Grand Place Brussels

What we did:
- Woke up at 5:45 to catch our train… really feeling the 1:30am bedtime and drinks with Sarah. We stumble into our cab and took the smooth hour and a half train into Brussels. Luckily we could check in, so took a two hour nap!
- Sufficiently refreshed we headed to enjoy the endless playground of food that is Belgium. Started off with coffees from “Oriental des Caffes” while we waited in line for the notorious Belgium street fries. This coffee shop had beans from all over the world and is likely on our list of best coffee of the trip. After an hour in line, we got our fries and believe it or not - it was worth it! They chopped the potatoes and fried them in front of you and then gave them to you in a cone with our choice of curry ketchup and Mayo topping. We ate them in the famous square of the Grand Place and enjoyed the cool architecture and ornate buildings.
- We wandered the streets for a while - Brussells is so charming and underrated! Great little streets filled with food, bars and unique buildings. Saw the peeing boy (“Manneken Piss”) that our Prague guide said was voted the #2 most overrated thing in Europe (and man do we agree). How is that little statue so well known?
- We then stopped for Liege waffles! Hubbada hubbada 🤤 these things are unlike any waffle we've ever had. Dense and packed with flavor, you don’t even need any toppings. Kentucky needs to import these things and slap some fried chicken on them. Now that would be a delicacy!
- We then hit a museum (shocking right?!) called the Parlamentarium that shows the history of the EU, how countries were added, and explains how it functions today. For geopolitical nerds like us it was pretty interesting.
- As with anytime we do something touristy or educational, we somehow found ourselves drinking afterwards again. But hey Belgium beers are notorious! It’s called getting cultured. Steph got warm apple juice so guess credit to her for no booze. We sat at a fun outdoor beer garden spot called Woodpeckers in the main park. The park was full of colored trees and the crisp air made it a perfect autumn evening. Nice to enjoy our favorite season before we head back to the Chicago tundra.
- We then grabbed dinner to tick off our Moules Frites (Mussels and fries) at a historical place in the center of town. Very good and enjoyable!
- Now that we’re basically Europeans, we had to tune into the championship for the Rugby World cup between South Africa and New Zealand. It was hosted in Paris, so the last week in France really got us into it. We tried to hit two bars that were standing room only. Steph being perfect armpit level does not correlate well with standing in bars, so we headed back to the hotel to watch! Better decision for our livers anyway. We watched Rugby 101 youtube videos while listening to the French announcers getting all excited. Rugby is confusing as hell to watch, but we picked up on it by the end and loved the nonstop action.
- Crashed around midnight and woke up to grab more waffles for brunch! Again so delicious 🙌
- On the way back we realized both our credit cards had been compromised that morning. Steph had a $1500 apple charge and $250 United charge….. our guess is the sketchy DHL pop-up we mailed our wedding contract from in Paris did it. Chase quickly fixed it and canceled the card. Trent on the other hand had $3500 in charges from Marriott… turns out there was a computer glitch and he had booked 5 rooms for four nights in Munich. While planning Oktoberfest he had blocked some rooms (for the wrong month nonetheless 🤷‍♂️) that we ended up obviously canceling. The computer cancelled the rooms but then rebooked 5 more. The panic at potentially being out $3500 to no fault of our own receded after talking to Marriott and getting it resolved. Whew! On to Bruges! With all of our money safe and sound

What we ate:
- Friteria Tabora for the fries noted above. The hour long line was worth it!
- Le Roi de La Gaufre for Leiges waffles! Best waffles we’ve ever had
- Dinner at Chez Leon for Mussels and Fries! A famous spot since the 1800’s for mussels, it ran the risk of being touristy but was actually delicious! Had lobster bisque and fresh smoked salmon as well 🔥🔥🔥
- Maison Dandoy for breakfast waffles! Tried both the “Liege” and “Brussels” style Belgium waffles, and the Liege waffles won by a mile.

Fun facts:
- Brussels is HQ for the EU and Nato
- The name ‘French’ fries in the US is actually a misnomer. During World War I, American soldiers stationed in Belgium believed they were actually in France due to a geographical mistake and local’s speaking French. So when they brought them back home they called them “French Fries”. Having enjoyed frites in both France and Belgium, we voted Belgium by a mile.
- There are two types of Belgium waffles. The “Brussels” one is square, lighter, crispy, airier and less flavor. Really meant to have toppings. The “Liege” is softer, thicker, oval shaped and rich in flavor. You only need powdered sugar.Lue lisää