Mussels in Brussels!

Now we are almost caught up!  We are in Brussels, Belgium right now and it's already our last night here!  Let me tell you about our time here...

We arrived yesterday evening with empty stomaches, and again nowhere to stay.  We had booked a hostel, and having come to the conclusion that we aren't cut out for sharing a room with strange men, we cancelled it.  Luckily, we found the exact same hotel chain right by the train station that we liked so much in Amsterdam (called NH Hotels), they should hire us to be spokespersons for them we love it so much!  It was even cheaper than the one in Amsterdam.  Only 79 euros a night with our own room, showers we don't have to wear flip flops in, and so much more!  It's the same amount we would have been paying to stay in a hostel (because with the 79 euros we split that, and at the hostel we had to pay a per person rate, so it actually worked out perfect!).  Okay, enough about the hotel...

After finding our hotel, we set out to fill our bellies with...you guessed it....Mussels!  That is apparently the "thing to eat" while in Brussels.  So we found a spot that was recommended by our hotel staff as well as our travel guide.  It was good, but the service was BAD.  People speak French here, and have no patience for those who don't.  Granted Napes and I both took French in high school, we still can't communicate well.  We then walked around a little bit and found another spot recommended by our guide, with an amazing view of the "Grand-Place" and great Belgium brews.  The big Christmas tree was still lit up last night and they had a unique light show going on outside that we could see from inside the warmth of the pub.  Today we stopped by there again and they were taking down the lights and the Christmas tree, so we were lucky to have seen it all in its glory the night before.  After the pub we called it a night!

We got up this morning and ventured out for some Greek food!  I love Greek food, and being so close to Greece I figured I could find some good Greek food.  We found some, it was okay, but I got my Feta cheese fix so Napes doesn't have to keep hearing me talk about it anymore!  We tried to get some Greek food in Italy, but when we asked the person at our hotel where a good Greek restaurant was, he almost shot us (I forget that they all hate each other over here!).

Next we did some sightseeing.  We saw the Mannekin-Pis (the little boy peeing), which was really really small in real life!  That was about it for sightseeing in Brussels!  Since it was cold we retreated to a cozy cafe for some English coffee (coffee and Bailey's), sat by a fire, and wrote out some postcards.  We did stop in a few shops to stock up on some Belgian Chocolates and saw the authentic lace that Belgium is also known for.

We then had an absolutely delicious dinner.  It was some kind of a beef in an onion stew sauce.  French fries were created in Belgium (I always assumed it was an American invention), so most meals are served alongside french fries!  Anyways, the dinner was great, and we have similar tastes in food, so we usually get some kind of an appetizer, side salad, or soup before our meal and then split the main course.  Tonight, with both of us eating we couldn't even finish the food, we were stuffed!  

We also spent about an hour of our time at the Post Office today!  Some guy ripped us off when we were buying our stamps (he charged us a euro for each stamp, and only gave us .54 cent stamps, they have to be .90 cents to send to the U.S. and he even told me they were the correct stamps, but the post office informed us that we got scammed).  I was ready to go give him a piece of my mind, but I don't need to be arrested for assault charges, I could be locked up for a long time over here for that!  So...live and learn I guess! 

We leave tomorrow for Bruges, Belgium - where we will spend our New Year.  I hope all of your New Year's Celebrations are fabulous.  Be careful, I miss you all! 

Jenna

P.S.  We might still go track down the guy who ripped us off, so keep an eye out for us on the news : )