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| Be. Welcome. |
Where do I begin? So much to tell! Let's start with the screaming
ass deal that we scored on this trip. What we paid as a couple for the
entire weekend (hotel, train tickets, breakfast, VAT) is a little under
25% of what we would have paid without booking through
Travelzoo.com.
We heart Travelzoo!! Click and enjoy, you will not be disappointed.
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| This wasn't even a small percentage. |
This trip was interesting; I failed to do much research before
going this time. This is not typically like me. This resulted in my
going in with no expectations aside from waffles, beer and chocolate. I
was not prepared for the epic architecture, beauty, art, shopping and
perfect gastronomy that this fabulous little country had to offer. My
mind was blown by every single meal we had. No exaggeration. Not only
did it feel like everything in sight was on special since we were paying
in Euros instead of Pounds, I gladly would have paid more than what we
did for every bite that I joyously savored. When even something so
simple as garlic bread can be dressed in such a way that makes me want
to sleep in a bed of it and salmon can be grilled to such perfection
that I am convinced it was pulled out of a mysterious sea inlet in the
back of the restaurant and immediately placed on the grill and fired to
succulent euphoria only to be immediately brought out to my waiting
appetite... I am then reminded and saddened by the digusting norm that
has been established by the food corporations in America. Unless eating
at one of the few (but increasing) wonderful farm-to-mouth restaurants,
a meal of this caliber and quality will never be found in the states,
the land of manufactured, processed and genetically modified "food".
American 'cheese' says it all. Fake, shared ingredients of a plastic
compound, over-packaged, rubbery and generally disgusting. Thankfully,
the local/organic food movement continues to grow, and it is much easier
to access as the years go on.
Salmon tartare, the most flaky and buttery croissants I've ever
sampled, fresh gouda cheese, beautiful grilled salmon, perfectly grilled
mussels, lobster, local dishes that I hadn't heard of but gave me and
my entire travelling party a giant tonguegasm, chocolate truffles that
were even creamier and meltier than I had imagined, beer that was as
delicious as hoped, and a waffle with ice cream and caramel that shoved
me over the edge into a very miserable food coma. I don't regret the
waffle, only the ice cream and caramel on top of it. Bad choice. I was
not aware that real Belgian waffles were already more sugary than what
we are used to for breakfast. So much suffering. I will be undertaking
a strict Paleo cleanse in the coming weeks to purge myself of this
sugary pile of diabetes inducing splendor.
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| Grand Place |
The first day was rainy, but that didn't stop us of course. We
made our way to Grand Place (our hotel falsely boasted its proximity to
this center, but turns out we were located in the Red Light District -
more on this later), and stepped into an outdoor gallery of shops with
an epic domed glass ceiling at least 4 stories above us. Outside, but
sheltered - lovely! Chocolate EVERYWHERE, as in it was hard to decide
which shops to go in. Very expensive shopping, we knew it would be in
the center, so we saved our spree for the massive 4 story shopping haven
near our hotel (very successful shopping spree, mind you, screaming
deals left and right!)
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| Gotta love the curve of the Earth... |
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| So wonderful |
Day two we had a full day tour through Bruges and Ghent, where we
took a beautiful canal ride and moseyed about eating chocolate, amazing
dishes, waffles, taking incredible pictures and having a generally
fabulous time. The leaves are changing and the trees along the canal
really got my mind churning about the impending next tattoo.. I am
drawing/painting this one myself this time, I'm really really excited.
You can lovingly support the funding of said tattoo by generously
purchasing my art on Etsy! Art makes wonderful Christmas presents, and
I'll be having a Black Friday sale for all your gifting needs! :)
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| Epic. |
Anyway, after Bruges (and my waffle induced coma on the bus in
between cities), we made a stop in Ghent, where we were privileged to
experience the most incredible cathedral that any of us had ever
entered. I've seen countless cathedrals at this point in the travels,
but this was by far the most intricate, grand and
beautiful architectural and artistic creation I have ever seen. I can't
even explain the awesomeness, and I doubt the pictures do it justice
either. One of the rooms even had a man sitting in the middle of it
playing gorgeous harp music. Giant stained-glass window bathing him in
colored light, peaceful melodies emanating from his golden instrument,
it was one of those special, breathtaking moments in life that will not
be forgotten.
I also didn't realize how multilingual Belgium was, with equally
dominant influences of Dutch, Flemish and French. Most people knew all
of these languages and more. It was nice for that 2 years of French
back in the high school days to feel slightly useful, even if it was
only a few words. On the last night, we went venturing out to find a
drink that didn't cost more than a meal in a fancy restaurant, as
exampled by the drinks in our hotel. As we ventured further from our
hotel, we began to come across some "Ladies of the Night" if you will.
When we passed some whose voices were clearly not of the feminine
persuasion, we realized that we may be in for an interesting night. As
we desperately hunted for a place to have a drink that had more than two
lamps on and wasn't blasting Turkish 'dance' music, we came upon the
Flamingo. While I wouldn't immediately associate the name 'Flamingo'
with the classiest of places, it ended up being really chill, having
delicious cheap drinks and played good music as well. They have this
raspberry juice that tastes straight out of the patch, seeds and all,
that they mix with drinks. Amazing.
Last but not least, I must show love to our fantastic traveling
buddies, the Myers. It is hard to find awesome people to travel with,
and I have much love for this wonderful couple.
Next on the agenda is Rome for Thanksgiving, where I will be
gorging on Italian food and crying tears of joy under the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel.
Onward!
With gratitude,
Emily
