Brussels - Land of Waffles, Beer, and Chocolate

So I decided to stop in Brussels for one night on my way to Paris. Wow. What a city.

Let me start by saying that Brussels is the capital of Europe. It has all the European Union's important buildings, as well as diplomats and representatives from all over the world. This makes for a very interesting mix/clash of cultures and pay-grades.

My first night in Belgium...what do you think I did? WAFFLES!!!! Specifically, one with Nutella (you're welcome, Rachelle). And you know what? I wasn't really impressed. It just tasted like a waffle, hahah. But it was a "liege" waffle, so it was more doughy and pastry-like. It wasn't special, but it was still yummy.

I found a hostel out in the Moroccan district. Not the nicest part of town, but it was cheap. My room stunk like poor people, and I immediately made enemies with one of my roomies by locking him out of the room (actually, he locked HIMSELF out, and got mad at me when I didn't answer his knocking while I was IN THE BATHROOM...what a fag).

The hostel gave me an AWESOME walking map of Brussels. It took me pretty much all day. I started off with what they called the "Manhattan District". It was full of skyscrapers and awesome architecture. And it was SILENT. Soooooo weird! I walked down the main street, surrounded by glass buildings, but there was no one around! And I could hear my footsteps on the grass. It was awe-inspiring. Pictures to come...

The next area of town was the European Quarter. This was where the EU Parliament building was, along with NATO headquarters and all the embassy offices. It was really nice. Tons of million-dollar apartments and beautiful parks and fountains. I grabbed a turkish hamburger for lunch (a baguette with sliced hamburger patties, covered in veggies and FRIES, and smothered in curry ketchup...zomg). As I sat in one of the parks, I watched all the officials and diplomats officially eating their official sandwiches. It was very funny to see these aristocrats in expensive suits sitting beside me on the grass, trying desparately to impress their dates with 15euro Subway sandwiches.

After that area, I explored the last outlying district of town. It was old, ugly, full of minorities, and had the enormous courthouse smack dab in the center (go figure). The courthouse was built awhile back, and supposedly they tore down tons of houses to make room for it, and consequentially made thousands of people homeless. Yup...they're still there.

Then I walked around the center of the city...found Manequin Pis (the famous little boy peeing statue), drank a beer, got some fries smothered in sauteed onions and ketchup/mayo, and took the elevator to the highest parking garage in town and enjoyed the panorama of Brussels. Very relaxing.

As I was chilling in the hostel that night, I got an email from a CouchSurfer friend in Paris and he told me to just head there that night. So I made a last minute decision to hop along to Paris, cancelled my hostel reservation, booked a bus ride, and off I went to the City of Love.