A travelogue capturing the experience of Belgium – Brussels, Bruges, Beer, and Fries
Still buzzing from the trip to Paris, we rested for a solid 12 hours and decided to leave for Belgium. We had a week off and there was no chance we were going to spend it in Lille. Deepesh had officially joined us and the six of us booked the Airbnb in a rush and boarded the train to Brussels. The bogey we sat in had an overexcited annoying group of men drunk on beer who spent their time (loudly) shouting at each other until they got off and decided to pee on the train tracks in a queue. So much for Swachh Belgium Abhiyaan. I was weaning off my ‘Look! European grasslands!’ phase but I still see pictures of landscapes in my Camera-Roll so we’ll treat that as Work-In-Progress.
The View From the Apartment
The apartment we booked was a fourth-floor, double-storeyed house that opened using three sets of keys kept in multiple boxes, so it felt like we were earning the right to sleep. It also had a spiral staircase access that made you nauseous by the time you climbed up. It offered a great view, situated a mere 5 min walk from the central market, right in the heart of the city*. We left our luggage and went to the central market to perfect the sin of gluttony. First up were Belgian Fries at Fritland (Tip : Do not call them ‘French’ fries. The Belgians are NOT pleased when you do that). Sarthak and Deepesh, our resident vegetarians didn’t try them because apparently the fries were cooked in animal oil. Sumit asked for their spiciest sauce and they offered him ‘Samurai’ with multiple warnings. By Indian standards, it was tangy, at best. The fries were soon followed up by waffles at Maison Dandoy, a famous Belgian chain.
We had ample time to kill so we walked the city, exploring the multiple graphic murals painted on the buildings and sighting the Manneken Pis, which is a famous statue of a boy pissing. The Wikipedia page for it says(paraphrased),“It is the best-known symbol of the Belgian people, representing their sense of humour and independence of mind”. Interpret it as you please. We came across a bunch of boys skateboarding and Sarthak and Diksha decided to try it.
- Did they have prior experience? No.
- Did they succeed? Define ‘succeed’.
- Did we laugh when they fell? Absolutely.
We roamed about the market and made our way to Delirium Café, notorious for its 2000+ flavours of beer(Yes, 2000, it’s not a typo). We tried about 12-15 flavours overall and also met our friends, Debapriya and Mukul. We purchased food for dinner and relaxed at our apartment.
The next day we visited a quaint, sleepy town called Bruges. Sarthak had forgot his Eurail Pass but the kindly ticket officer let him off with no issue, something that other batchmates didn’t experience, as many would (later) tell us stories of officers hell-bent on imposing fines. Bruges was ridiculously picturesque. It seemed precisely the kind of place you’d want to retire to, with its crystal blue canals, lush greenery, small cafés, and so-small-that-everyone-knows-everyone vibe. Bruges would be where we took our first walking tour, something that would benefit our travel experience immensely. The concept of the walking tour was that a guide would walk you through the city and describe its history, culture, customs, and cuisines in 2-3 hours. Technically it was free but one was expected to tip at the end. Our guide, Natalie, was herself an American who had grown to love Bruges and had started conducting these tours. She took us around and pointed out things so subtle in the architecture that one was bound to miss out unless one knew. Like why the tops of the houses were in a staggered-staircase form, how you could tell apart the professions of the people based on their roofs, what the little window in the old castle signified, the history of the Beguinage nuns, and how the colloquial phrase ‘not a pot to piss in’ had a curious origin in their fish market.
After the walking tour, we tried some local ice-cream(I know, should I start an official gelato count?). There was a (free) harp concert being played by a guy called Luc Vanlaere nearby. Luckily, we attended it. Never in my life have I experienced such a feeling of relaxation as I did sitting in that dark room hearing Luc play the harp. I walked out a refreshed man. It was still evening so I explored the cocoa treats of the local chocolatiers. I tried three flavours – marijuana(didn’t work), whiskey(too bitter), and lemon(too tangy). Having explored the charming town, we took the train to Brussels and immediately went to Fritland for another round of fries. We soon retired for the day.
The next day we woke up a little late only to find it raining outside. We took a bus to check out the European Parliament which had its seat in Brussels. We boarded the bus and struggled to find loose cash and coins to pay the ticket while the driver refused to take our card*. We were applying the relevant theorems of calculus to figure out the change when out of kindness or annoyance or both, the driver let us ride for free(Thank you Caucasian driver! You saved me a gelato). We reached the Parliament, made our way through security, hoarded the free notepads and diaries in true tourist fashion, and took the audio tour of the premise. We wrote our families postcards from there, fully expecting them to never reach (Spoiler alert : Mine did, in February, 2 months after I had returned). Then we made our way to the building opposite to it, called the Parliamentarium which housed an ‘extensive’ history of the EU. And by extensive, I mean painfully long and detailed and minute and exhausting. Simran was having a blast, moving picture by picture, reading caption by caption, while I felt my youth pass me by with every second I spent reading about some random politician who said some politician-y things 50 years ago.
We took the bus (this time we paid) to the Comic Book Museum…only to find it closing. We could only browse the book store for 10 minutes where all I did was convert the price to INR and gently put the comics back on the shelves. Seeing as though most places were winding up, we went to the Central square and had fries AGAIN at Fritland(should I also start an official fries count?). We also tried a cannabis flavoured lollipop(didn’t work) and decided to sit in the city square and just talk for a while. There was an enthusiastic batch of school/college kids playing, what I can only assume, Truth or Dare, behind us. We figured we might as well plan for Netherlands because we were reaching there the next day and had no accommodation booked. Our trips, henceforth, and most importantly our housing situations, would rely on a trifecta of – low cost, multiple bathrooms, and high hopes. With this in mind, we returned to our apartment after that nauseating climb and went to bed after successfully finding another bed to sleep on tomorrow.
Next up on our list – the city of bikes, canals, and delayed trains – Amsterdam!
*Travel Tips
- While booking accommodation, prioritize distance along with cost. Time is precious while travelling and a low-cost but far-away apartment will not be worth it.
- Most cities have a daily pass that allows you to travel using bus/metro/tram at a decent cost.
Read the Previous Post About the Trip to Paris Here.
Sidenote: We made it to 50 posts! Yay! Hope you’ve enjoyed reading us so far.
Candid Wallflowers 
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