Belgium: Land of Waffles, Beer and Chocolate

Greetings Everyone! We have officially set sail for Naples, Italy and I could not be more excited. The trip to Belgium was absolutely fantastic, surely my second favorite port of the trip! Belgium was great; so much to see and do and I would love to come back.

Here’s some info on Belgium for all of you, because frankly, I am a nerd. Belgium is one of the smallest countries in Europe, both geographically and population-wise. They have had a checkered history of hostile takeovers and invasions throughout the centuries, but have a stabilized government and a monarchy still firmly in place. Brussels, Belgium is not only the capital of the country, but also the capital of the European Union. Antwerp, where we docked, is the second largest city, with a population of 500,000. There is some political upheaval right now in Belgium, as the country is facing some issues of identity. In the southern Waloon region of Belgium, the majority of people embrace an overwhelming number of aspects of French culture, including the language, while northern Belgium has embraced more of the lowlands (Luxemborg, Netherlands), and the official language is Dutch. In addition to their first language, Belgians also speak excellent English, so the country was very easy to navigate.

More information about Belgium, and some of my favorite things: while I am not a huge beer fan, the Belgians are! Over 10,000 different brands of beer are produced in Belgium and the country is touted as crafting the world’s best beer. After this trip, I must agree. Belgian beer is so good and so popular, the Belgian beer conglomerate, InBev, is in talks to purchase Anhieser-Busch, for an estimated $60 billion dollars. Belgians also claim to have invented the frites (which we call French fries), but since they are the originators, it’s simply “frites.” Waffles! Oh my goodness, the waffles are absolutely incredible! Hundreds of combinations, flavors, toppings and waffle stands are as prevalent in Belgium as Starbucks is in the States. YUMMMMYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And don’t even get me started on the chocolate….if you know me, you know I love, adore, savor, worship, cherish anything deliciously chocolate or smothered in chocolate. I have developed even more of an obsession with it while being here, and I don’t think that I can ever go back to regular chocolate after savoring this experience. Belgium is also the world leader in chocolate production and exportation, with Godiva being one of the best known companies. Also, mussels are to die for! There is a saying, “the best mussels are found in Brussels.” I would confirm that statement, as you will read below.

Okay, so enough of the background, I will start a little bit before we arrived in port last Monday. Last Saturday, the captain announced that we would be re-routed and taking the Kiel Canal to Antwerp, instead of going back out to the North Sea. The Kiel Canal, which is German owned and operated, was created in the late 1800s by the Germans as a way to develop a more sophisticated (and quicker) way to export and import goods and services to the country. It is now the busiest canal in the world, as ships from Asia and all over Europe and north Africa utilize it. The trip was incredible! We left Copenhagen a few hours later than originally planned and by 8 AM on Sunday morning, our ship lined up behind a host of others to go one-by-one through the VERY narrow canal. On either side of the ship, 100 feet away from you, were sea walls and homes, churches, schools, outdoor cafes and shops, people riding the streets along the canal on their bicycles, just going about daily life, like it wasn’t a big deal that a massive cruise ship with curious passengers were staring at them in fascination. I took a couple of pictures of the German pilot boat that guided us through parts of the canal and also took some pictures of German signs. So add that to the list of countries that I was in this summer. It was really something neat to see. After about 10 hours of riding through the canal, the waters opened up again and we were at sea, but not for long. We saved so much time going through the canal, that we arrived at midnight on Monday, instead of 8 AM. We docked at port Amerikana, about a 2 minute walk into downtown Antwerp, in the heart of the city. The city was lit up and Antwerpians were there to greet us at the dock. It was pretty neat to see.

Monday proved to be a fabulous day and we were ready to explore Antwerp! The weather was amazing, warm and sunny, which according to locals, does not happen very often in the summer. Megan, Aaron and I got off the ship and went out to the city, looking to convert our money to Euros (the USD is not so great; its 1.67 USD to 1 Euro), oy!!! After our Euros, we found an outdoor café and sat down to have some coffee and our first authentic Belgian waffle experience. OMG…..amazing!!! I am still having issues with blogspot in posting pictures, but I took some pictures of my waffle; just a simple rectangular waffle with powdered sugar and fresh whipped cream. Ugh, it was so incredible!!! So delicious, such sweet, sugary goodness!!! It’s to do for. I officially declare that I will never eat frozen waffles again!!! Scrumptious! It was gone in about 5 bites, but it was so delicious. We didn’t have much time for exploring, as we headed back to the port to catch the city tour of Brussels.

Brussels is about 35 miles away from Antwerp by bus and just a gorgeous, old-world European city. On our way, we saw beer factory after beer factory and some remnants of Jewish concentration camps from World War II that the Belgian government uses as a site of historical significance that each student visits while they are in k-12 education. It was interesting to drive by and see that something like that still remains today as it did almost 70 years ago. Belgium was seized in World War II by the Nazis, and liberated in the north by the Russians, and in the south by the US and Britain.

Brussels is a wonderful, bustling city full of life and energy. Often, Antwerp is considered Belgium’s fashion and culture capital, whereas Brussels is the capital of business and government. We drove past the headquarters of the EU, which is impressive, also comes with an impressive price tag: it cost over $1.6 billion to construct. We also drove by a few embassies, including the US one. Interesting to note that the US embassy was packed with police officers, barricades and security guards outside of it. None of the other embassies even had a guard outside. I took a picture of the US embassy from the bus, and a security guard accosted me and told me to put my camera down. Interesting……

We arrived in the center of Brussels, a district known as the Market Square, which was fabulous, an eclectic mix of stores, restaurants, outdoor markets, chocolatiers and souvenier stores. The Market Square is adorned with old-world gothic buildings, and cute window boxes filled with flowers. The streets are crafted in cobblestone and the side streets are adorned with outdoor beer gardens, cafes and African restaurants. There is a lot of African restaurants in the area due to a large African population migrating into the Netherlands and northern Europe area.

We wondered the streets, just exploring the energy and the life there. It wasn’t totally packed with tourists, which was a delight for us. Our first stop was to see the “Peeing Boy Statue.” Classy name, I know. I am not sure what the historical significance of this statue is, but honestly, it’s a national symbol—it’s everywhere. The peeing boy statue is pretty small (literally and figuratively) and has over 800 costumes. We were lucky enough to see him in his Musketeer regalia. Fancy.

After the Peeing Boy status, MJ (Megan) ran into one of our Life Long Learners on the trip, Ruth. Ruth is one of the sweetest people I have ever met and is feisty and energetic. Ruth was saying that she felt silly being in Belgian and had never had a beer in her life. MJ invited Ruth to have a beer with us at an outdoor beer garden and she was delighted. I have some pictures of Ruth commemorating this historic milestone in her life. She was so appreciative and thankful and just so sweet about it. It was fun to be a part of that experience for her.

We decided to stop at a beer garden that also offered up mussels. The group at this point was 8, and we decided to order a bucket of mussels and Belgian beer. Each of us ordered a different brand of beer, which was cool to try. Another interesting aspect of Belgian beer conassiuership is that each different beer has its own beer glass of different shapes and sizes. Very delightful! I brought a couple of beer glasses back for Brian and Doug. I tried a “blonde” wheat beer called Lambric, which was very tasty. Other ordered Kriek (pronounced like CREEK) cherry beer, malted beer and a raspberry beer aptly named Framboise, which was all delicious. The mussels were even better. Tasty and buttery and melt-in-your-mouth, the mussels were just succulent and delicious. Needless to say that the bucket was emptied within a matter of minutes J

We strolled through the city, exploring chocolate shops and making stops for souveniers, the day quickly turned into evening and then into night. As we were walking around the city, we came across an Ethiopian restaurant that sounded pretty tasty. As I had never had Ethiopian food, I was up to the task. But before we went there, we had our dessert before dinner and ended up at a waffle stand. My second waffle of the day was shortly thereafter consumed, this time it was a plain waffle with powdered sugar and smothered in Nutella, which is a fantastic chocolate and hazelnut spread. OMG, folks, this confirms that there is a heaven, as I have been there and back. My new religion is waffle and I get down on my knees and pray for a time when I will have another Belgian waffle. So delicious……so incredible…….

Okay, so we ended up eating at the Ethiopian restaurant, Kibob, and it was fabulous! Ethiopian food is always served with dahl bread, which has a spongey, moist consistency. Food is served family-style on the dahl bread, and additional bread is brought to the table. The bread also serves as your cutlery, so you are scooping up the food with the bread to eat. It was delicious. After all of the food is eaten off the bread, you eat the bread that the food was served on. We ordered lamb, spicy beef, a turnip and white cabbage salad, cucumber and yogurt salad, and some spiced carrots. Delicious!!! So yummy and it continued our trend of eating random ethnic food in a foreign country. MJ and I are guessing that we will at some point eat Mexican in Italy (just kidding)!

After dinner, we walked around the city, now dark and just soaked it in. We took some pictures and then headed to the train station for our jaunt back to Antwerp. Loaded up with souveniers, I chalked up Day 1 to a wonderful day and I was so surprised by this port—such a hidden gemstone.

Day 2 was the Tour of Flanders bike trip! And I was excited! Ready to get my heart pumping and my legs churning, the trip left from Antwerp at 7 AM. Each year, the Tour of Flanders championship brings world class cyclists throughout the world and is the second most popular biking tour in Europe after the Tour de France. Belgians love cycling and it is one of their favorite pastimes. We bused about an hour and a half away to the small city of (well, I can’t remember the name off the top of my head, but it started with an O). From there, we met up with the outdoor adventure company and picked up our bikes. And off we went. I was in the “slow” group and good thing that I was! It was a lot of uphill biking, but the views of the Belgian countryside were otherworldly. Absolutely beautiful and serene. We rode by old stone-and-brick houses, rolling green pastures where cows where tending to their cream-colored calves; we rode by acres and acres of wheat fields, sheafs of wheat blowing in the wind. Red poppy flowers popped out of the grass and was twisted around old fence posts. It was wonderful to have such a calm, peaceful feeling and to see a part of the country that I otherwise would not have been able to see. It was phenomenal. Horses were out in pastures and it was rolling hills for miles. One of the best parts of the cycling experience was going downhill, whizzing through towns on cobblestone streets. It was such a rush and so much fun!

After some heart palipitations, our 25-mile cycling trip was complete by noon. After showering, the bus took us into down for a delicious three course meal, including filet mignon and homemade vanilla ice cream. Delicious! I conked out on the bus ride back to Antwerp. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I was in desperate need of some sleep, and while I was to meet up with Marco, Laarni, David and crew in Amsterdam, I decided to go in with MJ the following morning.

Sleep was just what the doctor ordered! On Wednesday, MJ and I walked to the Antwerp train station and headed for Amsterdam. While it was cold and rainy in Antwerp, I was keeping my fingers crossed for good weather in Amsterdam. One of my favorite moments of the morning was grabbing a muffin and coffee in the train station, listening to some Lionel Richie. Amazing. We arrived in Amsterdam at 11 AM, and were immediately on the hunt for some lunch. On the train with us to Amsterdam was our friend Jill, who is one of the TAs, and her friend John, who flew over from London to spend some time with Jill while in port in Antwerp.

Amsterdam is such a lovely city. Tons of bridges, canals and bikes everywhere. Much like Copenhagen, the Dutch are also very into biking and is the main mode of transportation in the city. The weather was fantastic and gorgeous!

After lunch, we realized that time was escaping from us as the last train back to Antwerp left at 9 PM that night. So we headed to the Van Gogh museum, which was absolutely incredible. Impressionist art at its finest! Most of Van Gogh’s famous works were there, most notably missing was the residence hall room favorite, “Starry Night.” Not sure where that one is currently, but will look up soon. I have five days until we get to Naples. The work was just amazing; the museum opened in 1970s and average 1 million visitors a year. Pretty incredible; I am so thankful for the opportunity to go because while you see his prints everywhere, to see the real paintings and the stories behind them were really cool. For instance, one of his most famous works, “Almond Blossoms,” was a painting that he made for his brother Theo, to commemorate the pending birth of Theo’s son, which he and his wife named Vincent. The almond blossoms signify the coming of spring and new life. The other incredible thing about Van Gogh is that he didn’t start painting until he was 26; and committed suicide at the age of 37.

After leaving Van Gogh, we headed for the Rijke Museum, where we saw a lot of works by Rembrandt and Johnas Vermeer (famously known for “Girl With the Pearl Earring”). After the museum tour, MJ and I toured the flower market area, and headed to the Heineken Factory for a brewery tour. Unfortunately, the brewery is closed for renovations until Sepetmber L MJ and I took a time out for a caffeine/coffee break at an outdoor café and just did some people watching for a bit. Then it was time to head to the world-infamous Red Light District. Now I am sure that going to the Red Light District in the cloak of night is different than visiting at 7:30 at night, but I don’t see what the hoopla is all about it. It was dirty and yes, the first couple of times I looked into a window and saw a prostitute in a neon-colored bikini, I was a bit disturbed, but it was still light out and not so taboo; there also weren’t a lot of clients on the lookout for some hot sex. It was rows and rows of theaters (where for 2 Euro you can see a live sex show), porn shops, DVD shops and coffeeshops. MJ and I also learned that there is a huge difference between coffeeshops and cafes. Coffeeshops are where you go to smoke down and cafes are classy coffee-drinking establishments.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Amsterdam, but I will be honest in saying I could take it or leave it to visit again. MJ and I got on the late train and headed back to Antwerp. Shortly thereafter, we met up with Zuri, who was meeting two of his friends from his time living in Antwerp and we all went out for a beer.

Yesterday was my day to devote entirely to chocolate shopping for loved ones. I had to test out several chocolatiers so I could make a well-informed decision about my selections. We visited a few chocolatiers, with my favorite being Burie, where I made several purchases including loose chocolates for myself, which I plan on eating throughout the rest of the voyage, and some chocolate bars for family and friends. We also visited another chocolate shop, where I picked up more bars, which look fantastic. It’s true that you have never had Belgian chocolate until you have had Belgian chocolate….oh, god, Belgium is just a food paradise. Belgian chocolate is made from over 60% cocoa butter, and made with real butter, as opposed to margarine. It was just melt in your mouth smooth, and just had this amazing texture that is creamy and rich…and of course, delicious! Chocolates in hand, I made one last stop for some cheery beer, and then it was time to get back on the ship.

We departed Antwerp last night around 9 PM and are on our way to Naples. Please keep your grandma and my mom in your prayers…mom is recovering from a hysterectomy that she had on Monday and is doing well; she came home yesterday and I had the opportunity to talk to her last night on the phone. It’s hard to be so far away from home when loved ones need love and care, and I really miss everyone! Thanks for all of the mail, the cards, letters, even just the facebook comments and the blog comments. I really appreciate knowing there are so many people out there keeping tabs on me J

Also, we are still scheduled to go to Istanbul at this time. I’ll update you if anything changes. Thanks!!