Chocolate, Waffles, and Beer, OH MY!

Brussels, Brussels, Brussels.

This weekend I went out of my Italian comfort zone and entered a country with THREE national languages, none of which I speak may I add.

It was beautiful. Everything about this place was as magical as I had imagined!

Manneken Pis was all dressed up!

My roommate and I started off our trip with waffles. This waffle was so perfect. Fluffy and crunchy all at the same time.

The trick is, those sneaky Belgian people use yeast instead of baking powder or soda. It looks like this when they scoop and spread it onto the waffle maker. 

Let's just say, I'm changing the recipe I use.

That first night we went on a beer tour! I learned more about beer than I ever knew was possible.

We started off the night with two very famous Belgian Trappist beers, Westmalle Blonde and Chimay Blue.

There are only 10 Trappist beers (made by Trappist monks) and 6 of them are Belgian. 

They were delicious and quite different from each other. 

We learned how to perfectly pour these beers (she said I did it perfectly....)

We then headed to another pub where we tried three different beers.

We tried them one at a time while munching on some toasted barley to enhance the flavors.

My favorite was the Lambic Cantillon. 

The next day we headed to a truly magical town called Bruges. 

It is seriously like something out of a storybook. 

After walking around for awhile, we went to the chocolate factory.

One of my favorite exhibits showed the three main chocolates and what is in them!

But my absolute favorite thing was this:

I feel like my whole live has been a lie... Thanks, mom.

Included in this tour were free samples and hot chocolate from local chocolate shops. 

And to answer your questions, yes, that tasted exactly like Coca Cola.

The hot chocolate was genius. They had molded different kinds of chocolate and stuck wooden skewers in them. They gave you steamed milk along with the skewers and all you had to do was put it in and stir! Incredible.

We were sick of sweet foods (and it was freezing) so we opted for some soup from scratch at this cute little cafe!

We said goodbye to the cute little town and headed back to Brussels!

We got some fries from this amazing place for dinner. We did have to wait in this line, but it was worth it. 

They have a special sauce called andalouse and it's a mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup, and spices. 

It tasted just like cane's sauce. So yummy!

That night we headed to a secret(ish) bar called Au Bon Vieux Temps. 

Here they sell the world's best beer.

So of course I ordered it. It was delicious and worth every euro. 

We also walked by Delirium. They have over 3000 beers on hand so we had to check it out.

It was crawling with drunk college students so we decided to bow out.

But right outside, is the female version of Manneken Pis, Jeanneke Pis.

Sunday morning, I got up bright and early to head to the big cathedral in downtown Brussels for mass.

Needless to say, it was beautiful.

Not only was the mass said in Dutch and French, but so were the homilies.

Two different priests gave two different homilies (I think) in each language. That meant 30 minutes of homily I did not understand. At least I could glance around at all of the beautiful stained glass and statues.

Afterwards, we made our way to the Atomium, which is 30 minutes away by metro.

It was huge!

We had lunch, thanks to my dad, at a great Belgian pub. We both tried the trio of traditional Belgian foods, and of course that included frittes.

And a very popular beer, Lindeman's Pecheresse. 

And our last stop before going back to Roma.

Thanks to my dad (who offered to pay), we were able to try the world's best beer one last time. 

I also tried one last Trappist beer before leaving, Rochefort. 

I wish I could've tried all 6 Belgians, but a weekend can only be filled with so much beer.

Thank you Belgium for our wonderful weekend!