Brussels is quite different from the other parts of Europe that I had seen so far. It had a skyline. While many of you might not understand the significance of this, some will. I'll explain. Most Italian cities do not have what Americans consider tall buildings. Sure, their buildings have some height to them and are a good handful of stories tall, but nothing compared to a place like Chicago. Brussels is no New York. Most cities aren't. But Brussels had modern buildings. It was weird to see them right next to older buildings though. It was like a battle between old and new. Who was going to win? We may never know.
(Yes, I realize this is not an example of the old vs new building discussion.)
I got to sample the delicious Belgium chocolate that was calling my name. Literally, we walked out one store into the store right next door, pretended to be browsing until we were offered free samples then left. It was delicious, although overpriced. The grocery store is where we found our purchases (for much, much cheaper) and were able to leave with a little more change in our pockets.
The Chocolate Street
We also tried a few Belgium beers to get the full effect of what this country has to offer. One of the bars, called Delirium, has over 2000 beers on tap! We tried a few and they were really good. I would say they beat the likes of Bud Light and Keystone (typical college beers of choice) by a long shot. If you have ever tried those, you would know that isn't too hard to do though.
And, yes, I saw the peeing boy (Mannekin Pis). He has been known to sport a variety of outfits in his day as well, but this time he was fully naked. There are also statues of a peeing girl (she is squatting) and a peeing dog (he is pulling the one leg up pose while peeing on to a fire hydrant). Why do they have so many peeing statues? I have no idea. I don't think that I would want my claim to fame a bunch of peeing statues. Brussels, I won't judge.
Mannekin Pis
We took a bus to Amsterdam for a few days where we saw the sights and sounds of the city. Don't take this the wrong way, but I loved Amsterdam. That statement excludes all prejudgments that the city receives due to their infamous "Red Light District". The people there were just so nice, and all the little kids were bundled up all cute. AND there were bikes everywhere...with baskets in the front. The city just had a happy feeling to it. One of the days, I was mostly by myself because everyone else was doing other things and I had the greatest day. I walked around the entire city and it was just beautiful. I guess my ability to put my thoughts into words isn't going so well. Just trust me. I wouldn't lie about things that make me super happy.
Bikes, bikes everywhere!
It took me so long to find this sign...but I finally did!
We saw where Anne Frank (and company) hid during the years of WWII. When I was younger, I loved reading about WWII and the Jews that lived during this time period so I definitely had read her book. It had been awhile though. They did a great job of pulling quotes throughout the tour and used video interviews to help explain her story. It was a great thing to see and made me realize how lucky we are to live in an environment where we have so many freedoms.
I got sick on the last days in Amsterdam and Brussels which involved me coughing my lungs out. Maybe staying in an 18 bed hostel and hanging out in the cold late at night isn't the smartest idea I've ever had. Oh well. I came back to Milan with a nasty cold, but I popped my meds like a modern day pharmacist and by the time I left this past weekend for Spain I was so much better. Oh, modern science. What would I do without you? Probably stay sick for much longer. No thanks.
One last thing I would like to note is a certain sandwich that had in Brussels. Okay, I had it twice. Let me explain. Many of you may not know that fries came from Belgium and not France (at least I didn't know this). Therefore, every time you say "French Fries" you are lying about their origin to everyone. You might want to stop doing that. I guess the reason people thought they were from France was because a lot of people in Belgium speak French. Hence, they thought they were French. False! What I am getting at is that Belgium makes some magnificent fries, and with a weakness for fries I tried them every chance I got. Anyways, two of my friends stumbled upon this random fry place in the middle of a random street. You would think that the fries aren't that stellar. False again! AMAZING. But here is the kicker: they make a hamburger sandwich WITH fries in the sandwich.
I don't know how they do it but this sandwich is so good. If I lived there, I would eat at that place everyday (and gain multiple pounds in the process). Why Americans never thought of this fatty goodness, I don't know. But I bet you are all going to want to try this at home, aren't you? Well, to be a try Belgium you need to eat your fries with mayonnaise. (I refused. I hate mayonnaise.) I stuck with ketchup while had other friends try a wide range of sauces.
This marked the end of my two week vacation. (Yes, it was a full-blown vacation.) Then it was back to classes and other school work for me. I had a great time everywhere I went, but was ready for my somewhat "normal" life to return. Whatever THAT has become...
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