moreover, mannygoossen: Brothers in Belgium

The search for Belgian bliss began when Daniel and Danielle left us. We were bound to find the sweetest chocolate and fluffiest waffles imaginable; there was no looking back. In Bruges, we stayed in a quaint little inn 2km from the city limits. This proved a bit difficult to find when we arrived around 9pm, when nobody in Belgium seemed to be awake. The deserted area behind the station was spooky at night, and with the highway being a construction zone we figured we had to jump a fence to get to our desired path. Willie went first and quickly realized that he had jumped out from behind a large highway sign into a death stare with oncoming high beams. Jumping back, he was a second away from being one with Belgian asphalt. Phewf. Getting past the construction death trap was the only hard part it turned out. We found the walkway on the other side and in no time we were at our destination.

The next morning we rented bicycles and set off to experience Bruges. We found our Belgian waffles in the Markt square, and enjoyed them while taking in the architecture of the perimeter. There we climbed to the top of the Belfry tower and took in a bird's eye view of the whole city. Staring at and admiring architecture plenty of centuries old is magnificent. From there we ventured to the half of the city where we found no tourists. Our inn's helpful staffer mentioned the oldest pub in town as it was established in 1515. Unfortunately it turned out to be closed on Mondays, but I stood on my bike to peer into the tall window because I needed a visual. After cycling to historical churches and the river's windmills, we looped around and headed back to the centre for food and drink. We stumbled upon the 19th century De Halve Maan brewery and ordered a drink from their prestigious taps. I highly recommend Brugse Zot if you can get your hands on it.

The icing on the cake of a fulfilling day was that we also got pulled over by a motorcycle cop for accidentally cycling down a one-way... the wrong way. I thought she was going to run me down because she veered straight toward my bike, forcing me onto the sidewalk (it was an impressive strategic pull-over). She also thought Willie had no brakes because he flung out his long legs to stop quickly behind me. As soon as it was apparent we didn't speak Flemish, she gave us a fair warning and dangled €150 fines in our faces. Cheers to being foreign!

The next day we were on our way to Brussels. It was a short day but we made the most of it by checking into our hostel quickly and hitting the city centre. Walking about, we were craving another waffle. This time a Liege waffle which was a delicious dessert for lunch. The ice cream and chocolate sauce added to the party in our mouths and we savoured every bite. After talking to a hilarious American and his wife beside us, they suggested the Musical Instruments Museum a short walk away. So we carried on and got there half an hour before close. We persuaded the ticket lady to let us run around for the remaining minutes, and we saw a fascinating amount of old age instruments. Still thinking about the massive variety of instruments I thought I knew something about, we continued and made our way to the Royal Palace and its central park. Here at a beautiful gazebo, we eavesdropped on a passionate Belgian named PJ who was giving his tour ending, epic monologue. You'll have to ask me about this in person, because Willie and I practically memorized his speech verbatim and found it amazingly patriotic, yet hilarious at the same time.

To cap off our wonderful time in Belgium we decided to hunker down at a bar that night to enjoy a few €1 beers and Euro '16 international qualifiers. We would take off for England the next day! Cambridge with our awesome cousins was on the horizon.

Here are some photos from our time in Belgium:

Willie admiring the canals in Bruges