Belgium Summer 2007

I went to Belgium in July of 2007 for a long weekend at the end of a trip to France to see my family. I visited Brussels and Bruges for a few days each and in Bruges I attended the Cactusfestival, headlined that year by the Flaming Lips!

Brussels:

:lodging:

I stayed at the Vincent Van Gogh Youth Hostel for 2 nights. It was a decent place, with very friendly staff. I opted for a single room instead of a dorm style shared room. The hostel has a good inexpensive bar and a great little courtyard to relax and mingle in. They played music in the lounge area too.

:food:

Brussels has tons of restaurants and the ones I tried weren't anything special, I was on a budget trip so I didn't try out any of the really nice places in town. The first place I tried was called Le Paon Brasserie and it was a fully meh! experience. Food wasn't great and the service was dogshit. The waiter even gave me a French menu to order from (I speak French and was speaking it with him) and this menu said the tip was included. Then when he basically pushed for a tip he showed me an English menu that left off the part about tip being included. Very shady character and a shitty experience aside from some great beers (beers that I'll cover in another post). One restaurant in Brussels I liked was Fritland which is basically a fries shop with fast food like hot dogs and burgers. I had fries with mayonnaise that were delicious. Service at Fritland was friendly and quick.

:sights:

The Musical Instruments Museum was the coolest thing I visited in Brussels. For 5 euro you gain entry and a wireless headset that automatically plays an audio clip of the instrumentswhen you step near an exhibit. There are 3 floors of instruments ranging from standard instruments to just plain weird ones. This place is a great value as most museums charge extra for any type of audio tour.

The Royal Museums of Fine Art are another great deal at only a 5 euro entrance fee to see both the modern and classic collections. Some beautiful pieces are here and it's definitely worth a visit.

Grand Place was a great area for people watching, wandering around and taking photos. The architecture in this area is extremely beautiful and interesting. The restaurants around here are ones that are notorious for waiters trying to rip off tourists so avoid them and eat in other areas of the city.

Galleries Royale St. Hubert is an area full of shops and restaurants under an arched roof. It's lively and busy here fun for people watching and there's some good high end shopping if you have the money for it.

Overall Brussels was fun but I think most of the city can be seen in a day and spending 2 there was a bit boring for me. But Brussels was only a stop on the way to the main focus of my journey to Belgium, Bruges!

Bruges:

:lodging

I stayed for 3 nights at St. Christopher's Bauhaus Hostel and it was great! This time I took a bed in a dorm style room. The hostel has a full bar right in the lobby and the place PARTIES until the wee hours. The whole hostel shakes with the blasting music until whenever the bartenders decide to close so don't stay here if you plan on sleeping much. Definitely a place to party.

:food:

The best food I had in Bruges was at either of the 2 Frites Stands in the main square near the Belfry Tower. Get them with mayo just like the locals eat them. One of the other things Bruges in renowned for is their chocolate. The Chocolate Line is a shop that makes the craziest flavors you'll ever see or taste. My favorites from there were the Cuban Cigar chocolate and the Moroccan Mint chocolate. Bruges is also a great city for beers but those are covered in another post.

:sights:

The entire city is just breathtaking. The architecture and the canals make it a beautiful city. The main market square where the Belfry is located is the heart of the city and the best place for people watching.

:here's some photos from this trip: