People and a Cafe in Brussels

On Sunday, I checked into the 2Go4 Hostel right around the corner from the Sleep Well and immediately found a more inviting and enjoyable hostel experience.  The first hostel was more like a Club Med, with cultural cliques that were nearly impossible to break despite a number of attempts, while the second provided a place for meeting people with ease.  I'd imagine this had something to do with the spaces of both hostels--the Sleep Well's common room was dark and unfriendly, while the 2Go4's had windows and comfortable furniture.  I met people from all across Europe and the US, and eventually headed downtown with another Erick from Santa Barbara, CA. 
We made our way to the 10th floor of a parking garage that allegedly had a great panoramic view of Brussels.  Although I took a few pictures, I came to the realization that something had happened to my camera because of a small black dot that appeared on the view screen.  So, for the remainder of the trip, all of my pictures will probably have the Black Dot of Brussels...

I should also point out that on Sundays, Brussels has a no car policy, meaning that--aside from buses/police/ambulances/firetrucks/service vehicles--there are no automobiles on the streets at all; as a result, the streets overflow with pedestrians and cyclists. 

The rare car(s) in front of the Stock Exchange building on Sunday

Looking for some food, we headed to a vegetarian shop that sold falafel and all-you-can-eat salad.  While we waited for our food, another person from the hostel--Dael from Rome--walked by and we recruited him to join us.  At 5,00 Euro per person, this place was the best deal and best meal I had during my stay in the city.  Seriously.  After eating, a few beers, and some more walking around the streets, we headed back to the hostel.

After napping for a bit, I met my roommates--Cara from New Zealand and Maria from Macedonia.  We decided that getting beers was a smart move, so we did just that, along with Johnny from the UK.  Soon enough, we arrived at the Delirium Cafe, a world-renown beer bar with over 2000 beers (including Arn City) to choose from. 

The entrance to Delirium Cafe is down a small alley way

Delirium Cafe

Delirium Cafe

The bar has three floors and an incredible selection of beers.  Soon, I'll devote some more time to the beer from this country, so hang tight.  I just got into Antwerp today, and like what little I've seen of the city so far, so I'm going to explore this place now.  Keep your dial locked for a recap of my final day and a half in Brussels...
 



Variation on a Photo Dump (Cliched City-Tour Edition)

On this installment of 'Photo Dump,' we start with a couple of pictures of the Grand Place.  Yes, I know that you've seen more pictures of this than anything else in Brussels and yes, it is one of the more touristy (and thus, unhip) parts of Brussels, but everytime I walked through there, I couldn't help but take a picture or two.  It's really that nice.

Next, we move slightly norhwest of the Grand Place to a monument to Belgium's independence known as the Congreskolom.  There are a number of Bauhaus buildings once used to house Belgium's government workers in the area surrounding the column.  There's only one picture here, though, mainly because of the graffiti on the side of one of the buildings.

Tired of staring into the sun because of a breathtaking (yet slightly fallic) monument?  Then let's head to the Parc de Bruxelles, a beautiful park across the street from the Royal Palace, which we'll visit in a minute.  For now, here's the Parc (or for you patriots out there, Park):



Wait, what's that in the distance?  Is it the US Capitol Building?  No--try the office of only the most importa--I mean, powerf--I mean, random (yeah that works)--world leader:  the King of Belgium!  Sure, he's slightly overshadowed by other world leaders, but dang, he's got a nice office:

And for the sake of a good photo dump, here are a few random pictures:

Place des Martyrs

Place des Martyrs

Place des Martyrs

Stoemp saucisse (sausage on top of mashed potatoes--very fancy!)

Brussels' finest



Brussels has a few of these Vegasesque passages connecting its streets...





...as well as these 'comic walls'



Brussels Day 2

I woke up and had a pretty lousy breakfast at the hostel--unfortunately, that was the best part of that hostel (as I'm writing this, I'm at a new hostel, the 2Go4, which seems to be much better)--of rock-hard toast and coffee.  After breakfast, I headed to the nearby mall to get a towel, but when I got back, I was locked out of my room because the hostel apparently had a lock-out policy between 11am-3pm (glad they told me; oh wait...).  Luckily, I found a cleaning man (we'll call him CM) who spoke no English or German, but nonetheless unlocked my room for me.  I headed to the shower room, but found that too was locked, so back to find CM I went.  "No, no, no" was all he said (as well as some other things under his breath in French, I'm sure they were nice--I said nice things to him in English, too), so I went back to my room, got dressed, and headed into Brussels with the sweet smell of America still all over me.

Soon, I met up with Jason, a buddy from school, and his girlfriend, Emily, in front of the Maison des Brasseurs in the Grand Place.  Being able to carry on a conversation was a great feeling and with renewed energy, I took them towards the Manneken Pis to get a beer and see the statue.  On the subject of peeing in Brussels, I've never seen so much blatant public urination in a place before (and I've been to Morgantown, Burlington, and Oakland (PA):  all havens for such an activity).  It's as if taking a leak on the side of a beautiful 400 year old building is as much a part of Brussels as pommes frites.  Sometimes even, the two aren't mutually exclusive:

The sign on the window of the Manneken Frites restaurant

So after walking around for a while, the three of us met up with a friend of J's from home who is currently studying in Brussels.  Kevin did a great job playing tour guide and pointed out that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels did some of their critical work on the Communist Manifesto in this building within the Grand Place:



A fitting building for such a manuscript, right?

We walked south toward the Centraal Station and walked around the Museum District, which has the Magritte Museum and Royal Museum of Fine Arts, among others.  I've yet to check these places out yet, but rest assured, I'll check out their collections and take enough pictures (assuming I'm allowed) to bore the hell out of you!  For now, here are some pictures of what occupies the spaces near the museums:

Later in the day/evening, the four of us got on the Metro and headed towards Merode, the area where our guide spends most of his time.  But due to a lapse in reason, I didn't take any pictures of this part of the journey, but had one of the best and cheapest meals:  a durum wrap filled with lamb, fries, and salad (that's what vegetables are called here...), as well as some mayonnaise and a dark red sauce.  This was a Primanti's on crack (or 'brown-brown' for those who've seen Lord of War).  I should also take this time to say that every restaurant I've been in here--even if it's a Quick (Belgian/French version of McDonald's) or other cheap place to eat--is really nice inside (I'll try to get a picture soon).  Take note America--some of your higher-end restaurants look like shit compared to Brussels' lower-end eateries. 

After dinner and a quick stop at Kevin's apartment, we headed back to the Grand Place to see a highly-touted light and music show that gives tourist's a complete sensory overload at the feet of the plaza's buildings.  It would've been great, but we missed it.  Oh well, seeing the local 15- and 16-year olds act like 5-year olds because they drank too much was equally entertaining.  But good god, they were annoying.  About an hour later, we split up, with the three other patriots heading back to Merode and myself going back to the Sleep Well.

What a misnomer...