I was fortunate enough to go to a semi-private school complete with dorms and exchange students. When I was 13 years old we had a German student come and share the holidays and weekends with us since it was too expensive for her to fly back and forth.
Because of that, we now have a lifelong friendship and are lucky enough to have the ability to travel and see each other. Which is nice to have b/c honestly, now that I am home, it can be difficult to motivate myself to get dressed and ready to visit friends in the next town over after a day at work. Seriously, I am 60 before I even turn 23.
But back when I was motivated, my Mom and I met our friend in Belgium. A pretty mellow city. It is kind of like a Kia....pretty boring, but it "has the power to surprise." It really doesn't showcase itself as a crazy, raging city, with something to offer around every corner, but there are a few gems that make it worth 24 hours of your time.
Those few things are: Delirium Bar...40 beers on tap, and that's only the first floor and chocolate...all the chocolate you never knew you needed and Speculaas, the Belgian specialty cookie that is a lot like a ginger snap. (Even Belgium's official cookie is one of the worst in the cabinet, but like I said, with their power to surprise, this cookie is awesome...I ate an entire package to myself.)
The Boy Who Can Piss. I kid you not, it's a real thing and there is a girl version of it on the other side of the city. Although she is delicately squatting. And for any girl out there, you know, it's not easy to pop a squat.
Since chocolataries are rampant in Belgium, we passed by what we thought was another wonderful display of chocolate. After looking at the display intently for a good 45 seconds to a minute we realized that yes indeed it was a chocolate shop, but it was also a sex shop, with chocolate unmentionables. I felt a little like a degenerate, just staring at these things so.
My favorite part though, was that one of the sayings on the window says "The G-Spot does exist." Yes, yes it does.
The buildings in the Grand Square were gorgeous. They were all outlined in gold and for a country that gets a pretty boring rep, their buildings are beautiful.
The Delirium Bar, which was an absolute must. I can never find Delirium Tremens anywhere, except for this really obscure bar in Lovell, Maine. And I love Delirium Tremens passionately. I was so excited to see the 40 beers on tap on just the first floor. They had bars dedicated to specific type of liquors and the bar downstairs boasted a menu of beers so thick it was like reading Vogue Magazine.
It was Mussel season when we visited and we had the pleasure of enjoying these muscles in a French run restaurant. You have to hand it to the French! This picture is beautiful and it's not just because I took it.
