Belgian...Waffles...Beer...Chocolate...
There I was, sitting in a small quaint little restaurant in the town square in downtown Brugge, Belgium. I was having what appeared to be one of the cheaper things they had in a rather expensive menu. It was a steak with fries and it came with the worlds best peppercorn sauce. To top it off, I had a beer that didn't taste like any other beer I have ever tried. It was amazing and easily the best beer I had had up to that point; and paired with the ambiance of the fireplace that was keeping the place warm and "homey", I was trapped in a subliminal moment I dreaded knowing had to end eventually. I was there in this establishment on a late cold January evening with 2 awesome friends who shared my enthusiasm of travel and exploration. We came from very different backgrounds and certainly very different corners of the earth as I was from the US, one friend from Ukraine and the other from India. We were the same however in the pursuit of happiness. Just a couple young people, 2 in a masters program in Madrid, and another teaching English privately outside of Madrid, looking to make the most of their time on this rock. It so happened that the space/time continuum had us meet at this point on the earth and at this point in time, if only to be out exploring our external realities and linking them to our internal realities in fulfillment of some... thing... more. As I sat there, having one of the finest steak and beer pairings on earth watching the flames lick the air about the comforting fireplace, I pondered, "what did I do right?". I had remembered sitting at home, wherever that was at the time, or work, wondering if I would ever have the chance to get out there again and explore and make friends and just...live...truly live. It was then I remembered moments I had looked up at the sky, in pain, wondering the exact opposite, during my darkest hours. What a roller-coaster ride it has been to this point. Nevertheless, there I was with my 2 friends in a town none of us had never been to, and I had never even heard of it before; Brugge, Belgium. We had planned a weekend in Belgium, a night in the capital Brussels, and a night in Brugge. I remember it like it happened yesterday, the whole weekend. It was one of those times that you live for, but you can never expect or plan to happen, they just do. For me, those have happened here and there, and they are the backbones to the story of my life. Like one crazy trip to Fes, Morocco, but we will save that for another time. The night before the flight, we all met for a nice shindig the friends were having in Madrid. One of the girls was cooking some spaghetti at her place and had invited some people over to eat and drink to begin the weekend just perfectly. We all ate, laughed, drank and went to the club after and had an amazing night. We woke up in the morning and took the metro to the airport and off to Charleroi, Belgium we went. We arrived and incurred a pretty steep cost right off the bat just to get from this airport to downtown Brussels where we needed to go to catch the train to Brussels. That's the wonder of Ryan Air I guess, you wind up paying somehow to get to where your going. We got to downtown Brussels to the station with a reasonable amount of time and had some Subway for dinner. Then we absolutely HAD to get some of that world renowned beer that Belgium produces so we got some at a market, a few different types, and had them on the train to Brugge. The train ride was fun, we just drank amazing beer, and enjoyed the ride through Belgium's country side, in the dark haha. I was as anxious as ever to see this new corner of the earth I had never seen or even heard of before, but seemed like quite a great place from what my friends were telling me. Brugge looked like a beautiful place from the pictures I googled before the trip. But it was colder than my ex girlfriends heart there. the weather in Madrid was much nicer. It did turnout to be quite a memorable and great adventure. We drank some fine beers, went to an old brewery along the river, went to the chocolate museum, had some of the worlds best chocolate, took a boat ride through the city, climbed like 400 steps to the top of a bell-tower to see the city and the bells, and so much more. Here is the belltower, and from the top there are amazing views of the whole place:
Those bells were amazing, they were playing throughout the whole town charming melodies and it made me feel like I was living in medieval times with the horse carriages and architecture and the whole ambiance. It was unlike any other place I had been to, and I had been to a few up to this point.
It was a shame that we only got about 24 hours to spend there. The hotel we stayed at was really nice and the town was beautiful and was definitely different from the other places that I have been to. So back off to Brussels we went for 2 nights I think. This is considered by some to be the capital of Europe. I was excited, I had heard some good things about this city from friends before.
We first took the long trip across the city to a theme park that was supposed to be a little Europe and have a little part of Europe all over it with a water and amusement park. We got there and it was closed haha. But the Atomium was close so we went there. We got back to the city center and went site seeing around the city. It was nice trying the waffles and the chocolates and the fries everywhere. We saw the European Union Parliament building, the Palace, the downtown square, and just tried to see as much as we could with the time we had. One thing I will voice my opinion on sternly is having to pay money to use the bathroom. I remember I had to drop a deuce when we got to Belgium and there I went to the bathroom and there was a security guard there and a sign that had a price on it. I thought to myself this is ridiculous, never had I even ever thought that might happen in the world. So I waited til I got to the hotel room and serenaded the place with my trumpet like orchestra sounds. You can tell right away that Belgium was quite a different place than the other places I had been to in Europe. Also before we left, we had to find that famous little statue of the little boy holding his peter and taking a piss. When we found it I expected something totally different, but its just a little statue there on the corner, but really really famous there (ironic because you get charged for peeing either at a public bathroom or by the police in a public place):
Before we left, the night prior, we went to an Indian restaurant that offered a buffet. It was quite amazing. I had never tried Indian food before I had met my friend from India. Usually when you mention Indian food around where I live, it eludes to the native american foods offered in the area. I guess we can thank Columbus for that political incorrectness haha. There is one dish with either chicken or lamb that has some spicy sauce but it is amazing, especially paired with some good rice. The bread is also very good. However, as this trip was coming to an end, and I knew we were heading back to Madrid, and myself soon back home, wherever that is, I sat there having some fine Indian cuisine with 2 awesome friends completing yet another adventure. I sat there thinking to myself that here in a few months when I had to head back to my home country, how I would probably just be sitting around during or after work, thinking of that little adventure in Belgium with the 3 amigos from a few different corners of the world who all met in the magical city of Madrid...
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