Traveling in Vienna – Christmas Markets and Palaces

April 9, 20142 Comments

From Prague to Vienna, we took a bus called Student Agency that took around 5 hours. Flying in and out of Vienna is extremely pricey, so it seems that most travelers on a budget commute by bus. Student Agency was the cheapest bus out there and it was also one of the best bus I’ve been on! They had tons of movies to watch, free wi-fi, and even a cup of complimentary hot chocolate or coffee. Our bus did require us to switch to a different bus when we got to Brno, a city in Czech. The next bus wasn’t as fancy, but it was only another 1-2 hours, so we just slept it off. After dinner with K’s friends that night, they took us to the Vienna Christmas Market. Once again, there are multiple markets all around the city, but the most significant one is at Rathausplatz. It’s also where Vienna’s Town Hall is located. A gorgeous building both in the day and night. Here, the parks are decorated with lights and I feel like it was the nicest market I visited during my trip in Europe.

You’ll find that Mulled Wine or “Gluwein” stalls all over the market. It’s super popular in Vienna and they have a huge variety of flavours for their punches too.

I went for the original Gluwein, but I didn’t like it as much as my friends’ flavoured punches. The fruitier ones tasted much better. You pay a deposit and get it in a nice mug which you can keep if you don’t want your deposit back. Otherwise, just return your mug and you can get your deposit back. Other than drinks, there were a variety of food and arts and crafts.

The next day, we went to tackle all the major tourist sites. However, one of our friends were a huge Sigmund Freud fan since she took a few psychology classes, so we ended up going to the Sigmund Freud Museum first. He’s basically the founder of psychoanalysis, and although I didn’t know much about him, the museum was pretty interesting. You get an audio player to listen to while walking around the museum. Freud had lived there, but there really isn’t much of his furniture left now and it really looks more like a museum. I would advise people who are into psychology and such to visit if they have time. It takes around 2 hours. Then we began to hit up the typical tourist spots. Here is the Austrian Parliament Building, which is huge and spectacular! basically around this area, you’ll find a bunch of other important buildings. We had a look at the Museumsquartier, where there’s a bunch of modern art museums.

Then we came to Hofburg Palace, which used to house the Hasburg dynasty and rulers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today, it’s where President of Austria lives. The only problem was that by the time we got here, it started to snow! And quite heavily too! It was our first snowfall in Europe, but seriously, we just wanted to hide indoors. We weren’t dressed for this weather!

It took us forever to find food! Most places were packed with people since everyone wanted to wait for the snow to stop. We finally found this tiny mall on Mariahilfer Strasse called Gerngross. Inside, we found this restaurant called Brandauer with reasonably priced food. We found a seat and warmed up. I got the Ribs with Fries and they were so good! I felt like I was back in America eating that greasy food. It wasn’t even that greasy. Each rib had tons of meat on it too and it was roasted to perfection. It came with two dips too, which were perfect for the wedge-cut fries. After lunch, the snow stopped and we went to Karlsplatz, which is a square where the Karlskirche (St. Charles’ Church) is located. Also a must see!

After that, we met up with K’s friends again, and they took us to see the Belvedere Palace. Again, it’s a Baroque style palace and was built for Prince Eugene of Savoy. Today, it’s a museum with art from the Middle Ages to today. K went in to see the collection, but the rest of us weren’t too into art, so we ended up taking a look at the Christmas Market which was just outside the building. It was a much smaller scale market, and I wouldn’t come here just for the market. The palace was really pretty at night though! The girls and I also ended up heading to the Schonbrunn Palace since it was our last night. It’s the former imperial summer residence and is known as one of the most important cultural monuments in Austria. However, we didn’t find that the Schonbrunn Palace looked as nice as the Belvedere! It was a bit more simple compared to the Belvedere. We didn’t pay to go inside, but there was again another Christmas Market! This one was much larger than Belvedere and had quite a lot of food. Not bad!

We then met back up with the rest of the group, and they took us to Vapiano. It’s actually a German restaurant chain, but the largest restaurant is in Vienna! It’s a self-serve restaurant with Italian food like pasta and pizza. They make the food when you order which is really cool. I wish I took a picture of it. So what happens is when you walk in, they give you a little card. You find your own seat, then you go ahead and walk up to to kitchen to line up. There’s a pizza line and a pasta line. When it’s your turn, you scan your card on this machine and tell the chef what type of pasta you want, what sauce, and whether you want other toppings. Then the chef literally starts to cook it in front of you! Pasta doesn’t take long to cook, so you have your food ready in less than 5 minutes! You can add on drinks or other sides. Here, I got the Pesto Penne, which was quite delicious! Affordable pricing, and the quality wasn’t bad. They claim to have fresh pasta and such. I don’t think it’s the best pasta I’ve had, but definitely pretty good for what you pay. When you leave, you just give the cashier your card, and it’ll show how much you need to pay! Definitely a cool concept and the interior doesn’t even feel like a cafeteria! It looks pretty upscale!

At night, K went out to party with his friends. The girls and I wanted to have an easy night and we headed back to our hostel. We stayed at Hostel Ruthensteiner. It wasn’t our first choice and wasn’t exactly the cheapest, but everything else was booked up during that time! Always book early! Anyways, the hostel was fine and service was friendly. Definitely wasn’t the nicest one we’ve stayed at and it was also our first time where we had to share a bathroom with the rest of the floor. It’s fine when you’re the first one up in the morning, but once it’s the evening, the bathroom is a mess… Well we survived, and honestly I can say, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Also at our hostel had a mini bar where many students and travelers hung out. The girls and I went to the bar and got some Punch! It was much cheaper than the market, and we actually thought it tasted better! And that ended our night. The next day, we would begin our adventure to Budapest!

Freiraum – Vienna

April 6, 2014Leave a comment

Next stop was Vienna! K had friends on exchange here, so they took us to Freiraum. It’s a very casual bar/ restaurant on a busy street called Mariahilfer Straße. Pretty noisy too but the atmosphere is fun. For non-smokers, it’s good to keep in mind that in Vienna, you’re allowed to smoke inside restaurants, although they have designated areas. Even though there’s a non-smoking area, the smoke really just travels over. The restaurant was packed, so we ended up sitting in the smoking area. Not ideal, but being in Europe for so long, I’ve sort of gotten used to the smell.

Zwettler Beer

We ordered the Zwettler Beer since apparently it’s the most common Austrian beer. For some reason, I think the server heard us wrong, and he brought us a variation of the typical Zwettler beer. It had a taste of lemon and wasn’t very fizzy. It didn’t even taste like beer…

Freiraum Schmarren

I was way too hungry to wait for dinner, so I had ate some kebabs before arriving at dinner. So instead of having an entree, I ended up going for an Austrian dessert. On the menu, it’s called a kipferlschmarren. I think it’s more often known as the Kaiserschmarren or just the Schmarrn. Schmarrn means shredded pancake and Kaiser is named after one of the Austrian emperors who enjoyed this pancake. Basically they were pieces of fluffy pancake mixed with caramelized walnuts and apples. It was topped with a bit of icing sugar and came with a side of homemade applesauce. I actually really enjoyed this! No need to fuss with cutting up the pancake into smaller pieces and the toppings worked really well together. It didn’t taste too sweet, which can happen with maple syrup. It’s a very common dessert in Austria, so I recommend trying this!

Na Zlate krizovatce (Closed?) – Prague

April 4, 2014Leave a comment

I was responsible for looking up places to eat and within our budget. Since Europe doesn’t use urbanspoon, I’ve been relying on Tripadvisor. I found this top rated restaurant that was at a reasonable price range called Na Zlate krizovatce. No idea how to pronounce it, once again. The interesting thing was that the restaurant was well known for being gluten-free. I’ve never really had gluten-free food other than gluten-free bread, but my friends were excited to give it a try. I mean, it sounded like a “healthy” meal! The restaurant is located pretty far from where we stayed. It was dark at night and the streets were pretty quiet. The restaurant wasn’t situated in a lively area, and it was a little hidden, especially in the dark.

The interior is very fancy looking and very quiet. There were around 2 other tables of diners when we arrived. It’s definitely more like a place to bring your date to since it’s got a bit of the romantic ambiance to it. Actually, we found a table later with a couple meeting the parents which was interesting.. So yea, that type of setting. Well, we were a group of friends and we kept our voices low and it wasn’t that awkward and bad after all. The prices are actually quite reasonable too, which our whole meal being under CAN$20. But then again, the cost of living seems to be substantially less compared to Vancouver.

Zatec Beer

Again, U and I decided to try out some Czech beer. Whenever we go on a trip together, we seem to be determined to try some local beer. Zatec is an old town in the Czech Republic and apparently this beer’s brewery is now situated in the Zatec Castle. Pretty cool! Anyways, I’m not a huge beer person, so I don’t know much about beers, but to me, it wasn’t very bitter. That’s basically all I care about.

Complimentary Bread

Again, we got complimentary bread, and the owner said it was their homemade gluten-free bread. D didn’t really like it since she thought it was too dense, which is true because it’s more difficult to get soft and fluffy like normal wheat bread. It definitely didn’t taste as good as wheat bread, but I wouldn’t say it was terrible. The texture is a bit gritty too. Again, it came with two spreads – a butter and some sort of fat mixed with herbs. I guess using fat as a spread is really common here! K and I actually really liked this herb spread, although I don’t know how healthy it is…

Roast Pork with Dumplings

I wasn’t sure which entree to get, so I asked the server for suggestions. He suggested the Roast Pork with Dumplings. This was average. The roast pork wasn’t super moist and I found it a little dry. The sauce was really good though. The dumplings were good at first, but after a while, I found that they were really dry and I really had to dip them in the sauce to moisten them. Not sure if it’s because they’re gluten-free, hence that texture. It’s sort of like eating bread pudding, or those German bread dumplings. A little chewy, but I found these much more gritty.

To be honest, I found that most of the food on the menu was gluten-free anyways. Like if you order the roast pork or duck or chicken, the meat is gluten-free. Only the sides have a chance of having gluten. So basically, I felt like I was just eating typical food and nothing too special. On a side note, I visited their website, and it says that they have closed due to some health concerns. Not sure what happened, but it sounds like they’re permanently closed.

Amade – Prague

April 3, 2014Leave a comment

We were looking for some dinner after a long day and I didn’t a little Tripadvisor searching and found Amade Restaurant. It’s located at the old town of Prague where you can see the Charles Bridge since the restaurant is at the edge of the water. The building is apparently the renovated Patcha Palace, which they claim was where Mozart spent a lot of his time here when he visited Prague.

The interior is actually really fancy. However, prices are actually quite reasonable. Perhaps CAN$15-20 for an entree. We arrived very late at night, around 9pm, but they still welcomed us. I don’t think service was amazing, but I didn’t feel annoyed and wouldn’t call it bad service.

Pilsner Urquell

U and I both had the Pilsner Urquell. It’s crafted in Pilsen, which is a city in the Czech Republic. A pale lager beer with a golden colour since it’s bottom-fermented. It’s actually the first pilsner beer the world, which is pretty impressive!

Complementary Bread

Then we got some Complementary Bread. It was actually pretty good! Crispy on the outside. The interesting thing was the condiments that came with the bread. First, there was the typical butter, but it was salted with something similar to bacon salt? It was a little smoky but salty. Pretty good! The other one was a little bit of a shocker. It was duck fat mixed with some herbs. It seems like duck fat is pretty common to be used with your bread as a spread. It actually wasn’t that bad! Very smooth and flavourful.

Slow Baked Pork Belly in Ginger and Honey with Potato Puree and Roasted Radish

I got the Slow Baked Pork Belly and it was so delicious! It wasn’t a huge portion, but enough to make me full. Plus, it was under $15 I believe. The pork belly had a little bit of fat but not too much which I liked. The meat was so tender and you really didn’t have to chew much! The sauce was light and wasn’t overwhelming. The potato puree was perfect with the sauce. I mixed it with the sauce for some flavour and it was extremely smooth. The roasted radish were julienned thinly and worked well with the dish to give you some veggies.

Country Salad with Poached Egg, Roasted Bacon and Buttermilk Drsesing

U got the Country Salad since she loves her healthy meals. I’m not sure how healthy this was since it came with tons of crispy roasted bacon! It also came with a poached egg with the yolk slowly pouring out. Mmm that’s always a good egg! She said it was delicious!

Roasted Salmon with Saffron Risotto and Ginger Vegetables

K had the Roasted Salmon. Although it was a small piece, it was cooked beautifully with a light crisp and the meat flaked off nicely. Still was moist instead of being overly dry. It also came with a small bowl of Saffron Risotto. We thought it was a little odd at first when it came since it was green, but it tasted pretty good!

All in all, the food was pretty good at reasonable price points. The atmosphere is a plus since it’s very cozy and modern looking. I’m not sure if I was exactly eating traditional Czech cuisine, although they do have a section that’s dedicated to some traditional dishes. I found it sort of similar to German food with schnitzels and such. I guess if you’re a meat eater, you’ll enjoy Czech cuisine.

Prague Christmas Market – Potatoes, Trdelnik, and Old Prague Ham

April 2, 20141 Comment

After saying farewell to my friends, the next morning before the sun even rose, I was out heading to the airport. K, U, D, and I were off on one of the longer trips I’d been during exchange. We were to attack 3 cities (and 3 countries) in around 6 days. Actually, we ended up going to 4 cities and countries really, since we made a transfer stop in Milan. We had around 3 hours of transfer time, which now that I think about it, was terrible. Obviously we didn’t leave, since it takes around an hour to get in the city. We literally napped at the airport on these terrible chairs, and it was not a comfortable experience for sure. Cost over comfort. Sad life of a student. Anyways, by around noon, we were able to take our next flight and from Milan, we entered Prague in the Czech Republic. To be honest, I didn’t know much about Prague, but it seemed like a city most exchange students visited. Now that I’m back, I can say that Eastern Europe is quite different from the rest of Europe. I find it very medieval with lots of history and the culture is generally quite different. Oh, and one huge change was the weather. It was freezing during December, and although Vancouver can get to the same temperatures, I guess I was just used to the warm, sunny weather in Spain. By the time we found our way to the hostel and dropped our bags off, it was already pretty dark. We got lost on our way too, so we spent more time than we should’ve. Christmas markets were everywhere in Europe now, and the one in Prague is known to be pretty good! We went to the one in the Old Town Square which is the main market. Just around 5 minutes away, is also Wenceslas Square, which we also checked out.

The Old Town Square was filled with people and a giant Christmas tree stood in the middle. Other than food, crafts, and souvenirs to buy, there was also a performance stage and children were singing carols! It was really cute and the square itself had such Gothic styled buildings that the scenery just looked so much more spectacular.

You MUST get this when you’re in Eastern Europe. It’s called Trdelnik (no idea how you pronounce it) and it’s a traditional Hungarian cake and sweet pastry. We also found this in the streets and Christmas markets in Prague and my friends had recommended that I try this. For us, we refer to it as the “Chimney Cake”. We smelt the cinnamon smell and immediately went over to purchase one to share between us. It’s pretty interesting how it’s made. Essentially, it’s rolled dough that’s wrapped around and grilled on an open fire while it’s turning. Then, they roll the dough on sugar that’s often mixed with cinnamon or other flavours. They slide the dough off the stick, and it’ll have a hollow hole! It’s extremely fluffy and soft! So addicting with the sugar on the outside. I love how you can just rip pieces off since it’s rolled around continuously. A must try!!!

At the market, there were tons of food I wanted to try, but I had to be careful in selecting since I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish all the food. We ended up sharing some potatoes at this stall that had pans of different seasoned potatoes. This one was Bacon and Potatoes. I liked this one a lot, but I wouldn’t say it was amazing. Plus, I’m sure I could make this at home quite easily. It wasn’t very special, although it seems like a traditional type of food they ate here.

We also got a portion of Potatoes with Sauerkraut and Sausages. This wasn’t as good as the Bacon and Potatoes. The main reason was the sauerkraut. I’m okay with sauerkraut, but I like it when it’s with soup. I can eat it as a side too, but not too much, so I found this overwhelming. Sauerkraut seems to be eaten a lot in Eastern Europe. The other problem was that these potatoes weren’t exactly warm. I’m not sure if it’s because we were in the cold and it cooled down, or just simply because the pans weren’t being heated underneath. Also, be extremely careful with the people selling these potatoes! They sell by weight, and their per pound pricing is pretty cheap, but it adds up. Remember that potatoes are extremely heavy! These people were just scooping as much as they could onto your plate, and unless you say less, they won’t budge. You had to be really persistent on how much you wanted. We ended up still paying quite a lot for just potatoes… Apparently a lot of tourists get scammed by this so be very careful and be clear what you want. Not worth your money in my opinion.

It was getting pretty cold so we hid inside the Kingswood Apple Cider House for a while. It was this wooden lodge in the market and they sold Apple Cider of a few varieties. You could get it with alcohol or without and some other variations. We chose the most typical one that had some alcohol in it. You could barely taste any alcohol, and the sweetness of apple was very apparent. A really good way to warm up!

Then K got hungry again and he decided to try the Old Prague Ham! It was being sold at various stalls and was turning on a rotisserie. This ham is known to be traditional delicacy and basically the grandmother of today’s hams. It’s fully cooked and also smoked. The ham is also boneless although there is often some fat attached to it. It was very tender and I didn’t find it too salty actually! Again, you need to be very careful with stating how much you want to the vendors. Unless you speak their language, they can pretty much assume you’re a tourist and it seems that many vendors have been ripping tourists off by cutting a huge slab of meat, hence a ridiculous price. I think K was pretty careful in telling them how much, so he got a good portion to just try. I’m not saying every vendor will do this, but I did a quick search and many tourists have fallen under this “Prague Ham Scam”. I guess it works for the potatoes and any other food that’s sold by weight. Just watch out so your trip doesn’t get ruined.

All in all, the market was very nice and festive. I just wish the weather wasn’t as cold. We weren’t able to stay out in the cold for long and had to go into souvenir shops and such to warm up. Also, I wasn’t aware that Prague was known for pickpocketing (like how Barcelona is), but my friend did almost get her wallet stolen. The man was reaching in her bag while she was looking at souvenirs at the market, and luckily a woman screamed to my friend to watch out! Such good people out there, but you still need to be careful!

Sports Bar Italian Food – Barcelona

April 1, 2014Leave a comment

Exchange was wrapping up and many of my newly made friends from all over the world had made traveling plans. We soon realized that although we would still be somewhere in Europe, it would be our last time seeing each other. Well until we meet again somewhere in the world! We quickly organized a dinner with some of our closest friends, and T suggested we go to Sports Bar Italian Food. I was skeptical at first when I saw the outside, but it’s actually rated very well on Tripadvisor and didn’t fail to impress us! The atmosphere is friendly and not exactly like a sports bar, although they have TVs to watch sports on. It’s Italian owned, and the owner was super friendly and funny.

They have a pizza oven just like how they do it Naples, except this one is shaped as a soccer ball! How cute!

We had taken a look at the menu and knew we wanted some pizzas and pastas to share, but were indecisive about which ones to get. The owner came by and basically asked if it would be okay for him to just pick and choose customized items for us and it would be enough to get us filled. He came back with these pizzas that basically had 4 different sections of toppings. This was pretty good since we were able to try a bunch of different flavours! Since there were only around two slices for each flavour, we weren’t able to try them all. Some of the toppings were eggplant, zucchini, prosciutto, and mushrooms. The pizza was fluffy and I liked how it was pretty thin. Not exactly thin crust, but I liked this thickness.

He also made one that was all the same toppings. This one had a red cabbage, some pork and filled with tons of cheese. I’ve never had red cabbage on my pizza before, but it actually tasted really good! Love how it was really cheesy.

Then for pastas, we had the Seafood Spaghetti. The spaghetti was very thick, but it was cooked to al dente, so had a great chew to it. I know that true Italian pastas normally don’t have loads of sauce on it, but I wished this one had a little more sauce. I found it a little bland. There was an abundant of seafood though, including clams, squid and shrimp.

My favourite was the Mushroom Ravioli. It was very saucy and creamy with loads of mushroom. The flavour of the sauce really made the dish good. The pasta was also very fresh and each ravioli was stuffed with a good amount of cheese.

Some of our friends wanted to try the Rigatoni, since the pasta are shaped with large hollow holes so it’s sort of like a tube. I find that this type of pasta needs a lot of sauce or else it tastes like you’re just eating dough. This dish did have more sauce than the spaghetti, but could still use a bit more. It was a tomato base with Parmesan at the top.

For dessert, we shared two desserts. First we got the Homemade Tiramisu. It didn’t look any good, but it tasted amazing! Tons of mascarpone cheese and a hint of alcohol. Cream and topped with chocolate powder. Everyone enjoyed it!

He also suggested that we try this Italian Donut dessert. It was filled with cream and topped with chocolate sauce. It was quite sweet, so sharing this was a good idea. Not bad!

All in all, Sports Bar Italian Food had some pretty good Italian dishes. I thought the pastas were just average, but the pizzas were definitely really good! People even say it compares to the ones in Naples! I really liked how they were able to customize our pizzas and really helped with our orders. Service was really good and prices are quite reasonable. There weren’t too many people in the restaurant, so we were able to just stay and chat for a long time.

Museu de la Xocolata – Barcelona

March 29, 2014March 28, 2014Leave a comment

Got back to Barcelona and a few days later, A invited some of us to join her at the Museu de la Xocolata to celebrate her birthday. Apparently, one of their professors at ESADE was the director at this museum, and they had done a field trip here, but A was away for it. The professor said she could bring a few friends to check the museum out and also make some chocolate at a discounted price! The museum has a variety of chocolate activities for both kids and adults. Our activity was called “Lollipops” and it was actually targeted for children, but I have to say, it was tons of fun! They have adult activities as well, like “Chocolate Tasting” and “Combining Brandies with Chocolate”. They all sound really interesting! When my sister visited, she had actually wanted to visit the museum, but we thought it was a bit pricey once you wanted to join these activities since they were pretty pricey. I think the original price of the Lollipops class, which includes a 30 minute guided tour of the museum is 17 euros.

Once you pay at the register, which also connects to the cafe, you get a ticket! Your ticket is actually a chocolate bar though! It’s like going to the Willy Wonka chocolate factory and receiving a golden ticket! The chocolate inside was pretty good too. It was piece of dark chocolate.

You’ll see some of their chocolate sculptures near the entrance. Can’t believe this bear is made of chocolate! So cool!

Then our chocolate chef took us to the classroom where we would make our chocolate lollipops! It’s pretty cool since you actually feel like you’re at a cooking workshop. I didn’t get a picture, but there was a chocolate fountain come down, and we were able to just dip our fingers in if we wanted to. The birthday girl even got to just drink some chocolate out of the fountain. The chef was really nice even though our group were a little rowdy and messing around. So basically, she gives us some pointers on different designs we can make and how to control our piping bag. Then we go ahead and fill our piping bag up with chocolate, and it’s definitely more than enough. Most of us ended up just squirting some in our mouth since we had so much leftover. The chocolate is dark chocolate too, although we all thought it looked like milk at first. But when it dried up, it became apparent it was dark chocolate. She also gave us some white chocolate to work with to make our designs more interesting. Then at the front of the table, there were an assortment of toppings we could add such as marshmallows, coconut flakes and fruits.

Here is what I ended up with! I realized how difficult it was to control the piping bag since the chocolate comes out pretty quickly. It’s also really hard to get the chocolate to be smooth on the surface.

We got aprons and chef hats as well which was cute! And in the back was our chocolate chef!

These were my friend’s lollipops. Love the monkey!

They really don’t care what you do with your chocolate here and let you be as creative as you want…and so…my friend decides to make some sort of chocolate masterpiece. A flag maybe? I have no idea, but he used a ton of chocolate and I think he got a stomach ache that night from eating so much chocolate…. We were told they had never seen someone do something like this before. Not sure if that’s a compliment…

While we waited for our chocolate to solidify, she took us on a quick tour around the museum. There was an explanation of the history of cacao and where it’s from and the differences between dark, milk, and white chocolate. Then the best part was seeing these chocolate art sculptures. Seriously, they are so impressive and I can’t believe they are made entirely of chocolate! Here is Messi!

Chicken Little

The famous Salamander Gaudi always uses in his art

Bambi!

And even the Sagrada Familia! Wow!

Then when we got back, our chocolate had solidified. We carefully pulled them off our plastic sheet, and got little baggies to take them home in. Well other than that masterpiece… He had some trouble taking that home… And how were the lollipops? Not bad. Not the most amazing chocolate I’ve had, but it sort of reminded me of the Purdy’s lollipops. I did find it a little sweet even though they were dark chocolate. I guess it wasn’t a high percentage of dark. I didn’t even end up finishing all my lollipops, since they can only be fridged for around 2 weeks. I was pretty much away the next few weeks, so I never got to try all my lollipops! A really fun activity for a few hours if you have time in Barcelona though! Obviously not something to do if you’re on a tight schedule though. The museum itself isn’t that big, and they’re mostly the sculptures that are really impressive, but you could probably walk by it all in 30 minutes. It’s the activities that are really fun and worth coming for I think!

Snacks and Travel Tips for Brussels

March 28, 20141 Comment

Belgium wasn’t exactly a country I had planned as a must-go during my exchange. However, when C found a Ryanair flight from Barcelona to Brussels for 30 euros round trip, I couldn’t say no to that. What was interesting about this trip was that instead of staying a hostel or hotel, like I usually did, we stayed at a guesthouse. I hadn’t really looked into guesthouses, since I didn’t really know how it worked, but C found it randomly. Useful websites or apps are hostelbookers or booking.com. Anyways, we stayed at this lady and her husband’s house which was really cute! She loved antiques so our room was all decorated with dolls and sculptures. It was definitely a more girly room. It was a sort of bunk bed with a queen size bed above the desk, so we had to share the bed. Not exactly what we had imagined since we requested two doubles. We had our own separate bathroom at the lower floor, and each morning, she would prepare us a basic breakfast. Bread with a variety of jams and spreads, as well as tea/coffee and orange juice. I wouldn’t say this was cheaper than a hostel, but it was definitely nice to live somewhere that felt more cozy than a hostel. Also, it was great to have a local tell you where to go and give us advice. Maps were provided for us. Our guesthouse was also extremely close to the metro, so that was a plus!

On our first day, we really just had an adventure in the city. I guess we walked into the more touristy part of the city, since there are a ton of chocolate shops everywhere! One street would probably be half filled with chocolate shops. Some were more like souvenir shops with chocolate being sold, while others were chocolate boutiques and some were big international brands. This was Belgique Gourmande, which I believe we saw two of them during our time here. This shop has a large variety of chocolate, and they sell brands from other companies. Perfect place if you’re looking for a gift. You can find things like just a chocolate bar, to gift boxes and truffles.

What we liked about Belgique Gourmande was the option to just pick and choose truffles and some select chocolates which would just be priced by weight. Here, I got some truffles as well as a chocolate orange. Not bad, but I wouldn’t say they are anything better than chocolates like Godiva or Lindt. It was just fun since you can try different flavours.

Godiva is also everywhere! I actually didn’t realize that Godiva was Belgium since I first encountered Godiva when I was in the United States. What we have in Vancouver is pretty much the same as in Belgium though. Warning: The prices are either the same or even more expensive in Belgium than in Vancouver! Not sure if it’s because tourists would assume that Godiva would be cheaper here, since it’s from Belgium, but they really weren’t. Some items were maybe slightly cheaper by a dollar or two, like the chocolate dipped strawberries, but honestly not that much and not worth bringing all the way back and wasting luggage space. I guess it might also be because the euros are so strong, so everything is just expensive for us Canadians!

Belgian waffles are a must! You’ll find these little waffle shops all around the city. They advertise their waffles to be 1 euro, which is true, but only if you get just the waffle itself! Of course we didn’t, and added some toppings. Each topping has additional costs, but I think ours came to under 3 euros, which is a decent deal. The waffle was so warm and fluffy! They make it right on the spot. Strawberries were also fresh, and the whipped cream made it a perfect combo!

And then we found Mannekin-Pis. I didn’t even know about this famous statue, but all around town, you would see little figures of this naked boy urinating. Even chocolate. Yup. Anyways, when we finally reached this landmark, I was like “Wait, what? That’s it?” I was sort of disappointed. He was so tiny! Even those chocolate sculptures of him were bigger… Apparently the original is actually at a museum since it was stolen many times. While I was there, I still didn’t really know the story behind this boy. Now that I’m home, I did a quick search and learned that this statue was made by Brussels sculptor and has many different legends behind it. The most famous one is about the troops putting Duke Godfrey III of Leuven, who was a two year old lord in a basket and hanging it on a tree. Apparently, the boy urinated on the other troops who then lost the battle. Interesting…

Belgian is also known for beer! I don’t know much about beer, but we found this shop that had a ton of beer! Like I’ve never seen so many types of beer in my life. I don’t even like beer, but I wanted to buy them all since the packaging were so nice! A lot of them even catered to girls too with really girly labeling. Some were holiday versions as well.

C and I ended up grabbing two beers to drink for the night. She chose the Delirium Beer since we saw many people getting that. However, she found it very strong and bitter. We’re definitely not beer drinkers, so probably why. I went for the Peach Lambic Beer. I actually really like it and C did too! It tasted more like a cider than beer to me. Fruity and bubbly.

While were in Brussels, the Christmas Market had just begun as well. We didn’t find the market to be too impressive compared to the others in Europe. A reason might be because it was the first day and they were still setting up. It was a lot of arts and crafts, and mostly drinks. Not a lot of food, and since we’re foodies, we’re always looking for food… They had an outdoor skating rink and also a Ferris wheel.

At night time, I finally decided to try the Hot Wine, which is called Vin Chaud. Oh, did I also mention that they speak French in Brussels? I never knew that until I got here and saw everything in French! I guess it’s because they’re situated so close to France. Anyways, they were selling Vin Chaud at almost every drink booth at the market, so I decided to give it a try. I didn’t really like it though. I found it difficult to go down my throat. The red wine they used must’ve been quite dry. I personally wouldn’t get this again and prefer cider more!

Then we came across Grand Place again. The Grand Place is a must see since it’s the central square of Brussels. On the four sides are guildhalls, the city town hall and the Broadhouse. We walked by this square a lot since it was on our way to other tourist landmarks and to the metro. It’s absolutely beautiful during day time and we had seen a Christmas tree had been planted in the center in daytime. This specific day though, people were surrounding this area and we were sort of confused. Like what was going on? C and I kept discussing I guess a little too loudly, and I told her there must be something special going on! A young man overheard us and laughed and said “Yup, today’s the lighting of the Christmas tree, except it was scheduled a while ago, and nothing has happened, so everyone’s waiting anxiously, unsure what’s happening.” Funny enough, we found out this man was from Seattle, very close to my home! This is what I love about traveling. You meet people from all over the world, and even people who are close to you back at home. After a few minutes of chatting, the tree finally lit up! And music began to play and lights flashed everywhere. It was beautiful! They basically had lights flashing on the buildings on the four sides and they would move based on the song’s rhythm. Absolutely amazing and it really started to feel like Christmas! (even though it was only November). A must see if you are traveling here around December.

After, I suggested we go to see the Atomium! It wasn’t on the top of our list, but since it was our last night and we had some time, I wanted to go see it. It was constructed for Expo ’58 and is supposed to be a cell of an iron crystal. You can actually go on the top of the sphere which gives you a panoramic view of Brussels. Perhaps where we saw it wasn’t the best spot because we were slightly disappointed. It was sort of situated beside a parking lot… Two pictures and we left. Also, it’s not near anything else, so you really have to go out of your way to come here. Not worth it if you’re on a tight schedule.

So apparently there’s a bar called Cafe Delirium which has over 1000 different types of beers and is a must go for beer lovers. Although we don’t love beer, we thought if we’re in Brussels, we might as well. Sadly, I think we ended up at the wrong Delirium. Apparently, there are a bunch of bars called Delirium with this elephant logo. I’m not sure if they’re related and owned by the same one, but this wasn’t the one that was famous! The original one is listed in the Guinness to have the largest selection of beer in the world and has two floors! We had asked the bartender if this was the right one, but of course he said Yes… The sad thing was that I think I saw the real Delirium Cafe just a few blocks down… So confusing.

Well, we still settled for some beer. I chose the La Corne since I saw the girl next to me drinking it. It came in this horn shaped glass so I thought it was really cool! It was a bit difficult to hold and drink though. It was a golden colour and wasn’t too bitter. Yea I’m not very descriptive with my beers, since I don’t know much about them.

C got the Chocolate Beer, but she really didn’t like it. I thought it tasted sort of funny too. There really wasn’t a chocolate flavour to it and tasted more bitter than mine. They do have a bunch of fruitier beers, which she probably would’ve enjoyed more.

The next day, we had half a day left before we needed to catch our flight. We decided to head over to another part of the city which had lots of new, modern buildings. Lots of offices too. Here, we also found the European Union building. Wasn’t as impressive as I had imagined though, and there was a ton of construction going on all around.

We also went to the Parc du Cinquantenaire, which translates to the Park of the Fiftieth Anniversary. This is in the European Quarter of Brussels, and basically next to the EU building. It features the triumphal arc, that I swear almost every city in Europe has! It commemorates the 50th anniversary of Belgian independence. What I thought was impressive was the horseshoe shaped arcade they also hard. Seems like a nice park to walk around on a nice sunny day. I think there’s also a museum here. This area definitely gives you a different feeling compared to the rest of the city. A much more modernized and business-like area.

And that concluded my trip to Brussels! We stayed for 2 nights and 3 days, which we found more than enough. There wasn’t too much to see in terms of tourist spots. It was more of a food trip for us and it was nice to travel with just another friend who shared the same interests. Always great to have someone who will splurge on food with you! Tip: Book early to avoid high prices. Also, we found Brussels quite touristy, so don’t fall into tourist traps. Do your research on food and restaurants, so you can truly enjoy the local experience. We also found locals to be quite friendly here and the city is relatively safe.

Every Day is a Food Day

Tag: food