30th Birthday Weekend in Belgium

What an incredible weekend! I cant think of a better way to spend a 30th birthday - an adventure in Belgium including delicious Belgian beer, handmade chocolates and authentic waffles, not to mention amazing central squares, travel adventures and unique architecture everywhere we looked. This was all topped off with a night at the Theatre in London on Monday

Friday 28 Sept. - Planes, trains and automobiles (literally!)
Jason arrived on Friday late morning, and after a nice birthday lunch and cake with my new team here, we took 6, yes, 6 different modes of transportation to get ourselves to Brussels (Dockland Railway, London Tube, Stanstead Express Train, Ryanair, Airport City Bus, and Taxi). Ryanair is the main discount airline in Europe (with flights that cost as low as £1) which flies out of an airport on the north side of the city. Although the check-in process is a bit insane (imagine the cattle calls of Southwest, no seat assignments, and ticket agents that also serve as security monitors and gate agents), the price is well worth it and we made it through landing safely on the other side. Once in Brussels, our hotel was kind enough to find a local Italian restaurant that would stay open for a LATE birthday dinner. We ate, by candlelight at 11:30pm in a SMALL Italian place where the owner himself "whipped up" eggplant parmigiana and meat lasagna and served us a great bottle of wine. Quite an amazing way to end an exhausting travel experience

Saturday 29 Sept - Antwerp in the Rain and a Night Out in Brussels
Saturday morning Jason and I took the local Tram and the Belgian railway (#7 and #8 modes of transportation) to the city of Antwerp. Located about 60 min by train from Brussels, this city is filled with a trendy shopping district, unique architecture, a beautiful Gothic cathedral and a lovely Grand Marketplace or central square in the heart of the city. We walked quickly through the shopping district, popping in shops here and there to get coverage from the chilly rain, and then settled on a cute local place for a warm lunch. Much to our surprise we met a really nice Belgian woman who spoke English well enough to converse with us over lunch. She picked out the two specialities of the restaurant (beef stew for Jason and ham with potatoes and cheese for me - although we did not know what we were ordering until the dishes arrived) and recommended we try to local DeKonick beer. All the dishes, and the beer, were fabulous. We really enjoyed sitting at lunch and chatting with the locals before heading out to explore the rest of the city. We topped off lunch with a few stops to homemade chocolate shops where we ordered 1-2 pieces and each piece was unique and delightful - we asked for the store owners favorite at each location as well as a cherry flavored one to taste the different ways it was made. Wonderful! We then strolled past the cathedral and peaked inside, and then spent time in the grand square. I took loads of pictures and Jason got some great video. I loved the Town Hall building with the flags from every country in the EU hanging in front. We visited the Stein - a local fortress on the river that used to be the entry into the town, and caught a late afternoon train back to Brussels for our night out.

Back in Brussels we met up with Mike Pappas- one of Jason's friends - who is a frequent visitor to Brussels so we had our own tour guide. We took the local underground (#9 mode of transpo) to the heart of the city and came up from underground to see a spectacular Grand Palace (central market) lit up with green lasers in a light show. People everywhere, music playing, shops lining the edge....we strolled through the side streets that run into the Grand Palace attempting to find the Mannekin Pis (the little - VERY LITTLE- statue of a small boy peeing) which is very famous is Brussels. The little fountain itself is not overwhelming but what is, is the amount of hoopla and marketing the small statue gets - you would definitely think it was much bigger given its popularity. We ate dinner at an outdoor place along the street lined with cafes, then found chocolate shops and tourist traps to tickle our fancy. We then spent the rest of the night on our own little pub crawl, moving from bar to bar, trying new places and new flavors of Belgian beer along the way. Our favorite was the Kreik - a cherry flavored beer, that actually is served in a bottle with a cork inside and a metal cap. The bars themselves were very neat in the sense that they were all very well lit, art deco in style, long tables with people chatting away in Flemish or french, some German and English too. Instead of dark pubs, like you would see in the UK, these were like the foyer of a hotel or a train station where it looked like it was the middle of the day because of the bright light fixtures along the walls and the large chandeliers - very cool. We stayed out till about 1am, but knew we had an early train - so headed back to the hotel. It was a wonderful first day in Belgium!!

Sunday 30 Sept - Beautiful Brugges
The rain disappeared on Sunday as we made our way to Brugges. Known as the "Venice of north", Brugges is truly as romantic as it sounds. Before i get into the details of the city, first we need to tell you about our train adventure. Both Jason and I hopped on a late morning train (about 60 min) to Brugges. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the train and track in front of us, so we were stopped at the station in Ghent for a delay of 2 hours. Not wanting to waste time on the train in the delay, we agreed that Jason would get off the train to search out a possibility of taking a taxi or renting a car to continue our journey. Given we were to be stopped for 2 hours, we thought this would work out fine and i would wait for him on the train. About 15 minutes later, all of a sudden, the train doors slam shut and the engine begins to rumble ... I grab our bags and jackets and bolt for the door ...but, the doors are locked, i cant get out, and the train is now moving. Jason is somewhere in the station, i have no cell phone or anyway to get in touch with him, and I have his train ticket! The locals on the train with me, who spoke only broken English, were telling me not to worry and thankfully pulled the train attendant into our car to help me. With no way to stop the train, he told me i was out of luck and that all he could do was to call the Ghent train station and ask them to make an announcement over the loudspeaker. As I was on the train, Jason figured out we could take a taxi, came up the stairs to tell me and found an empty platform. He had missed the train by 2 minutes and was standing by himself on the platform as he heard some mumblings in French from the loudspeaker, and then his name, and then more mumbling in French. Laughing and assuming that announcement said that i was on the train, he waited for the next train, as I continued on the journey. Thankfully, he caught the next one, and we were reunited in at the Brugges train station. Quite a way to start the day!

Once in Brugges, we took a walking tour on our own along the waters and canals of Brugges, through the cobblestone streets and around the brick buildings. Parts of the town have an old, ivy league university campus feel, some areas feel like Williamsburg, and other clearly like Venice. We ate roasted chicken and french fries outside in a courtyard, found a wonderful Christmas shop and took a glorious boat ride through the city. It was late afternoon, sun was shining, and beautiful colors and fall leaves overhead. We then walked through the streets (noticing that the fashion in Brugges was actually very cool - much better than in London , ie things i would actually wear) and finding more chocolate shops to tickle our fancy. We sat for a while in the main courtyard - the Market - took pictures and video, strolled along the side streets and over canals. We ate dinner by a fireplace looking out onto the square and walked back over the cobblestones stopping to buy a warm fresh Belgian waffle with cream and strawberries from a local vendor. We loved this city and would recommend it to any visitors - definitely worth a visit. Our train ride back to Brussels was uneventful (thankfully) and we fell asleep exhausted back in the hotel.

Monday 01 October - A Rainy Monday in London
Up early (5:30am) to catch our RyanAir flight home (and trains, tram, tube, etc), we made it back to my flat safely. It was rainy and cold in London yesterday, so we rested for a while, and then we managed to buy a TV for my flat, and carry it home along with a DVD player and a few movies. I am sure we were quite a sight walking down the road, in the rain, with 32" flatscreen on our shoulders! I am learning not to assume everything would be the same here, but yesterday we had quite a laugh, as we opened up the TV and DVD player and noted that any and all cables were sold separately - there was nothing in the box to hook up the DVD to the TV. unbelievable. So, instead of watching a movie, we took the tube to Piccadilly, bought discounted theatre tickets for that evening and ate a late lunch along Piccadilly Circus. Back home to shower and change, we got dressed up for our night at the Theatre and headed back up to Oxford Circus to see The Sound of Music at the Palladium. It was an old historic theatre in the heart of the West End and a great show to top off the evening. What a way to end a fantastic birthday weekend

Hope you all enjoy the photos!! Let me know what you think!
Hugs -
Carolyn