Day 7 - High Class to Underground in Brussels

Brussels is definitely all business during the day, but the city knows how to have fun when the sun goes down. After a full day of walking around, checking out a few markets, and seeing some sites, we put on our evening attire and got a taste of the Belgian nightlife.

The beautiful city view from Jeremy and Pam's place in the Ixelles part of Brussels

Matt blogging a bit while rocking a stylish robe and pink slippers

We started the day at Emile Bistro, a local spot known for its burgers and waffles

Despite some language barriers with the staff (we know a combined 7 words in French), we managed to order the popular Belgian waffle. The interesting thing about waffles in Brussels is that they eat it as a dessert, not for breakfast with fruit and syrup like we do in the U.S. 

Brussels has lots of great views, open plazas, and various parks and gardens to explore and enjoy

On our walk around town we found this huge Smurf, which is kind of an oxymoron

Brussels, like many European cities, has plenty of outdoor cafes lining the various plazas. They can definitely be a bit touristy, but it's also fun to sit outside, enjoy a beer or coffee and just people watch.

The gallery at Place de l'Agoro, one of the city's most popular shopping areas

The narrow cobble streets of the old part of Brussels are lined with cafes, restaurants and pubs. We popped in and out of a few to enjoy Belgian's many beers.

Greg continued his new tradition of taking photos with animal statues

Our night began around 9pm. We kept it classy to start by doing dinner at one of Brussels' new higher end restaurants called Belga Queen that specializes in local cuisine, beer, and even locally crafted desserts using Brussels' various chocolatiers.

Jeremy, Greg and Matt dressed to impress

Greg, Pam and Jeremy entering Belga Queen, Antoine Pinto's new brasserie that strives to provide a gastronomic trip through Belgium

Belga Queen is in an 18th century building that used to house a hotel and then a bank before being turned into a restaurant

It was great to be able to spend time with Jeremy and Pam and see how well they're doing in their new city

The mousse sampler for dessert

After dinner we switched gears and ventured off to see Brussels' other nightlife side at an underground dance party in the Bois de la Cambre, which is the city's main park that sits on the edge of the Sonian Forest. The venue is called The Wood, which is one of the city's new nightlife venues and has been hosting special events, private concerts, and promoter nights such as the night we went on Friday.

William from the local Red Bull Brussels staff, Matt and Greg entering The Wood. William hooked it up and helped us get into the party. 

The Wood had two rooms, one of which was in an old barn, along with an outdoor area

The music was primarily house and dance music which isn't necessarily our first choice, but we made it work

We called it quits around 4am and just like back home the best way to end an evening of boozing and dancing is with a good old New York street dog, which they randomly had available outside the venue

It was a great all around Brussels evening. We got to experience both sides of what this diverse city has to offer - the high end part of town with a nice dinner followed by an underground, more rugged dance scene. The only bad part of the evening is that we fly to Copenhagen early Saturday morning, so it'll be a short night sleep and a rough morning. Oh well.

Day 6 - Desserts, Peeing Baby, & U.S. vs Germany

Brussels is best known for being the capitol for the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as well as a main hub for international politics. More importantly it's known as an international hub for BEER, CHOCOLATE and FRENCH FRIES!! Definitely our kind of town (we skipped the brussel sprouts for obvious reasons).

Although Brussels is smack dab between France, Netherlands, and Germany - it's about one hour to any of those countries' borders - Brussels is distinctly French starting with the language. The city is technically bilingual with French and Dutch as the official languages but a majority of people - store owners, cab drivers, bartenders, market workers, etc - primarily speak French. Other parts of Belgium differ slightly with more influence from the Dutch and Germans, but Brussels has French flare in their food, architecture, culture and overall lifestyle.

The goal for Thursday was to explore the city a bit, see some sites, and be setup at a bar by 6pm to watch the very important US v Germany match, a deciding third game that the US need to win, tie or lose by a small margin in order to advance to the knockout stage.

The morning started early with a revisit to the American Embassy (above) to finalize the issuing of a new passport. Fortunately, it was a relatively easy process and I was able to get a temporary emergency passport within a few hours.

Our friends Jeremy and Pam, who we are staying with in Brussels, live in a beautiful vintage building in the upscale area of Ixelles. The most vintage part of the building is the old school elevator, which fits 3, maybe 4 people and requires the manual closing of the doors as well as the exterior black metal gate. 

First stop after the Embassy was breakfast/lunch, which looks a lot like a bakery

I opted for the strawberry tart

I've been making a bit of a habit of feasting on sweets on this trip whether it's apple pie, chocolate almonds, strawberry tarts, coffee mouse, and much more :)

CHOCOLATE!! Speaking of sweets, Neuhaus is one of Belgium's most famous chocolate houses along with Godiva, Leonidas and a few others

Arguably Brussel's main tourist attraction is the peeing boy statue, aka Manneken Pis, which I'm sure most people have seen replicas of, but like us had no idea the original was in Brussels. It's tiny and located on a random street corner and some how it became a popular tourist stop. The only cool thing about it was that it was decked out in Belgium soccer gear in honor of the World Cup.

Brussels' main square is called Grand Place or Grote Markt. It is lined with restaurants, shops, bars and several historic buildings including the Town Hall and the King's House (above).

We stopped at a local Belgian ice cream shop

Matt expressing his feeling toward Birkenstocks...just not a fan

Brussels' Cathedral of St. Michael

By 6pm we landed at Fat Boys, an expat sports bar in Luxembourg Plaza that was packed with a mix of US, German and general soccer fans

Let's go USA!

Greg making peace not war

Despite the 1-0 loss to the Germans, the U.S. advanced to the next round

Thursdays at Luxembourg Plaza are packed - soccer games or not - because the plaza is in the middle of all the international offices and most of the workers leave on Thursday for long weekends so they booze after work before they head out

Outdoor drinking is allowed around Brussels which allows for beautiful evenings dining and drinking outdoors in the sunshine

Thursday was a successful day all around - new passport, chocolate, beer, saw some sites, and most importantly U.S. is advancing. Friday is our last day in Brussels and we have a nice dinner and fun night out planned. We fly out to Copenhagen early Saturday morning.

Day 5 - Good Bye Amsterdam, Hello Brussels; Stolen Backpack

It was tough to leave the sweet life of Amsterdam, but it was time to explore new territory, Belgium to be exact. We jumped on the train at Amsterdam's Central Station and were expecting about a 2.5hr ride to Brussels with one quick - 6 minute - transfer. However, we hit a bit of a hiccup along the way.

Inside Amsterdam's Central Station

Our chariot to Brussels

Lots of open green land in the country side of the Netherlands

A herd of cows

In my 10+ years of international travel, I've been fortunate enough to avoid lost or stollen possessions, but every streak has to come to an end and it did on Wednesday. My backpack with a handful of my items including my computer and passport was stolen from the train. A super bizarre situation because the back pack was right above our heads on the luggage rack just like I've put it a thousand times. It was wedged between our bigger roller bags so it seemed nice and secure, but if a person with enough balls and enough motivation (and skill) to steel then he'll take his or her chances. It was at one of the stops after the transfer and people were getting off the train, it was normal commotion of people exiting, but we were watching a movie so didn't really pay attention to what people were doing around us. It wasn't until about an hour later when we were approaching our stop in Brussels that I got up to put some stuff away and realized it was gone.

We arrived to Brussels around 2:30pm and made our way to the police office at the train station to file the stolen backpack report. We followed that up with a stop at the U.S. Embassy to inquire about a new passport, which they said to come back the next morning to sort out.

With the stolen goods somewhat sorted, we were ready to begin to enjoy Brussels. Around 5pm we headed to the Place du Chatelaine Wednesday street market. It was small but plentiful with stalls of cheese, olives, salami, fish, fried goods, fruit, and of course waffles (it is Belgium after all). We noshed our way around the market and then popped over to an outdoor cafe for some beers.

The assortment of stalls at the Place du Chatelaine market was very impressive

First waffle of the Belgium visit...hoping it's one of many

The vendors were all local farmers, fruit growers, butchers, and cheese makers

Salami sticks. We got 20 various flavors of salami sticks for 5 euros.

Lots of of olives

The snacks at the market were tasty but not filling so we headed to dinner at a traditional Belgium place called Le Chou de Bruxelles specializing in the country's best known dish moules-frites (mussels with fries).

Night one dinner at Le Chou de Bruxelles in the Ixelles part of town

They bring a cooking pot full of seasoned muscles with a paper cone of fries on the side. They had about 20 choices of ways you could have your muscles seasoned, we opted for three different styles: curry, seven herbs & garlic, and a spicier Thai-style cream sauce. All were delicious and easily topped my list of best muscles - granted, my experience eating mussels is limited but I think anybody would find these to be really good.

Mussels can get messy so we had to bib-up

Before...

after

The travel day and getting some important stuff stolen wiped us out a little bit so we headed home to catch the 10pm World Cup matches and then got some rest. Thursday and Friday are days to walk around and see the sites of Brussels and more importantly on Thursday is the third and final US match that'll determine if they advance to the knockout stage.

Day 4 - Bikes, Art, Parks, and Red Light District

Amsterdam is very much a throwback city. Some areas feel like you've gone back in time. It's truly amazing.

While sitting at one of the many cafes we noticed a sign on the wall saying that it opened in 1983, which lead to the question, "What do you think Amsterdam was like in 1983?" We pondered the question, surveyed our surroundings, analyzed the modest buildings, the stepped gable houses, the mom-and-pop store fronts, the bike riders, the cobblestone streets, the canals, and after about 10 seconds of taking it in and processing it all, we both looked at each other and said, "the same." It's so true; if you took the modern-day cars off the streets and took a black and white photo of the city, Amsterdam could pass as 1940 or 1983 or 2014. I think that's where the beautiful charm of this city comes from; it has managed to maintain that vintage look and feel in these modern times.

Tuesday was a day for us to get out and experience that special city charm. We had a full "Amsterdam day," meaning we did what you are supposed to do here - ride bikes, explore the museums, relax in a park, walk around the Red Light District, and enjoy a nice meal along the canals.

Our first stop was at a great mom-and-pop cafe and bakery where we tossed back a few espressos and a couple panini sandwiches...

...and a few pastries...we figured since we were going to ride bikes, we'd burn off the extra calories

Saddle up

We rode around town for about an hour or so exploring the canals, bridges, and various back streets

We eventually ended up at the museum square (above) and at Vondelpark, one of Amsterdam's main public parks

The park opened in 1865 and was originally named Nieuwe Park (New Park), but was later renamed "Vondelpark" after the 17th century author Joost van den Vondel

Greg got some extra exercise in by climbing the park's art work

Enjoying the ride

Lots of beautiful scenery and foliage at Vondelpark...

...and plenty of cafes to pop into for beers

Decent form, but a little too much bend in the arms and legs

Now that's solid form, great extension

After exploring the park we headed to the Vincent van Gogh museum to take in a little culture. Although lots of van Gogh's work is on display in Paris, the van Gogh museum had some of his most recognizable pieces such as Sunflowers (above), The Bedroom (below), and my favorite The Harvest.

One of the most interesting facts we learned about Van Gogh is that he was only an artist for 10 years. He started at the age of 27 in 1880 and worked up until he killed himself in 1890.

We built up an appetite with all the bike riding and art exhibits, so we headed to dinner at a nice Mediterranean place called Mata Hari in the Red Light District. A nice bottle of wine, candle light, view overlooking the canal...muy romantica!!

We had the catch of the day, which was a nice North Sea white fish

And the braised lamb shank with a saffron pilaf with nuts

We capped the meal off with a digestief of Courvoisier V.S.O.P.

Keeping it classy

And then not keeping it classy...we bounced around a few dive bars in the Red Light District, which weren't as sketchy as we thought they'd be. However, the neighboring strip clubs with the girls in the windows asking you to come inside were sketchy as hell.

We eventually made it to an Amsterdam punk bar where Greg felt right at home. It was so punk that we barely got served because of our somewhat clean look and light colored clothing. A few other older white clean-cut dudes in collared shirts never got served. 

Repping Brooklyn in Amsterdam

Amsterdam does it right. That's all we can really say. The lifestyle is so nicely balanced. They seem to work hard and get shit done, but they know when to slow down, relax and enjoy themselves. I think the lifestyle of Amsterdam hit me when we were walking around the streets of the Jordaan area, an upscale part of the city, and the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, and boats were lazily moving along the canals. It was around 3 or 4pm and I noticed people starting to bring little breakfast nook tables onto the sidewalks just outside their front doors to take in the sunshine, perhaps a glass of wine and some small cheese and meat snacks. It was like they all stopped what they were doing, no matter how important it was, and they said to themselves, it's time to go enjoy life for a little bit. I haven't seen that sort of "stop and pause a minute" mentality in any other city. It's a beautiful beautiful thing.

Wednesday we wrap up in Amsterdam and take the train to Belgium to link up with our friends Jeremy and Pamela for a few days in Brussels.