More Brussels

With an entire day to spend in Brussels we set out on a walking tour of the city. It has been a goal of ours to trek off the beaten path whenever possible, so we opted for a tour that took us through some of the neighborhoods outside of the downtown tourist areas. This proved to be a beautiful and scenic route that gave us a deeper apreciation of the comings and goings that keep this city trucking along.

The walking tour also took us past some of the usual suspects. One of which was a stunning piece of modern architechture, the European Union Parliment buildings. A spectacle of glass that reflected the clear blue sky in such a way that the buildings appeared to be transparent. We got the impression that there are some major political rumblings afoot, as we saw numerious television reporters and the intersections around the complex equipped with barbed wire barricades. Perhaps they are expecting some riots? or maybe a few passionate protesters.

The walking tour took us about three hours, enough time to work up a decent appetite and a thirst that could only be quenched by beer. In honor of a wild night in Chicago (yes Anne I am refering to THAT night) we stopped in to the Little Delirium Tremens Cafe for a few fine Belgian brews. We quickly learned that not only is Delirium Tremens deliciously crafted local beer, but it is also a Guiness record holder; more precisely the Delirium Cafe (the big sister to the Little Delirium Cafe.) The Delirium Cafe boasts over 2000 beers available for consumption into the wee hours. As budding brewmasters and self proclaimed beer affectianados this was one bar that we couldn't pass up. While this bar is certainly a tourist destination ( I was able to eaves drop on a couple of Americans planning a rendevous) it was well worth it.

Much like our battle of the stouts in Ireland (Guinness vs. Murphy's) Belguim has presented a new gauntlet to be thrown down. This is the war of the waffles. We have accepted the gastronomical challenge to seek out the best waffle in the city. We decided to first explore the low cost options, these are street waffles that cost about 1 euro a piece. Most of these stands were located near another stop on our hit list: the Mannekin Pis. The Mannekin Pis seemed to be a hot commodity with the Asian tourist so we enjoyed our waffle while a few dozen tourist snapped pictures and giggled behind their hands.