I LOVE Belgium - No, really, I do!!

We have been to Belgium before (2007), so why go back you might ask....

Well, the short answer is great friends (Jan, Hilde, and their girls - Marie and Anna) as well as great things to eat and drink (beer, waffles, frites, chocolate). Jan started out as just a work colleague of Penny's, but we have grown to really like these fine people and the land they live in.

Also, my (Penny's) heritage is Belgian. Both of my grandparents were born in Belgium, and I can't help but think that is why my heart soars and I feel so at home when I enter this country.  Both of my grandparents have passed, but I like to think that are looking down on me and so happy that I have managed to fall in love with their homeland.

Funny side story - Back in 2007 when we entered Belgium for the first time, I was greeted by the immigration agent. He took one look at my passport and immediately started speaking Flemish to me.  You have to understand that "Martens" in Belgium is like "Smith" or "Jones" in the USA, or "Kim" in Korea. It is a VERY common last name there. Unfortunately, I never learned Flemish - but I am slowly mastering a few words.

In 2007 we had a 2 week visit in Leuven (1 week of work for Penny, and 1 week of touring). We enjoyed our stay so much back then, that there was no question that we would go back on this trip (and we may just go again while we are here!!)

Even though the main part of the trip was to catch up with Jan and Hilde (ok, yes, there was a little bit of work talk), we did manage to find some time to squeeze in some tourist sites.  We decided to head back to Brussels, as last time we were there I (Penny) didn't feel so well, so we really didn't do that much.  This time I felt much better and was able to hit a few more of the sites.

Galeries Royales St Hubert

We started with sampling some frites - and yes, the "french fry" was actually first made in Belgium, and I have never, I mean never, had better frites than what we have had in Belgium. And don't even get me started on the sauce options!!  We did a bit of walking around (including the first indoor shopping mall in Europe - the Galeries Royales St Hubert) and several beautiful plazas. We eventually found our way to the Musee des instruments de musique (The MIM) (The museum of musical instruments).  This was a great little museum, and your "audio guide" just played samples of the music from the instruments.

Mont Des Artes Park (in the museum quarter)

Just one of the many interesting instruments in the MIM

At the Cantillon Brewery

Don't worry, we also managed to find in some time to have some waffles and beers. Seriously - I think the waffles in Belgium have to be my FAVORITE street food/afternoon snack in the whole world. I could have one every day - I LOVE these!!! On the topic of beers (have I mentioned how much we love Belgium beers??), we also managed to find our way to the Cantillon Brewery, one of last surviving places that still makes lambic beer. It was a self guided tour with a tasting at the end. The straight up lambic wasn't really to our taste, but the Rose de Gambrinus (Raspberry beer) was actually quite nice. 

Yummy Belgian Beer!

Inside the library - I felt smarter just being there!

We also managed to check out some of the sites in Leuven. Including the Library bell tower with views over the city and countryside. (yep, we timed this perfectly to be up there at noon, the loudest possible time to be right next to the enormous bell!!)

View of one of the squares in the Old Town of Leuven

View from the bell tower.

After we had worked up a thirst walking up the 289 stairs in the bell tower, we had to check out one of the biggest bars in the world - The Capital.  It has over 2000 beers, and is apparently listed in the Guinness book of world records for having the most beers. We only sampled one (each), as it was only lunch time. But fear not, we were heading out to other breweries later in the afternoon.

Gotta love any place that you have to order your beer by number!

More yummy Belgian Beer!

Overall, we had a fantastic weekend, with really great friends.  We did indulge in all our favorite foods, and had a really nice time. Thanks much to Jan and Hilde for hosting us!!   Needless to say, we love Belgium, and we will be back!!