Much like Spain during Christmas, we planned a relaxing weekend of eating, shopping and sight-seeing. As one knows, Belgium is quite famous for a number of cuisines, and of course beer. And yes, we did indulge over the weekend in lots of chocolate, moules frites (mussels and fries), beer and Belgian waffles. Luckily, the hotel had a gym, but somehow doubt that burned as many calories as we consumed! Thursday was our first full day in Brussels, and after breakfast in the grand breakfast room we took to the streets of Brussels.
The temperature in Brussels was a fair bit cooler than London, and it snowed a lot over the weekend. But it was lovely to see fresh snow fall. Our hotel was located right across the road from the city's main shopping strip (the Pitt Street Mall of Brussels) with all the well-known European high-street brands.
Like this massive Zara store.
We found our way to the historic square of Brussels, the Grand Place (French) or Grote Market (Dutch) which is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site. The square was overshadowed by the city's town hall, Hotel de Ville Stadhais (below).
And surrounded by grand architecture.
Of intricate detail.
Just off the square was the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate which we visited briefly (among several school excursions).
Lunch was spent at a cosy pub on the Grand Palace Grote Market, by an open fire before we took to sampling the chocolate shops.
We are no stranger to Belgian chocolates, often indulging at our favourite Belgian chocolate store, Leonidas on Fleet Street in London. We weren't quite prepared for the sheer number of chocolate stores dotted around Brussels (and there were even more in Brugge!). After picking up a few chocolates and some beer, we walked further around the city. We found the Galeries Saint Hubert an arcade with a long glass-domed ceiling (and more chocolate shops).
Then passed the snow-covered Brussels Square surrounded by fascinating architecture.
Such as the the glass cube which is the Square Brussels Meeting Centre.
Walking past the Palais Royal, the official residence of the Royal Family, we popped into the Parc de Bruxelles (French) or Warandepark (Dutch), the park across the road which was pretty empty and snow-covered.
We then found our way to the centre of Europe. Well the centre of European policy, the European Union (EU) Commission. It's commanding architecture was commanding, but unfortunately closed after lunch time on Fridays.
But we still enjoyed a short visit to the home of the Eurocrats, as Geoff calls them.
The temperatures were cooling significantly and we decided to hole up in our lovely and warm hotel room with some gourmet food from the local deli (below) and cheese shop.
The next day, we took a train to Brugge, just an hour away from Brussels.
Bruge is the smaller, but prettier sister. It's winding cobbled streets were lined with well-kept medieval architecture, housing shops, cafes and restaurants. Brugge was quite touristy, but as it was winter it wasn't too crowded (or maybe we're used to lots of crowds in London). We sampled loads of chocolate shops (again).
But Chocolat Oe Praline (below) and Juliettes (further down the same street, Wollestraat, but on the opposite side) were our favourites.
We also visited the 2be store which sold literally hundreds of beers.
Finishing out day in Brugge with a long lunch at De Gastro.
On our last day in Belgium, most of the stores were closed as it was Sunday. Most of the life in the city congregates in the area around the church, Eglise Sainte Catherine. We found Cafe de Markten, a pretty non-descript cafe from the outside, but a lovely and airy cafe on the inside.
Our final stop before heading back to the hotel was Caffe Tasse for rich hot chocolates to warm up on the wintery afternoon. And to pick up (more) beautifully packaged chocolates for our return to London.
It was onto the Eurostar back to London. Before filing up to the platform to the waiting train, we found this sign particularly amusing telling us, 'This way to London'.
