Brussels, Belgium
Another day in Brussels that started with some sightseeing and finished with food and beer. I’ve had a great time in Brussels, but I am ready to get back on my bike to finish out the trip to Amsterdam.
I started the day with a waffle and a coffee. I will probably do the same tomorrow. I really can’t get enough of the waffles here. After breakfast I had to go back to the reception desk for the hostel to get a new key card. My original key card was good for 3 days, but I needed it reactivated to account for the extra day I added on to my stay in Brussels.
I really didn’t know how to fill out my day after that. A lot of the places I would have liked to check out are closed for the Monday holiday. I got back to the hostel and did a quick update of my resume and started looking through jobs to apply for. This was a good way to kill some time. I will be home in 9 days, so it is time to start thinking about what will come next. I was semi-productive with my job search and then decided to do another walkabout. I headed to the Brussels neighborhood of Sablon, which I had not walked through yet. It was a nice area with a more laid back feel than what I’ve experienced in the city center. I then walked past the Royal Palace of Brussels and through the park which is across the street from the palace.
Towards the end of my walk I picked up a sandwich and headed back to the hostel to eat it and take a break from walking around. After lunch I headed to the Delirium Café which holds the Guiness Record for most beers available to taste. I saw 30 beers on tap, but they claim to have nearly 2,500 varieties available. I did not see a bottle list, so I cannot confirm those numbers. After a couple of beers, I headed back to the hostel again to take a break and watched some shows on Netflix.
By this point in the day I was kind of getting bored, so I headed out again to grab a snack. I went for fries because I had already eaten my daily waffle. The fries came loaded with mayonnaise like it was a whipped cream topping for an ice cream sundae. It was just a little excessive but delicious.
I ended the day with a healthy salad from an organic restaurant to try and counter all of the fried food I’d eaten throughout the day. Tomorrow I will get back on the bike and hopefully make it to the Netherlands.
Musings:
- It has been weird to stay in a room meant for 8 people for 3 nights in a row and be the one constant. By the end of my time in Brussels I will probably have shared that room with over 20 people. I am definitely looking forward to my 1 bedroom apartment when I get home.
- The Scots know how to turn out to support their team and can sustain their drinking for an entire day. Scotland and Belgium are playing a Euro 2020 qualifier soccer match in Brussels tomorrow and the kilts were out in full force. Things got rowdy at times, but it was mostly good fun, bagpipes, and cheering filling the streets of Brussels all day. Towards the end of the day when the rain started to fall the Grand Place was turned into a makeshift soccer pitch.
Ramblin' Dan: Bike Touring Adventures 