A Day in Brussels, Belgium

Nathan had a midweek day off so we took a short drive up to Brussels; the city of french fries, beer, chocolate, and waffles. Seriously, could they possibly pack anymore good things into one city? We sought out to try the best of all 4, and see some of the famous landmarks, all in a days time. 

The trip took about two hours, and we drove straight to Maison Antoine; a famous friterie. We knew it was going to be good by the crowds of locals surrounding the small food stand. In case you are wondering, a friterie is a small kiosk or restaurant whose cuisine is centered around french fries. (Can you believe they have a word for that? Can you believe we don't have these in Texas!?) Although they had a pretty large variety on the menu, every customer ordered the same thing. A paper cone full of french fries, topped with your choice of sauce and served with a tiny fork.

Europeans really like mayo on their french fries (like in the picture above.) Nathan and I both opted for ketchup instead. 

Nathan with his cone of Belgian french fries

I also ordered a hot dog, which came on a baguette. So European.  

The line around Maison Antoine 

Five children, all with a cone of french fries

This place was pretty good, but for being the most famous friterie in a city that is famous for french fries, I was a little underwhelmed. I expected the french fries to knock my socks off. And they were good, just not great. However this place was pretty authentic, so I will blame it on my American taste buds because Belgian french fries are different then American french fries both in texture and taste. 

Up next, a little sight seeing. We visited the famous Atomium, as well as "Mini Europe" which is a park featuring replicas of all the famous landmarks across Europe. So basically, we have seen it all, we can pack up and go home. (Kidding, of course)

The "Atomuim." A famous landmark museum and lookout tower (inside each ball!) 

Bird's Eye view of the grounds of "Mini Europe" 

Then we were off to the Grand Palace area. This area of Brussels definitely had a 'Times Square" feel. The streets were filled with shops, restaurants  bars and tons of tourists. This area was my favorite of the day and I would love to spend more time here. The area appeared to have some pretty impressive shopping, and some of the most amazing bakeries I have ever seen in my life. Not to mention the dozens of  dual chocolatier/macaroon shops. Anyone with a sweet tooth would be in heaven in this part of the city.

The Grand Palace. Lit up and breathtaking at night. 

Belgian Chocolate, and Belgian Beer. Check and Check! 

We topped off the night with what we believe was a very authentic Belgian dinner at T. Kelderke which consisted of beef stew, more french fries, mussels, and mashed sweet potatoes. Mussels in Brussels sounded like a good idea when trying to eat like a local, but turns out mussels are kind of gross.

The best part of the entire trip was the Belgian Waffle we had from a street vendor for dessert. I could have skipped all the other meals we had in Belgium and just ate these all days. I could skip every meal in my foreseeable future and eat nothing but Belgian Waffles all day everyday. These things were A-MA-ZING. 

My Belgian Waffle, hot and smothered in milk chocolate.