Week One: Mussels in Brussels (& Waffles & Beer) and finishing up London
I love Belgium. It was among my top three favourite places on my last Europe trip and I made sure to squeeze a bit of time back in Brussels on this one. We didn't have too long there, but I was content to simply enjoy the food in the city centre and walk around the Grand-Place. That was exactly how we started our full day there.
The previous night had been rushed on food -- for convenience, I'd had a Caesar salad and Brennan had had Thai noodles -- and I was determined to make up for it. We lurked outside shops that morning until waffles were available and each had one for breakfast. They were heavenly.
As it was fairly chilly out, our next stop was for hot chocolate. We found shelter on the second floor of a small shop and each had a mug, taking our time to enjoy both the drink and the chocolate samples around us. Then followed a round of chocolate shopping before lunch at Chez Léon, a restaurant I'd remembered from my last trip that had served one of my favourite meals in Europe.
I'd been fantasizing about their moules-gratins dish since I tried it two years ago, and it was just as delicious as I'd remembered.
We went back to the hotel to relax for a bit after lunch, stopping for another waffle on the way back. Then, in the evening, we headed back downtown, passing the Mannekin-Pis and the row of street food stores nearby. I got myself a cone of Belgian frites as an appetizer and we found a 10€ dinner deal of more mussels and our first Belgian beer.
One Häagen-Dazs ice cream cone later, we headed to Delirium, known for its selection of thousands of beers. I chose a strawberry beer and Brennan got an Amber Bush.
We were unfortunately leaving the following day and only had time for one more round of waffles before catching the train back to London. Since we pulled in at St. Pancras station, I stopped by Platform 9 3/4 next-door at King's Cross for a quick visit, but didn't stick around in line. Then, Brennan headed back to the Emirates stadium to buy himself a jersey (after days of consideration) and I tagged along to see it too.
We also had time for a last meal at the Borough market (a Caesar salad, Spanish stew, and seafood and Chorizo paella) and hung out with our Airbnb dog, Toby.
The Europe leg of our trip ended with a walk to the London Eye at night, which yielded one of my favourite views in the world: Westminster lit up by the Thames -- an appropriate grand finale to the week.
