Belgium & Netherlands - Bruges

Attention all foodies! GO TO BELGIUM!

Truly, our trip to Belgium was a gastronomic tour! It was freezing cold, some days dropping to -6 degrees! So once the sun goes down, you just want to hide in a warm restaurant and have some warm hearty food. And warm hearty food we got! Amsterdam on-the-other-hand doesn't have so much of a food culture, and even the Lonely Planet reflects that. In the food section in the Belgium Lonely Planet, the list of Belgian specialties go on and on; for the Amsterdam edition, there really wasn't much mentioned at all. Any cuisine that was mentioned was not Dutch. Highlights were Indonesian food, Italian food, etc.

Anyway before I get to into all that. Our itinerary for the trip was:

Day 1 (20 Dec): London - Bruges
Day 2 (21 Dec): Bruges
Day 3 (22 Dec): Bruges - Antwerp
Day 4 (23 Dec): Antwerp
Day 5 (24 Dec): Antwerp - Amsterdam
Day 6 (25 Dec): Amsterdam
Day 7 (26 Dec): Amsterdam
Day 8 (27 Dec): Amsterdam - Antwerp
Day 9 (28 Dec): Antwerp - Brussels - London

It was one of the more relaxing trips we've had in that we didn't squeeze a lot of activities into one day but really took our time. Partly cos it was winter where the days are short and the weather cold. Normally our backpacking trips are in spring and we'd start early and stay out all day long (which can be quite late in the longer spring days), and often stay out in the night too. On this trip, especially the freezing cold days like those in Bruges, we even went back to the room for a short while in the afternoon to just thaw out for a bit :) I guess it also didn't help that I was feeling under the weather, having brought my flu and cough with me over from Singapore.

--- Bruges ---










Bruges is a quaint, small town that can easily be covered within a day. But taking it slowly has its pleasures, especially with the many Christmas markets at the various squares! It was really Christmassy. Think cold weather, stalls decorated with lights, steam wafting from the hot drinks stalls, sausages stands, and waffle shops. And in the centre of it all, an ice skating rink! Add to that some misty fog, and music! Yes, the centre of Bruges has music piped throughout the town :) So you feel like you are living a soundtrack! It's really lovely, and adds so much to the atmosphere of the place.





















When in Belgium, of course you think of chocolates. And one of the must-see sights in Bruges was ChocoStory - a museum telling the story of chocolate! Everything from how and where it is grown, how the cacao beans are harvested, how the by-products are obtained, to making of the chocolate, and tracing the evolution of chocolate packaging. And to top it all off, there was a chocolate making demonstration where we got to try some freshly made chocolate! And they were really heavenly! The shell was just the right thickness and hardness, so that when you bit into the choclate a lovely 'crack' can be heard, and then you taste the sweet praline inside. Mmmm...mmm...












Actually we got to eat the yummy demo chocolates twice. We joined the demo after it had already started, and got a chocolate at the end. Thinking that we missed out on quite a lot, we decided to wait for the next round to start again. Only after the second demo began did we realise we actually didn't miss very much. We didn't intend to take the demo chocolate again, but the lady making them insisted. (Actually I think it's more because she can't be seen to not be offering it to us, and of course we won't say no right?) =)

We also did a 'Chocolate Walk' on the second day in Bruges. It's a walking tour around town and the highlights are chocolate shops where you can exchange coupons to try chocolates and other chocolate products like chocolate gin (which is fantastic!). I like the family run shops cos they are more personal and friendly. There was one couple we met who ran a pair of shops which were side by side. One sold chocolate, one sold alcohol. The chain shops we walked into had staff who were rude or stuffy. Sign that they are doing too well and it was getting to their heads.












The second day in Bruges was particularly pretty as everything was covered in frost! The trees were white, the canals were frozen over and dusted with icing sugar..everything looked so beautiful! Such a picturesque day! It's amazing how different everything looks when there is frost. And it's amazing how quickly the frost disappears. The third day everything was back to normal and totally un-frosty!











































































The room itself was very cosy, and even had a small sitting corner. And the views out of the window made you feel like you were very much living in the local neighbourhood - which we were! The B&B is also the home of the owners, and is located in a residential area. It was beautifully decorated! The lady of the house has wonderful taste, quirky and refined. And she always looked very well put together.




























We had 2 really good dinners in Bruges. The first night we tried meat fondue and traditional Belgian rabbit stew. We had thought that meat fondue was meat that you dip in cheese. But it turns out that it's raw meat that you cook in hot oil flavoured with herbs. In that sense the term 'meat fondue' is a misnomer cos for choclate fondue you dip things in chocolate, and cheese fondue you dip things in cheese. This should be called 'oil fondue' instead! Anyway it was yummy all the same. The stew too! And everything was 'eat all you can'. They refill the meat, the veg, the chips, and even my stew!












Dinner on the second night was of the classic Belgian dish - mussels and chips! And also something called 'eel in green'. It was the specialty of the restaurant, and another Belgian specialty. Turns out the 'green' is some jelly-like herb sauce. Not too bad. The eels were surprisingly less fishy than I expected considering that Japanese unagi is very fishy. The mussels were cooked in beer with other vegetables and herbs, and was very good! Such a huge bowl too! We had a bowl of tomato soup more for me, cos I had a stuffy nose and was feeling sick, so wanted something hot to warm me up.














Besides Belgian food, we were trying out some of the many many Belgian beers. The interesting thing about Belgium is that they always serve the beer in the correct glasses...so if you order Westmalle, the beer will be served in a Westmalle cup! And prior to Belgium, I had not seen beer glasses in the shape of goblets. The other difference that Jon noticed was that Belgians serve their beer with a very thick layer of foam..approximate an inch thick! There's even a marker on the glass for where the foam must begin!












One of the bars we went to in Belgian on the top 5 bars to go to in Belgium! Very much a beer institution in Bruges, and Belgium as a whole :)












That certainly isn't the end of the beer, food, and sights in Belgium! More up next, in Antwerp!