Belgium

And now for Belgium (my apologies for using such rude language)!

Day 12 (part 2): Amsterdam to Brussels

Before we left for this trip, while researching so that we’d be prepared, we’d read that trains in Germany were the most unreliable. We’d also read about some of the most common behaviors to avoid to make sure we didn’t stick out as stereotypical rude Americans: Talking unnecessarily loudly, having loud phone conversations or playing music without headphones, placing our bags on seats so that we took up multiple spots, and so on.

Well, bad behavior is universal. Europeans are just as bad about all of those as we were warned not to be (and we’re not much for that kind of behavior anyway), and so far, the German trains were rarely more than a few minutes late if at all and they regularly apologized when it happened, while every Dutch train on our Amsterdam to Brussels leg has been late by at least 15-20 minutes. One time that just meant we had to change our connecting train, but then later they decided that the train we were on was late enough that it was better to pull it out of the schedule entirely, made the next stop the final stop, kicked us all off, and we had to find another train to get us the rest of the way into Brussels.

It’s nothing we haven’t been able to cope with, and all part of traveling like this, of course, but it has definitely been a bit of a shift from our expectations.

GPS track log of our route from Amsterdam, through Rotterdam, Breda, and Antwerp, and ending in Brussels. — Delays and train swaps and all, it was a really pretty trip.

Minor grumbling aside, we did make it to Brussels without any major complications. The mentioned minor ones, but no major ones, ending up at our hotel just about two hours after we thought we’d be here. That was still early enough (about 5 p.m.) for us to get our room and then head out for a bit of a wander, finding dinner and then getting fancy dessert Belgian waffles and sitting in the gorgeous Grand Place as we ate them. Not a bad evening at all! Then back to the hotel to wind down and get to bed.

Panoramic view of a large cobblestoned square surrounded on all sides by large, ornate gothic and gold-trimmed buildings. — Brussels’ Grand Place, the central square of the city, was just about a ten minute walk from our hotel.

GPS track log of our first evening’s wandering around central Brussels. — For two people tired after a long day of travel, we didn’t do too well at staying put once we arrived.

Day 13: Brussels

Today we had just one thing planned: a morning tour of Choco-Story Brussels, a really cute little museum all about the history of chocolate. It’s a self-guided walkthrough of displays tracing chocolate from its initial cultivation through its being brought to Europe, and ends with a demonstration from a chocolatier making pralines (which you then get to sample). It was fun, and quite tasty!

Just before entering the museum, since we’d shown up a bit early, we were walking up and down the block and peeking at what was on nearby streets, when we realized that we were standing right next to Manneken Pis, a famous fountain of a small boy peeing. One more Brussels landmark seen (in a city full of them; Brussels really is gorgeous).

Selfie of my wife and I in front of a stone alcove with a fountain made of a small bronze sculpture of a small boy peeing. — This funny little fountain is a huge part of the Brussels culture. Images of it are everywhere.

After the museum we took the rest of the day for a slow wander, starting with browsing through a music store we’d spotted just a half-block away from the fountain. The store had a nice mix of vinyl and used CDs, and I had fun browsing through and picking some up as Brussels souvenirs. Then, as we walked on, we found two more vinyl shops in the next two blocks! Considering how just a few days ago I was bemoaning the modern dearth of record stores, this was a fun part of the day; apparently Brussels has a good physical media scene!

Me browsing through CD sleeves in a big bin of used CDs separated into various categories with plastic dividers, in a store with yellow walls covered with shelves of records, box sets, and other music items. — Ended up coming out with a Hooverphonic album from the early 2000s, a techno/industrial sampler from 1993 called Blood and Computers (I have Vol. 2 already, so it was fun to find Vol. 1), an album from a band whose name I don’t remember right now but who was described as New Wave/Buggles/OMD-inspired because I wanted to get at least one thing I was totally clueless about…and the old Songs in the Key of Springfield Simpsons soundtrack album at my wife’s request.

From there it was just a day of poking around the streets of Brussels, peeking into cute shops and fancy cathedrals, and just seeing where we ended up going. We were nice enough to ourselves to take a few hours of mid-afternoon downtime instead of pushing through the full day again, which was a good idea. Then sandwiches for dinner, ice cream while watching people at the Grand Place, and back to the hotel again for the evening.

GPS track log map of our day wandering around central Brussels. — Even with a few hours of midday rest, we definitely still got our steps in.

Day 14 (part 1): Brussels to…?

This is a long travel day. Our train out of Brussels doesn’t leave until 16:52, and checkout time at the hotel was noon. So we checked out just a bit before noon, walked to the local station, hopped a short train to our departure station…and then spent the next four hours camped out in the Brussels Midi station until it was time to board. Not exactly the most exciting hours of the trip, but sometimes that’s how it goes. We’re on our next train now, headed for….

Two shelves of reproductions of the Mannekin Pis peeing boy statue, in various sizes and in gold, silver, or bronze colors, stacked several rows deep. — Just one small section of one tourist shop in the train station. If you’re ever in a sudden need for a small figure of a urinating boy, Brussels is the place to be.