Brussels

I arrived in Brussels on Friday around noon, before everyone else. Knowing I would have some time by myself, I had done a good amount of research on the city before our trip. Shana had given me a recent issue of Italian Elle Decor with an article featuring Brussels, so I was able to find a lot of cool places through that as well (after all, if it's mentioned in Elle Decor, it is worth seeing, in my mind!). I spent Friday afternoon walking around and getting a feel for the city. Brussels is relatively small (especially in comparison to Rome), so it was nice to be able to walk everywhere and navigate the city with some ease. Our hotel was in a great area (actually our favorite area, after exploring most all of them), with lots of quaint cobblestone streets, old churches, cute restaurants and shops. When Meredith, Burney, and Molly arrived Friday night we went out to dinner at a great restaurant we found in our neighborhood. We went out that night to a pub in our neighborhood and had such a great time catching up- it is so nice to be with familiar friends! Saturday morning the first thing on our agenda was, of course, BELGIAN WAFFLES! So we headed towards the Grand Palace and all got loaded waffles with chocolate, whipped cream, strawberries, and bananas- they were SO delicious! Definitely worth it, even though I had to force myself through the end of it (re-thinking the necessity of all of those toppings).

Waffles!

The Grand Palace

We spent all of Saturday walking around, exploring Brussels. Meredith and I dragged Burney and Molly to Musee Magritte, one of the famous fine art museums in Brussels. It was a pretty museum, actually very similar interiors, but on a much smaller scale, to the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

The Galleries Saint-Hubert (interior shopping gallery).

The Peeing Boy Fountain (Kate this is for you). This is a "must see" in Brussels, so at least I can say I saw it? There are many different stories and legends behind the meaning of the sculpture...although, I still have no idea why it is so important to them!

Mont Des Arts (the prettiest garden that lead up to a lot of the museums).

Victor Horta's house (famous Belgian architect and designer).

As the sun set on Saturday, we headed home and stopped by the coolest outdoor seafood bar in our neighborhood. It is an open bar (meaning it sits right on the corner and you can see straight through to the kitchen) with tall cocktail tables out on the sidewalk for everyone to stand around, share a bottle of wine and enjoy some fresh seafood! So we finally had 'mussels in Brussels' and fell in love with this little place.

Saturday night (after our wine and seafood appetizer!) we had dinner reservations at a restaurant called Smoods in Hotel Bloom, that I found in the Elle Decor article. The interior of the restaurant has 7 different "moods" that you can dine in, all with varying decor and ambiance. We sat in "Bling Bling," which we all agreed was the right choice once we got there. We had a long, fun dinner, and were of course the last ones in the restaurant- all still on Italian meal time...

I loved seeing Brussels- it was a really cool city, and we were all pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed it, since we all went in with no expectations at all! I was so sad to leave everyone on Sunday afternoon (they all stayed Sunday night and left super early Monday morning), but we had such a great trip and are working on planning another one together again once 2010 rolls around!

Our hotel room...and some more pictures of the city.

Exki: the Belgian fast-food chain which looks like our Whole Foods- all fresh salads, fruit, soups, bread, with the ingredients listed, etc. I was in love with it!

It took us so long to decide...