Today we woke up and got ready to depart Amsterdam for Brussels, Belgium. As there was construction, the trip down to Brussels took slightly longer than expected, but it wasn’t really a problem considering we were still early. We arrived two hours early for check-in at the hotel, but fortunately there was another guest who called the manager so we could get checked in. This hotel isn’t like the other ones in which we have stayed. It is called Budget Flats and it is more like a studio apartment; there is a refrigerator, microwave, closet, table and chairs, couch, and a little backyard. Amazingly, with the internet usage, it still cost us less than some of the other hotels.

The manager of the hotel suggested that we not drive our car into the city centre, but I couldn’t understand why. The public transportation here didn’t seem as nicely done as in some of the other cities, so I thought we would drive. After about 10 minutes of driving, I understood why we should have taken the metro. There are no stop signs or stop lights at many of the intersections, and people just seem to drive however they please. Other cars pull out whenever they feel like it, pedestrians walk in between cars, and traffic is insane! Couple those things with my poor understanding of the city layout and there is quite a problem.

Anyway, we actually made it to the city centre and found a parking place. The first stop there was the infamous Manneken Pis, which is arguably the busiest tourist attraction in Brussels. If this is THE thing to see in Brussels, we had better find another city to visit tomorrow. It is basically a small statue / fountain of a kid peeing. That is it. Yup, there is nothing more. So, we saw it, looked at each other, and tried to figure out what all the fuss was about. I was a little disappointed as they usually dress him up in costumes for special occasions, and even though they said that on 08 January he would be dressed as Elvis in honour of the King’s birthday, he was not. 🙁

After the anticlimactic statue, we found a little waffle stand to get a snack. (If you didn’t know, Brussels is known for waffles, chocolates, fries, and beer). There are two types of waffles: Leige, which tend to be sweeter and eaten by hand, and Brussels (or Flemish), which are more rectangular and typically eaten with utensils. We had the Leige style, and I had mine with white chocolate as a topping. It was delicious, but a bit difficult to eat as the warm white chocolate kept running off the side and down my arm, while the powdered sugar flew all over my jacket and gloves.

After our waffles, we found a chocolate shop called Neuhaus. The owner of this shop invented the Belgian praline, which is a chocolate-covered nut (pecans, walnuts, et cetera) or even a nouget-like filling. We didn’t buy anything though, as there are many other chocolatiers to see in Belgium.

I couldn’t find the African restaurant at which we wanted to eat, so we settled on going back to the hotel and seeing what places were close by. The owner of the hotel recommended an Italian place right up the street called Il Sipario. We went there and told the owner that it came recommended. The meal was exceptionally light and delicious. I had a simple penne with red sauce, garlic, onion, and basil. For dessert I had a Zuppa Inglese, which is an Italian cream cake with Alchermes (a liqueur) and layers of custard and sponge cake. It was also excellent, and seemed to have a slight toasted coconut taste and texture to it.

Tomorrow we plan on seeing some of the sights around Brussels, and then possibly venturing out to neighbouring cities like Geel and Bruges.

Today started off with a trip down to Centraal Station in order to catch a different tram than our usual ones. We firstly went to the Purse and Handbag Museum. While not my first choice of museums to see, it turned out to be fairly interesting. The exhibits had a bunch of information regarding materials and methods used during different time periods, and for what purposes the bags were used.

From there we then made our way to XtraCold, the ice bar. This bar itself is made completely of ice, and it is located right near the Amstel canal. Though it seemed like a neat place, we couldn’t justify the 20 euro cost to enter the bar, even if it included two drinks. So, we took a gander at some of the pictures of the inside of the bar, and then headed out.

Next we went to the Anne Frank House, which has been mostly converted into a museum as well. It was very interesting as it included many of her writings, and also allowed us to see what the house was like while the family hid from the Nazi invasion. One really interesting connection was that one of the family members was sent to Neuengamme, which is the labour camp outside of Hamburg that we went to see a few days back.

After the Anne Frank House, we made our way back to Centraal Station to catch the 21 bus to a coffee house called Barney’s. However, we couldn’t find the place, and the address I had was apparently not correct. It would have been neat to see, but we were okay without it.

On the way back from Centraal Station, we decided that we would just walk down the main stretch and choose a restaurant that way. We stopped at this Argentinian steakhouse and ate. As we have found in many other places here, the water is not free, and the food is usually very pricey. The meal was pretty tasty though, and my baked potato was massive! After dinner, we walked over to the other major street that runs north to south—Damrak—and looked for a bakery. We didn’t find one that had nice looking pastries, but on our way back to the 2 tram, we did find one. Stopping in, I had a glass of Chinese Blossom tea (strength of an English tea, but with a little more fragrance, like Jasmine) and a slice of apple pie. Both were great.

Now, I am getting things ready to depart for Belgium tomorrow. I certainly enjoyed my stay in the Netherlands, and I hope that things go equally well, if not better, in Belgium for the last leg of the journey.