Today we travelled to Brussels via high speed ICE train from Dusseldorf. I always love traveling across Europe on the high speed trains because they really are light years ahead of the train travel we have in the U.S. We reached 250 km/h for a good portion of the trip and it was immensly enjoyable. We had a short transfer in Cologne and had the opportunity to take some pictures of a magnificent (medevial) cathedral that was absolutely breathtaking. Then we got into Brussels at around 1:00 P.M and proceeded to hit the town.
We checked into our hotel at the Bedford in downtown Brussels which ended up being pretty nice. I was able to get an extremely good deal on the room rate so my coworker and I are splitting the room.
First impressions of Brussels is that it’s extremely quaint. It actually reminds me a lot of the port city in Crete that I visited last summer. There are a lot of alleyways and cobblestone walkways, not to mention a plethora of bars and restaurants that attract people of all ages.
Our first night here we had some great pizza at a small italian place down the road from the Grand Place area. Then we decided to walk across town to see a few local bands. We ended up in this warehouse (that reminded me a lot of 7th street entry) which was kind of in the middle of a random residential district. The venue was pretty sweet but the rock bands that played were a little harder than what I typically like (similar to AC/DC) on the stage. We stayed there for a bit and then made our way back to the main restaurant and bar district so our ear drums could recover. On the way, I’m pretty sure we passed 3 or 4 hookers that were residing in the surrounding areas around the live music venue we visited. It was definitely an interesting location.
Once we got back to the main bar district we sat outside for a while and just people watched while drinking a random selection of belgium beers. I had my first experience with cherry based beer which is very different from any beer I’ve ever tasted. It is actually quite good, but far too sweet for me to pick up drinking it as a normal habit.
Once 1:30 rolled around we wandered back towards our hotel and took some pictures of the Grand Place at night. Tomorrow we are going to find some waffles for breakfast and grab a tour of Brussels that was recommended in one of the guides that I borrowed from my brother in law (who lived here for a month or so a few years ago).
