Brussels and Bruges

Again, with the funky wi-fi. From time to time we end up in lodging where the Internet connectivity is bad or nonexistent. Here it appears to be the latter. No big deal.

So, last I posted, we were arriving in Brussels, or Bruxelles. We took the tram into the Grand Place, which is the central market square. There we found a place and I ordered a beer sampler and a "Sandwich Paon", while Elise ordered the plate of the day. When the food came, my sandwich was rife with peppers, which I don't like. Elise offered to swap plates with me and save me from my own adventurousness.

After that we went over to the "Manneken Pis", the famous statue of the little boy urinating. Elise really wanted to do this, and I was being a total stick in the mud about it, but I went anyway. As much as there were Eiffel Tower trinkets in Paris, there were tons of little pissing boy trinkets, including one that made me laugh -- a little boy sporting a wine corkscrew.

As we were walking back to the train we stopped at a chocolatier and had the most amazing little truffles. Mmmm.. Swiss chocolate is great. French chocolate is also great. But the Belgians crush 'em both.

We got to Bruges and our hotel was inside a restaurant on the main market square, the "Café Central". While Elise settled into a nap, I ordered a Leffe Blond, and struck up a conversation with Nikolai, the bartender. He set me up with a Karmeliet Tripel, which was just fantastic. Strong, but still quite well balanced and delicious. It knocked me right out -- I went up and laid next to Elise for a nap of my own.

When I woke, Elise was just returning from her own Karmeliet. We went to a restaurant named Arthie's, on Nikolai's recommendation, and had the Flemish Stew, also on Nikolai's recommendation. It was fantastic! Like the beer stew my mother used to make. Elise had a dish that was "fish, fish, prawns and cheese." By this time, we were so full of beer and food that we skipped dessert entirely, and went straight to bed.

Well, I went straight to bed. Elise couldn't sleep, and so stayed awake a while watching a movie. She slipped me a little bit of a sleeping pill, and so I slept like a lamb and woke up this morning feeling awesome.

We had breakfast at the hotel café, and then went to the "Fritemuseum", a museum dedicated to potatoes in general, and frites (what we erroneously call "french fries") in particular. At first we were concerned that this would be a cheesy little museum, but in the end it was pretty informative and cool. And they had "curry ketchup" sauce at the end for me to dip my frites in!! It was just like the best currywurst sauce. Yum.

After a short walk, Elise went back for a nap, and I stepped out for some lunch. I had beer quiche with, of course, a beer. Having returned, Elise has stepped out, so I'm here in the café, having another Karmeliet.

Belgium certainly appears to be a place for sensual pleasures.