Eating Our Way Across Brussels, Belgium

Brussels, December 2007

We spent a long weekend with Don & Cathy in their new home in Brussels. They have a wonderful and very comfortable apartment, perfectly suited to them, right in the heart of the city. It was great to experience their city from their perspective. And what a great time of year to be there! Brussels is a Christmas wonderland -- with festive holiday lights on most streets, Christmas carols playing over the speakers in the subway stations, a gigantic tree and nativity scene on the Grand Place, and fun Christmas markets with stands selling food, gifts, and hot drinks. As you will see in the photos, our exploration involved a lot of food. We tried escargot in celery-flavored broth, mulled wine, Belgian waffles (a couple of times!), sausages with choucrout (sauerkraut), hazelnut hot chocolate, and fruit tarts -- and that was all from street vendors in between meals! I was introduced to Belgium's fruit beers -- loved the peach and apple ones -- and Don exposed D to a wide selection of Belgian Trappist and Abbey beers. Thank goodness we were walking everywhere -- at least we got a little exercise between feedings! Don and I used to work together in Washington DC, and the four of us shared a love of travel and good food. Never would have have guessed that one day we'd all be living overseas and eating our way through the Belgian capital together!