I just got back from a long weekend visiting my friend Jake is Brussels and man did we have a blast! When I first arrived, we grabbed a quick bite then headed downtown. He gave me a walking tour of Brussels’ best sights, the Gran Plaz, St. Catherine's cathedral, Mannekin- Pis (small iron figure of a boy who is…well...you know) and Jannekin-pis (similar figure of a girl). I guess the peeing boy became a symbol for the people of Brussels, and their “stick it to the man” attitude. Then during the feminist revolution, women demanded a statue of girl peeing be made as well. We walked through the main shopping district and around downtown some more, and then stopped in a bar to warm up and grab a beer.
We returned to Jakes house (which put my apartment in Madrid to shame) for dinner and to get ready for the night. That night we went out and tasted several more Belgium beers. I’m not sure what time we returned to Jake’s but we didn’t wake up until 1 pm. the next day. It was a great night out on the town. He friends were so much fun and all so sweet to a newcomer. We danced, saw some live music, and just had a blast. So after waking up so late on Saturday we hurried downtown to see some Christmas markets, do a little souvenir shopping, and grab lunch. For dessert we got a Belgian waffle- WOW! It was by far the best waffle I had ever experienced; warm, sweet, doughy, melt in your mouth, little taste of heaven!

That night we went to the plaza for a Christmas light show. I will put the video up on youtube ASAP. It was amazing! The lights on the tree, hanging around the plaza, and projected onto the cathedral went in time with the music. The finale of the show we saw was Queen’s Bohemian rhapsody; can’t get much better than that! After the show we went to a bar called Delirium that offered 2,000 (that’s right thousand) types of beer! I chose a blueberry something-or-another and was very pleased. That night was a more low-key, good conversation kind of night.

The last day Jake, several of his friends, and I went ice-skating and to the large Christmas market around St. Catherine’s Cathedral. It was just as fun to watch the really good skaters as the bad ones. I made it the whole time without falling, so I deemed it a success. We got some of the famous Belgian fries in cone at the market, a tomato basil quiche, and another waffle (not a diet weekend obviously). Later that night we went to an “American” bar named Fat Boys (ironic?) and watched the Packer game. It was such a fun weekend and so nice to see a friend from home.