Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Last Stop: Brussels...Where are the Sprouts at?







TOP: Red carpet outside the grand palace
2nd: Gary gorging on "Mussels and French Fries", surprisingly the Belgium national dish
3rd: The main square in Brussels
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After another loooooong overnight train ride, we arrive in Brussels to complete our circut of Central EEU. We really didn't know what to expect from Brussels, and after 3 weeks wandering around Italy, we were actually sick of pasta. Luckily for us, we discovered both mussels and french fries, and belgium waffles.
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Where M&FF came from I can't even imagine, but everyone eats them. You sit in a little sidewalk bistro, and the waiter brings you out literally dozens of mussels in a huge bucket. And, to make (intestinal) matters worse, the mussels are soaked in garlic...tons of garlic. They blow through you faster than a hollow-point .357 magnum. You walk down the street and all you can smell is garlic seafood, coming from every orifice in the human body. OK, you get the drift.
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Belgium waffles were the totally unexpected culinary treat of the trip. Unlike here in the US, they are (a) not a breakfast only food, (b) not topped with fruit and whippped cream, and (c) are sold at every restaurant, bistro, and sidewalk kiosk in the city. They are incredible, coated in chocolate, stuffed with caramel or sugar, and only about a buck. One day I ate something like 4 of them...before noon!
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Belgium was a surprisingly civilized place, everybody spoke english, cars stopped for pedestrians, people smiled, all in all a most wonderful country. Here, I could live...and might have to if Bush doesn't get out of office soon!
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The Wafflemesiter out

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