaire / Jubelpark, a large public park commemorating Belgium's 50th anniversary of its independence. At the head of the park is its Arc de Triomphe / Triomfboog, and there are also several museums in the park. 

Next, I checked out the market at Place Jourdan, bought some food, then braved the cold and ate in Parc Léopold / Leopolspark (Leopold Park). The sun managed to come out, and I had a nice couple of minutes of warmth while eating my llunch.

Now Belgium is also famous for its beer, so I couldn't leave without trying at least one! Its beer making history goes back centuries, and is estimated to have around 700 different kinds of beer.

This one is my sister's favorite, but I'm just not a big beer fan.

Right behind Leopold Park was my last stop on the walk: the European Parliament. Another random fun fact: the building was built "by accident" as an office center. However it contained the exact number of offices needed by the EU, so when the EU had to choose a place to settle, they chose that building.

The EU Parliament with its flags

The EU Parliament

I was then supposed to meet up with another friend, but she too was sick, so I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some pasalubong (souvenir) shopping.

The Belgian essentials: chocolate, waffles, fries, and beer!

It was a really nice quick trip to Brussels. The city may not be the prettiest, but its little quirks like the food (I'm still dreaming of those fries) and Art Nouveau buildings and houses give it some charm. I'd love to come back when it's much warmer though and see other cities like Bruges or Ghent.