Waking up after another long day on my feet I found my body rebelling against me. It didn’t want to wake, my feet ached and I had a longing to be sitting on the couch at home watching TV.
I knew I couldn’t have my couch so I improvised and settled on my dorm bed. Over the next 3-4 hours I caught up on the happenings of the internet while downloading some of my favourite TV shows. Some days you just want to put your feet up and do nothing, and this was one of those days.
Laying there on my bed while my final full day in Brussels passed away I was aware I wanted to rest but was also wasting away perfect sight seeing hours, especially since the weather was still good. So after 3-4 hours of ME time I set out to see the town and make sure I could catch a train the next day to Amsterdam.
Getting lost as usual from my hostel I eventually stumbled upon the town square and the beautiful buildings that surround it. Starting with the City Museum I discovered Mannequin Pis and his grand collection of outfits. He is of course a famous Brussels landmark so naturally my next stop was to find the little fellow in the streets.
Along the course of finding Mannequin Pis I stopped to sink my teeth into a waffle. To say it was delicious wouldn’t do it justice, so I just had to have a second one as after all I was in Belgium.
Moving on from my waffle pig out I found Mannequin Pis and the huge crowd that had gathered to see him. I know having seen his outfits I should have expected him to be small but still on first sight I was like, oh is that all of him.
By now I’d walked my fair share of streets and seen some sights so it was time to fill up on a couple of lovely Belgian beers. I stopped off at Moeder Lambic where they say your best to tell the bar staff what sort of beer you like and let them choose the liquid to wet your lips. They did a pretty good job of finding me some tasty beers and it was nice to just sit outside and people watch while I drank.
My final stop for the day was to get me some Frittes with mayo. Now I was skeptical on just how good this could be, I mean chips and tomato sauce (thats ketchup to you non-australians) is pretty freaking good. To make the choice easy for the rest of you I’ll now be ordering mayo with all of my chips whenever possible, very awesome.
As the day drew to a close and me feeling rather happy about my little sight seeing trip I strolled back to the hostel to pack for my early train ride to Amsterdam the next day.
When I first started planning my trip I had never intended to stop in Belgium, but now I’m glad I did. I made a new friend and while the stop was only short it does mean I have plenty of reasons to return.
Those Belgian fries are super delicious indeed!! The mayo mix is just magic, and I feel like the way they do the fries is also different, make the whole thing soooo delicious. Best fries in the world, so far I’ve tasted! My easy knock off of that mayo mix is just as simple as mayo + Indonesian chili sauce (saus sambal).
Waffles there are heavenly, agree with you. I’m not much a beer person (I like coffee/chocolate based liquor better), but Ryan my hubby is. Trappist beers are his number one favorite beer ever! Do you try that?
In Brussels, I also fell in love with their chocolates. Pierre Marcolini is the best for me. They are tiny and expensive, but heavenly.
manekin Pis was totally naked without hat whatsoever when we were there.
.-= Dina´s last blog ..Top 3 Travel Gear Chosen by Travelers Around the World =-.
You got that right Dina, OMG I so want some fries and mayo right now.
OK Dina we have a problem… your not a beer person??? hahah joking. Trappist are very awesome, on the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki I drank all of the ones they had in the fridge 🙂 If you check my last Belgium post the header image is a Trappist beer 🙂
I couldn’t stop staring at the waffle 🙂 And I’ve had a couple of Belgian labmics that were very nice. I’m ready to go eat now!
Glad you took some “you” time to rest — you need those every so often when you’re constantly on the go!
Hey Heather. The rest time was good to catch my breath so to speak. As I’ve covered more ground I’ve actually relaxed a lot more and now just never want to stop 🙂
This sounds like a pretty awesome travel day to me!!! Chillaxing and eating!!! My mouth is wattering for that waffle!!!
.-= Sasha´s last blog ..On UR Way Magazine Issue #2 =-.
Was a great day Sasha. That waffle was very awesome and it didn’t need the 50 toppings some of the other tourists were having.
You must go back to Brussels – so much left to see (and so much left to drink). You did not go to the street with the Delirium Cafe and I can’t remember the Absinthe bar name? Delirium has something like 2000 beers (they were in the Guinness world book of records for most beers commercially available) – that was a rough night for me – wine with dinner, then a stop for absinthe, and across to the cafe for Belgian beers. As Dina mentioned, the Trappist ones are good – my husband’s been to all but one of them in Belgium – another reason we have to go back. LOL.
Your photo makes me miss the waffles so much – did you go to the one closest to the Mannequin Pis? They have some of the best gaufres in Belgium imo (I did a waffle tour of Belgium lol). I could only do one in Brussels though as I opted to really pig out and get the one with whipped cream, chocolate, strawberry, and bananas. Moooo….
If we move back to the NL next year and you come visit – we will go do a beer tour of Belgium! 😀
.-= Erin De Santiago´s last blog ..Photo of the Week: Peanut Ice Cream with Cilantro in Taipei, Taiwan =-.
You can keep that Absinthe stuff away from me Erin gah make me sick. I loved the Trappist beers, Elke got me onto them straight away.
No I got my waffle a little bit up the street. There was a huge crowd looking at Mannequin Pis so even getting a photo was a challenge.
See I like the plain waffle with a bit of sugar. All that extra stuff just gets in the way of tasting the waffle.
Beer tour sounds like my kind of tour, sign me up.
Dear Aussie Nomad,
I’m so glad you enjoyed your time in Brussels. However, I’m a bit repulsed that you’re making the switch to mayo. Please reconsider.
Sincerely,
A Wandering Sole
Aww Laura its really really good. Don’t worry I’ll still have tomato sauce now and then too 🙂
I never did get to try waffles, OR fries with mayo! Dammit.
.-= Candice´s last blog ..The Best Dive Pub Ever Found, the Inn of Olde =-.
Candice how did you not try waffles??
This reminded me so much of my day in Brussels! I did all of the above in the same order. Strange…
.-= Suzy´s last blog ..Looking Down On The World =-.
lol that’s super crazy Suzy. Great minds think alike obviously.