Brussels, Belgium

Thursday, 14 November - Saturday, 16 November 2019

Thursday, 14 November 2019
We arrived at the train station before 9:30 AM since we didn't know what to expect.  We bought breakfast and went through security which was pretty much just metal detectors.  Unlike flying, there are little restrictions to what you can carry on board, so liquids are fine and we didn't have to take our electronics from the bags.

We finally were allowed to board the train, so we found our seats and enjoyed the two hour train ride from London to Brussels.  I know this shot is blurry, but it was the only photo we took on the train.  It was taken while we were in the Chunnel though.

Blurry photo going through the Chunnel

We arrived in Brussels and had a bit of a walk to get to our AirBnB.  The guy is supposed to meet us there, but said that he was running late.   That's OK...the walk is longer than I anticipated.  With our bags, it took us over 20 minutes to arrive, but the guy still wasn't there.  He finally showed after about 15 minutes and apologized and said he had to go to the doctor because of a strange growth on his arm...hum.  We went upstairs and he told us that he also didn't get a chance to clean the apartment because of having to go the the doctor.  Needless to say, we weren't very happy, but there is a good beer bar just down the street where we could go to while he cleaned.

As we were walking to the bar, after only about 10 minutes after leaving the apartment, he texted me to tell me the apartment was ready.  Hum...that was way to fast for the place to actually be clean.  I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but Tim was wanting to catch him and question him in the apartment over cleanliness, so we returned to the apartment, but he was already gone.  This was one of very few times we considered contacting AirBnB and saying that we were not satisfied with the place we were in.  We inspected the apartment and it really was pretty clean.  I could tell that he did change out the sheets and towels, so we went with it, although not very happy.

Now back to that beer bar.  As you can see, even the great beer did not satisfy us since we were still a bit upset with the housing situation.

OK...time to find some mussels for dinner.  I found a few places on my phone, but decided to return to the place we went 2 years ago during our first trip to Brussels.  It was a good as we remembered it.

After dinner, we walked around a little and then returned to the apartment for the night.

Friday, 15 November 2019
Today we slept in walked around a little bit.  During our walk we managed to find 2 breweries:

Brussels Beer Project brewery

Brasserie de l'Ermitage

After a day of walking around, eating, and drinking Belgium beer, we returned to the apartment to relax.

Saturday, 16 November 2019
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMMY!  To start the big celebration, we returned to Brasserie Cantillon, one of the top breweries in the world that brew lambic (sour) beers.  The last time we were in Brussels, we did the tour.  Today, we are going straight to the tasting room.  You can not buy this beer in the United States, so we plan on drinking till we are full.

We had a couple of glasses of beer that they sold by the glass, and then we bought a bottle of Fou' Foune, an apricot lambic.  This place is just amazing. 

Classic Gueze

Kriek 100% Lambic

Fou' Foune

After a couple of hours, we headed to the main square.

Tim wanted a Belgium waffle.  It is his birthday, so he got what he wanted.  This photo is as he is watching the dude make it.  Unfortunately, we were so excited to get and eat it, that we didn't get a photo of the waffle.

It is now about 4:30 PM and we have about 2 hours till our 6:30 PM dinner reservation, so how about another beer.  Well...not just any beer, but a beer from Delirium...you know, the beer with the elephant on the label.  The place is crazy busy, but we found a fairly quiet corner upstairs to enjoy this delicious brew.

Grabbing a beer at Delirium Brewery

Tim just can't get enough of the Manneken Pis AKA Pissing Boy fountain:

Big Wheel in Place Poelaert.

FInally...time for Tim's birthday dinner.  I made a reservation at Le Bistro - Porte de Hal.  It has good reviews and it takes reservations.  We started with some good Belgium beer and shared a pot of mussels for an appetizer.  I had fish and Tim had steak for dinner.

Oh...here is the view out the window from our table.  It is Halle Gate, a medieval fortified city gate.

After a nice dinner and a couple of great beers, we walked back to the apartment.  Tomorrow we return to London.  The train leaves just before 9 AM, so it will be an early morning.