German Bowl Part 5 - Mussels in Brussels

Sorry this post is coming so late! Busy times here in Germany. We are still looking for a place to move into, I still need a job, and we are taking German language classes two times a week! Labor day weekend we had the wonderful pleasure of driving up to Brussels, Belgium for a long weekend with our amazing friend, Sophia. We started our weekend walking from our beautiful hotel (thanks Mom D!) to the Grand'Place Grote Markt for a Belgian Beer fest!

 

I enjoyed my dark stouts while James tried out the cherry beer and strong lighter beer (is that an oxymoron? It was strong percentage-wise but light in color...).  I got a free hat and even taught Sophia the Back arm/leg dance (ga ga ga ga ga ga..).

The Grand Place is beautiful and surrounded by gothic-style buildings filled with statues, gold plating, and finite details that create a magical atmosphere. We had heard all about the Mussels so went to the Rue de Bouches (road of mouths) to find the best deal. The group we were with negotiated and found the place with the cheapest mussels. I am NOT a fan of seafood but "when in Rome" I had to try the Mussels and they were amazing. I spent the rest of the weekend asking James for more. 

James: "Honey, what would you like for breakfast?" 

Me: "Mussels and Scrambled Eggs." 

James: "Do you want a snack?" 

Me: "Mussels and Chocolate." 

James: "If you say Mussels again, I'm going to bite you." 

Me: "Moules?" (french word for Mussels)

We even had famous Belgian Waffles for dessert, with Nutella! You can't get much better than that!

On Sunday we spent the day on the hop-on-hop-off bus. I know it's cheesy and tourist-y but it is sometimes the best way to get to know a town without driving, getting lost, yelling at the GPS, dealing with Richard Noggins, and not really knowing what you're looking at. So we hopped on and off all day and saw some amazing things. Brussels is a huge town full of a ton of different styles, eras, and types of architecture.

We stopped by the Palace of Justice which is a towering building with mostly roman-style architecture. While we were there, we ran into a camera crew filming a cheesy-looking show.

We ended our day by relaxing with some coffee and Belgian chocolates (the best I've ever had!!).

Our final day of sightseeing, we got to see the famous Manneken Pis and drive by the Atomium, built in the 1950's for the world fair.

Brussels was so far, one of our favorite visits. It is a bustling city full of great food, awesome beer, and lots to see. I know we'll be back again, hopefully for another beer fest!