We landed in Brussels on Wednesday, April 10, a day after we left Sunnyvale. Relying on public transportation here, we got to our hotel near the European Union headquarters easily via train and Metro subway. Our arrival day happened to coincide with the big EU meeting to extend the Brexit deadline to October 31, so we saw a lot of diplomatic cars, police escort sirens, and helicopters ensuring the safety for all. It felt very James Bond-ish.
We really enjoyed the chocolate tour Sue booked for us during our first afternoon here in Brussels. The guide brought us to five different chocolate shops and helped us understand more about the history of chocolate, how it is made, and the chocolate culture with its rich history here in Brussels.
The tour took us from the famous Gallaries Saint-Hubert, past the Grand Place Market to a few smaller shops to compare the good and not as good. We initially saw and tasted the inexpensive chocolate pralines, made by machine, with thick outer shells and containing inexpensive substitutes fo sugar and cocoa butter to tease the taste buds. However, we ended the tour with the divine hand-made tastes of 90+% chocolate with delicately thin outer shells which were exquisite.
Our second day in Brussels was wonderful from start to finish. The bulk of the day was spent on a guided bike tour. The great news was that the two of us were the only ones in the group, and we had an exceptional guide in Marie who is also a nursing student. She was so knowledgeable and passionate about Brussels and its culture, history, and vibe.
For five hours we biked eight miles throughout the city, over cobblestones, through parks, up and down streets, alleys, and hills, and amidst the municipal, historical, and EU buildings. It was a great way to see the city! At the conclusion of the tour, the three of us enjoyed frites (similar to French fries and for which Belgium is famous) and beers (although Sue does not usually enjoy beer, the cherry beer was yummy). Later that afternoon the two of us also sampled two varieties of Belgium waffles which were the best waffles that we’ve ever tasted.
When we contemplated where to go for dinner we each had the same idea: Let’s go have more frites and beer! A highlight of that time was our extended conversation with Lynn and Charlie, two young people from Scotland who work at the EU. One of the gifts of traveling is the opportunity to talk with and get to know people with different backgrounds and we’ll long remember our laughs and genuine conversations with these two Scots.
Our time in Brussels has been everything that we had hoped for and so much more.
Our next stop is Ghent, Belgium, via train.