I sit in our comfortable Sheraton hotel room. I can’t imagine what it’d be like to be staying in a hostel at this point, under these circumstances. Martin has been ill for the past two days, since we left Paris.
We took the train from Paris to Bruxelles, which was far more comfortable than flying on a plane. We had so much more leg room, nicer seats, and it was nice to see the land between the adjoining cities…well as much as I saw, considering I fell asleep for most of the ride. We arrived in Brux to slightly overcast skies and a pleasant temperature. We transferred onto the metro to our stop, “Rugier,” which is quite centrally located. Martin and I wandered around, determined to find waffles, as he had claimed his goal was to eat 62 waffles in our “waffle eating contest.” We finally arrived in the Grand Place area where loads of tourists were wandering about, and the sweet aromas of mixed treats filled the air…and our noses.
First stop, frítes.
Those Belgians sure know how to make their fries! Sauces of choice? Andalouse and Curry Ketchup. MmmmmmmMMMmMmm. (Sidenote: There were also people ordering these sandwiches filled with a mixture of vegetables and meat topped off with, you guessed it, frítes. I must try that before I leave.) After our frítes, we decided it was time to begin our waffle eating contest and top off our bellies with delicious lièges. Oh…My…Goodness!
(Fun factoid: Belgium has two different types of waffles (gaufres). “Brussels” waffles are flat and rectangular, light and airy--resembling the ones that are eaten in the US. “De Lièges” waffles are smaller, sweeter, more dense and have a slightly crunchy, caramelized-sugar crust. aka, Heaven.)
I haven’t had the typical “Belgian waffle,” simply because I’ve had them in the states…so we went for lièges. I’m sure, of course, we’ll try them at least once…but dang, now that I’ve gone liège, I don’t think I can go back.
You have the option of putting beautiful toppings of strawberries, bananas, chocolate, butter, syrup, Chantilly, etc…but we went nice and simple, and it was AMAZING. After stuffing ourselves silly, we stopped at a place called “Sensora” to get a fresh fruit smoothie. Nothing like topping off goodness with greatness…and great balls of fire!
Somehow we really lucked out in staying at the Sheraton, it is so luxurious and I must say, quite “fancy-schmancy.” How our nightly rate is so low, I do not know. But I’m not going to ruin it. We are on the 14th floor. ("Bullshit, people on the 14th floor, you know what floor you’re REALLY on. Jump out the window and you’ll die EARLIER!"….if you aren’t familiar with the late Mitch Hedberg, you really should get acquainted.) The view is wonderful from our room, but even more fabulous is the 30th floor. Yes. We are in the tallest hotel in our surrounding area, meaning we can see everything in a 360 degree view. It’s beautiful. Did I mention we also have the option of swimming in the pool at the top floor as well? Mmhmm. Like I said, luxurious. Martin and I watched the sunset after our food babies knocked us out for an hour or so. It was so refreshing to finally be able to see the sun set, as having been in the bigger cities all of the tall buildings make it almost impossible to do so.
It was at this point that Martin’s stomach started hurting more. He blamed it on the cheese, the stinky old, REALLY old, cheese that he bought at the market in Paris. It may have been that he downed almost the entire block in a day, but who knows. He’s been pretty much bed-ridden since yesterday morning. We went to the pharmacy down the road from us, but between the language barrier and our desperation, I’m not sure we got what was needed. We had a house doctor come by later in the evening…again, language barrier? The man spoke English, but he was so quick to diagnose and leave…I hope whatever he gave will help Martin. It hurts me to see him this way. I haven’t wanted to leave the hotel room very much, simply because I’m trying to make him as comfortable as possible. I’m sure the women down at the little café on the first floor think I’m feeding an entire family, what with buying loads of little bottles of yogurt, Sprite, fruit, etc. I did manage to sneak out for a little bit, I was craving more frítes and lièges.
I’m pretty sure my diet, consisting solely of these two items, will make me the happiest lady on Earth. Fat, but happy. I have fallen in love with Bruxelles, simply because of those two delicious treats. Haha. Oh, and the fact that they have drop-dead delicious chocolates and other sweet treats like Stroopwaffle. I may have to buy a new suitcase JUST for all of the items previously noted…for myself. Ok, I might share with others..a little.
We’re supposed to go to Pukkelpop tomorrow, but that depends on how Martin is feeling. We’ll see. A part of me just wants to take him home so he can get better. While I do want to travel, I also worry about getting everything situated before my (strongly possible) move to New York City at the end of next month. Lots to think about, as if I haven’t already had loads on my mind. I’d like to just shut off my brain that thinks about everything for awhile. That’d be nice. A remote control.
Or maybe, just more frítes and lièges will do the trick…
We took the train from Paris to Bruxelles, which was far more comfortable than flying on a plane. We had so much more leg room, nicer seats, and it was nice to see the land between the adjoining cities…well as much as I saw, considering I fell asleep for most of the ride. We arrived in Brux to slightly overcast skies and a pleasant temperature. We transferred onto the metro to our stop, “Rugier,” which is quite centrally located. Martin and I wandered around, determined to find waffles, as he had claimed his goal was to eat 62 waffles in our “waffle eating contest.” We finally arrived in the Grand Place area where loads of tourists were wandering about, and the sweet aromas of mixed treats filled the air…and our noses.
First stop, frítes.
Those Belgians sure know how to make their fries! Sauces of choice? Andalouse and Curry Ketchup. MmmmmmmMMMmMmm. (Sidenote: There were also people ordering these sandwiches filled with a mixture of vegetables and meat topped off with, you guessed it, frítes. I must try that before I leave.) After our frítes, we decided it was time to begin our waffle eating contest and top off our bellies with delicious lièges. Oh…My…Goodness!
(Fun factoid: Belgium has two different types of waffles (gaufres). “Brussels” waffles are flat and rectangular, light and airy--resembling the ones that are eaten in the US. “De Lièges” waffles are smaller, sweeter, more dense and have a slightly crunchy, caramelized-sugar crust. aka, Heaven.)
I haven’t had the typical “Belgian waffle,” simply because I’ve had them in the states…so we went for lièges. I’m sure, of course, we’ll try them at least once…but dang, now that I’ve gone liège, I don’t think I can go back.
You have the option of putting beautiful toppings of strawberries, bananas, chocolate, butter, syrup, Chantilly, etc…but we went nice and simple, and it was AMAZING. After stuffing ourselves silly, we stopped at a place called “Sensora” to get a fresh fruit smoothie. Nothing like topping off goodness with greatness…and great balls of fire!Somehow we really lucked out in staying at the Sheraton, it is so luxurious and I must say, quite “fancy-schmancy.” How our nightly rate is so low, I do not know. But I’m not going to ruin it. We are on the 14th floor. ("Bullshit, people on the 14th floor, you know what floor you’re REALLY on. Jump out the window and you’ll die EARLIER!"….if you aren’t familiar with the late Mitch Hedberg, you really should get acquainted.) The view is wonderful from our room, but even more fabulous is the 30th floor. Yes. We are in the tallest hotel in our surrounding area, meaning we can see everything in a 360 degree view. It’s beautiful. Did I mention we also have the option of swimming in the pool at the top floor as well? Mmhmm. Like I said, luxurious. Martin and I watched the sunset after our food babies knocked us out for an hour or so. It was so refreshing to finally be able to see the sun set, as having been in the bigger cities all of the tall buildings make it almost impossible to do so.
It was at this point that Martin’s stomach started hurting more. He blamed it on the cheese, the stinky old, REALLY old, cheese that he bought at the market in Paris. It may have been that he downed almost the entire block in a day, but who knows. He’s been pretty much bed-ridden since yesterday morning. We went to the pharmacy down the road from us, but between the language barrier and our desperation, I’m not sure we got what was needed. We had a house doctor come by later in the evening…again, language barrier? The man spoke English, but he was so quick to diagnose and leave…I hope whatever he gave will help Martin. It hurts me to see him this way. I haven’t wanted to leave the hotel room very much, simply because I’m trying to make him as comfortable as possible. I’m sure the women down at the little café on the first floor think I’m feeding an entire family, what with buying loads of little bottles of yogurt, Sprite, fruit, etc. I did manage to sneak out for a little bit, I was craving more frítes and lièges.
I’m pretty sure my diet, consisting solely of these two items, will make me the happiest lady on Earth. Fat, but happy. I have fallen in love with Bruxelles, simply because of those two delicious treats. Haha. Oh, and the fact that they have drop-dead delicious chocolates and other sweet treats like Stroopwaffle. I may have to buy a new suitcase JUST for all of the items previously noted…for myself. Ok, I might share with others..a little.
We’re supposed to go to Pukkelpop tomorrow, but that depends on how Martin is feeling. We’ll see. A part of me just wants to take him home so he can get better. While I do want to travel, I also worry about getting everything situated before my (strongly possible) move to New York City at the end of next month. Lots to think about, as if I haven’t already had loads on my mind. I’d like to just shut off my brain that thinks about everything for awhile. That’d be nice. A remote control.
Or maybe, just more frítes and lièges will do the trick…
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