I'VE NEVER MET A PIECE OF CHOCOLATE I DIDN'T LIKE...

Waffles, Frites, Chocolate, Beer, Chocolate Beer...do you really need more reasons to go to Belgium?!?

We started off our weekend trip to Belgium in Brussels, their capital and also the center of the European Union. Brussels' culture is a mix of French and Flemish, and lets off a sophisticated atmosphere. Which is why I was surprised that one of they're main landmark (and kinda like the city's mascot) is a small statue of a naked boy peeing, called "Manneken Pis." But I do love a city with a good sense of humor. The famous Manneken Pis is the emblem of the rebellious spirit of Brussels. What amazes me is how this inatimate object has more outfits than some third world countries have. His wardrobe consists of more than 800 suits and counting. Pretty steep number if you ask me, especially considering that he only gets dressed up 36 times during the year (on fixed dates).

Brussels is a beautiful city, but say you only have limited time, like we did, about a day and a half to be more accurate...so here's a list of the city's other top attractions that you should definitely visit:
1. Grand place and guild houses (blogger side note: this is one of the nicest squares I have ever been too)
2. Manneken Pis
3. Atomium
4. Cathedrale St Michel
5. Palais Royal
6. Galleries Royales-St Hubert
7. Palais de Justice

Now, a trip to Belgium, even a short one isn't complete without at least a day trip to Bruges, which happens to be Belgium's most popular destination. This medieval city is a fairly easy train ride from Brussels. Bruges is well known for the high quality fabrics that they produce, in particular, lace. Theres even a big lace map of the city for tourists to try and use to navigate through the streets of white almshouses and canals of Bruges. One interesting site I wanted to note is the Chapel of the Holy Blood, displays an ampul reputed to contain the blood of Christ. Our group is Roman Catholic and if we can make any trip at least a partial pilgrimage, it's always a plus.

Now, to get to the good stuff...and the main topic for this blog...the FOOD!
Our diet in Belgium literally consisted only of four things: waffles, fries, chocolate, and beer. But no complaints here!

Chocolate is the food for champions (at least that's what I think because I love cohoclate)! But the Belgians take it one step further, it's a culinary tradition for the country. They see chocolate making as an art, so its no wonder that the master chocolatiers of Belgium chocolate powerhouses are so internationally well know, for example: Godiva, Neuhaus and Cote d'Or are some of the leading fine chocolate brands in the world. Belgium produces 172,000 tons of chocolate per year, and Brussels is lined with chocolate shops. So you can't help but go in at least a few of them, and the best part of the experience are the free tasters that each shops give! But my personal and my family's favorite is Leonida's chocolate (and not just because it's my mom's name so would automatically have to buy some) but their dark chocolate and chocolate wafers are deeeeelice!!!

The one food I love (almost as much as chocolate) are fries...and Belgium does not disappoint. Frites as they call them are sold everywhere, we bought ours from frites trucks on the streets. They serve them to you in a paper cone with your choice of sauce, like mayonnaise, pickle sauce, sauce pommes frites and cold mussels in vinegar, there's alot to choose from. My favorite was the Andalouse sauce (mayonnaise mixed with tomato puree and garnished with julienned red sweet pepper), it really hits the spot!

Belgian waffles are big, and they're covered in powdered sugar, topped with a mountain of whipped cream and fruit combination of your choice, fudge or caramel, or even ice cream if you please. There are a number of different types of waffles here, including the Brussels waffle the Liege waffle and the stropewafel. You can't go to Beligum and not have one, or two, or in our case, substituting them as our actual meals.

I'm not a big beer drinker but..."when in Belgium"... plus, any place that serves a chocolate beer is alright with me. Now you're probably wondering does chocolate beer really taste like chocolate?! And the answer is yes! The best way for me to describe it is that it tastes like a liquid tootsie roll with a kick, but better. My favorite Belgian beer/ favorite beer in general is Lindeman's Framboise; a lambic beer mixed with raspberries that I can probably drink all day. I'm sure I would if I lived here (since its a little pricey in the States, about $9-11 and bottle). Belgium is a country well known for it's overall quality beer, Belgium beer varies from the popular pale lager to lambic beer and Flemish Red. There are about 125 breweries in the country, and produce about 800 standard beers, when special one-off beers are included, the total number of Belgian beers is approximately 8,700!

Is there really anything wrong with having waffles for breakfast, lunch and dinner? With frites as desserts? While washing it down with beer? And munching on chocolates the rest of the time? I DONT THINK SO. That's why this is a trip well spent. So what if I gained 5 lbs at the very least that weekend, at least we got to experience a sort of chocolate nirvana.