Easter Sunday, Beer & Chocolate

April 4, 2010

We had a really chill day today. It was Easter Sunday and Easter is a huge holiday here, they get 4 days off. It is sort of equivalent to the US Thanksgiving. We got up and going around 11am -- I got to use a hair dryer since we are staying with a girl for the first time. It was amazing. I never thought I would enjoy something as simple as hair dryer. We then met up with the other CSers we've been hanging out with here and set out to the local flea market. I don't have the money or the room to buy anything while I'm here but it was still cool to look around and get the vibe for how they do things in Brussels. While we were there we stopped in to a little cafe and got breakfast. I had an omelette which is the closest thing I've had to an American breakfast since I've been here. Even though the waffles here are delicious, I miss my hardy eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and toast. I have a feeling one of the first things I'll do when I get back to the states is go to a greasy diner and order breakfast food.

The weather here today was extremely sporadic and ADD. We were at the flea market for less than a half hour and within that time period it was sunny, raining, hailing, windy and back to sunny again -- all in different stages. It got so bad at one point we all had to run underneath cafe awnings to take cover. Once it was safe to walk again we headed into the city center to show the other girls around. Hilary and I had already done the sight-seeing so we were up for a day of leisurely walking and more beer and waffles. Plus we were going to get chocolate today as well!

The Manneken Pis was the first attraction we stopped by so we took some more pictures. It was sunny this time and we had more friendly faces to pose with. Right next to the Manneken Pis was a chocolate shop called Neuhas that Estelle said was the best chocolate place to go to. It was pretty expensive but completely worth it. I got about 5 pieces of chocolate to try and ate it later in the night. Oh my god. The best chocolate ever. My mouth is watering again just thinking about it. It took us awhile to all get chocolate since there were 6 of us and we didn't speak the language nor know what we wanted but we made it out chocolate in hand eventually.

Sophie had heard Hilary and I talk about the Beer Planet the last couple of days so she wanted us to take her back there. On our way we passed by a bar called Arms of Brussels. I'm not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post but all over London there were bars called [Insert First Word] Arms. I have no idea why this was so popular but I saw several a day. Once I pointed it out to Hilary it became a game of ours to see how many we could find. She noticed the one in Brussels. Apparently people get really unoriginal about naming pubs in Europe.

At the Beer Planet the other girls were just as impressed as we were so that was exciting. We all got some more beers and Estelle was kind enough to buy a big bottle of one of our favorites for dinner. One of the things I love about her is that she loves beer and is enthusiastic about showing us the good ones and all of the good pubs around here. Without her our beer experience here would not have been up to par. She said she's part of a "Save the Planet. Drink Beer, Not Water" group on facebook. I thought this was great and really want a shirt with this phrase on it now.

After Beer Planet it was on to search for a waffle stand. The new girls, Hannah and Lila hadn't tried them yet and we all wanted more. I don't know how, but the one I had today tasted even more amazing than yesterdays. I think it was fresher. We saw the lady make them right in front of us. Joyous. Once all of the chocolate was removed from our faces and hands we headed to a pub that was known for having gigantic glasses filled with 3 liters of beer. It is sort of the same concept of a boot but more in the shape of a chalice. When we got to the pub we sat down and when we tried to order just one chalice from the waiter he got rude with Estelle and told her we all had to order something. She didn't like the way he talked to her and we were all confused why he was so upset. The place wasn't full so all of us ordering one 3 liter beer shouldn't have been a big deal. None of us wanted our own beer and at that point we didn't want to give him our service anyway so we just got up at left.

We ended up going over to another place called the Cheese Cake Cafe and got beers there. Hannah and Lila were tired from being out late the night before so they went back to Kevin's to nap. We hung out for awhile then walked around the city a bit more on our way back to Estelle's for dinner. We had stopped by the grocery store during the day and wanted to make dinner at her place tonight instead of going out again. Sophie was going to a concert at 7 -- this was the whole point of her being in Brussels -- so she needed to go back to Kevin's as well to get her ticket and change. I went back with her to Kevin's and Hilary and Estelle went back to Estelle's place to start dinner.

Sophie, Hannah and Lila all came back with me for dinner and the 6 of us had a really great meal. We are all going to Bruges tomorrow (minus Sophie, she's going back to Germany :( ... ) so we decided to watch In Bruges, a movie with Colin Farrell about Bruges, after dinner. The movie was really good and got us excited about the city. I also ate all of my chocolate during the movie so I was a happy girl.

The other girls have all left so now it's just Hilary and I at Estelle's. We have having another calm night in as we don't want to be super tired for Bruges tomorrow. Hilary attempted sewing tonight. Favorite quote from her during the process... "Dude, I think I'm actually sewing!" Love it.

All in all today was pretty calm and uneventful but I had a lot of fun with great people and great beer. CouchSurfing is amazing and I cannot stress enough how much I love it and the people I've met through it. Half of my experiences so far wouldn't have been possible without this wonderful community. I encourage everyone to look in to it if you are planning on doing any type of traveling in the future. I have yet to meet one person I didn't like through this community and am really excited for all of the future CSers we get to meet in the future!!