#pierremarcolini

April 16th, 2019

Day 12: Flying Through Brussels On Our Last Day

The first task on our last day in Europe was to buy some raisin croissants and chocolates at Lidl to bring back to the U.S. We walked to a neighborhood Lidl close to where we were staying and bought exactly what we were looking for prior walking back into town. After that quick trip, we started our very packed day in Brussels.

Today, we saw a ton of sights across town. We started at the Royal Palace of Brussels since it was closest to where we were and slowly marched across town, hitting all the marked sights I had on my map. St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral, a cathedral that looked eerily similar to the Cathedral de Notre Dame in Paris that had a massive fire the previous evening. The Royal Gallery of Saint Hubert that was like a gallery with shops and stuff in it. The little peeing girl statue, Jeanneke Pis. The Mont des Arts, where there was a nice view of the city below. The highly, highly popular Manneken Pis, also known as the statue of the little peeing boy.

After seeing a ton of places in quick succession, we made a brief daytime dessert stop at Maison Dandoy, a tea room well known for its delicious waffles. Because it was our last day, I knew we had to find a way to fit waffles in. It took a while to get seated for some weird reason but eventually, we got a table and quickly ordered two waffles: a Belgian Waffle and a Liege Waffle, with a total of four toppings: fruit sauce, cooked strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream. So freakin’ delicious! Such a well-balanced taste with yummy toppings, all warm and crispy. The one regret was that I didn’t get even more toppings, especially the chocolate and caramel sauces. Yummmm….

We sat in Maison Dandoy for a bit, enjoying the atmosphere there and enjoying our quick break but eventually had to leave to see more of the city as the clouds started to creep in. Our next stop was the Grand Place located right next door to the tearoom. It was a pretty, very gold plaza with beautiful buildings, like City Hall and the Museum of the City of Brussels, surrounding it. We explored the plaza and then ventured in and out of a ton of chocolate shops (like Pierre Marcolini and Neuhaus) surrounding the plaza, with the idea of scouting them out before purchasing chocolates on the walk back home.

The Zinneke Pis, the peeing dog statue on a street corner, was our next stop. Poor guy, he wasn’t nearly as popular as the little pissing dude. From there, we walked to what I thought would be the Comic Strip Wall but ended up only finding a couple of comic murals there. I wonder if it’s gone or if I just missed it… By this stop, we had hit most of the places I had planned on seeing (except the Atomium, which was way too far, sadly) and were at the furthest point from our AirBnB. So, we slowly strolled along a very roundabout path back toward Ixelles (the suburb where our AirBnB was located) and stopped by a couple of places on the way back that we happened to stumble upon and revisit. We also stopped by the chocolate shop Pierre Marcolini for some super fancy chocolates to bring home for the family and Cynthia.

When we finally made it back, we took a quick break, dropped off some stuff, and decided to get dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant called Chao located relatively nearby and recommended to us by this random Vietnamese lady we met earlier in the check-out line at Lidl. The walk was excruciatingly painful given the uphill nature of the mile-long hike, the longer-than-expected hike, our tired feet, and our hungry bellies. But we made it. By the time we arrived, the restaurant was pretty empty. But eventually, it picked up and there were a ton of people by the end of our visit. And the food there wasn’t bad at all! Homey Vietnamese food to round out our trip to Europe. My parents ordered lemongrass chicken, a canh chua (sour soup) dish, and a tofu and vegetable dish. And I got some soybean milk to wash it down with. So good! By the time all was said and done, we (specifically me) had cleaned up all the dishes and rice and I was food dead. I probably ate enough for 4-5 people hahaha.

The rest of the evening was just packing, hanging out in the AirBnB, and getting some rest before waking up in the AM for the long flight back to the U.S (Oh and by the way, it took AGES to get through security at the Brussels Airport and to my gate. OMG). What a family trip it has been! I’m always so impressed at how my parents keep up with our travel pace. Kudos to them for being awesome travel parents and making the most of the family adventure!

And with that, another chapter closed on our annual family travel journey. Until next time!

5 Things I Learned Today:

1. There was a ton of ongoing construction in Brussels this visit. Roads were being re-stoned and repaved. Buildings were being renovated. Sidewalks too. And some of the construction made it difficult to walk from Point A to Point B. Beware.  

2. Belgium, specifically Brussels, has SO MANY chocolate shops, of varying fanciness! The most famous of them all, though, is Pierre Marcolini. Fancy, chique, and expensive. And these chocolate shops are located everywhere! But if you’re looking for somewhere to check a lot of them out at once, there is a large cluster of chocolate shops near and in the Grand Place.

3. The popular peeing statues of Brussels are actually quite underwhelming. Those things are so small (actually life-sized kid statues), making them really hard to see behind a huge crowd of tourists.

4. What is the difference between Belgian and Liege waffles? Well, here it is! Belgian waffles are way more light and airy compared to Liege waffles, which are way more dense, thicker, and heavier. I also think that Liege waffles are sweeter as well. But both are delicious and worth a try!