Evening in Brussels

Being the international jet-setters that we are, last weekend we hopped on a luxury Ryanair flight to visit our friends in Maastricht, Holland again. Well, maybe Ryanair is not exactly luxury - more like riding a dirty city bus - but thanks to their cheap fares we did get to visit two countries in two days. We've been to Maastricht a few times now, always flying through Brussels, Belguim on the way. This time we decided to spend our first night away from Duino in Brussels to finally see a bit of the city.



The building in that first photo is one of the many decorative buildings that line the Grand Place - the main square in Brussels. We ventured out at night to see the city without much of an idea about what there was to see in Brussels. We had three missions: (1) find the main square, (2) drink some Belgian beer, and (3) eat some mussels and fries. It was pretty easy to find the Grand Place because from most spots in the city you can get a glimpse of the Town Hall glowing in the square off in the distance. Like Trieste, I think Brussels may be a city that's even more beautiful at night.

Here's a closer look at the Brussels Town Hall. This Gothic-style building from the Middle Ages (opened in 1420) is the centerpiece of the Grand Place. Standing in the middle of the square you are surrounded by a variety of other Gothic buildings that are each so unique you can see that they were constructed over a long period of time in the Middle Ages. At night, the Grand Place is unbelievably beautiful in the glow of the buildings. There really was no option but to find our restaurant for the evening on this square...and that we did!



La Chaloupe d'Or Brasserie is a bit new (it was only built in 1692), but we decided to give it a try anyway. After all, they did have Belgian beer, mussels and fries on the menu. And the bonus was the amazing view of the Grand Place from our table by the front window. We felt pretty lucky to get such a good table, any table really, because we forgot that it was St. Valentine's Day and most restaurants in town were completely booked. La Chaloupe was cozy inside with a wood fire burning in the center of the room and decor straight out of Medieval times. Overall, one of the better dining experiences in Europe.



After dinner we walked the streets of Brussels for a little while, window shopping for chocolates and taking in the architecture of Gothic cathedrals. The city is really interesting because it has a nice mix of old and new thanks to it being the de facto capital of the European Union. Because of this Brussels also has a very international feel which I think is unusual for such an old European city. Brussels is truly a beautiful city worth visiting!