Brussels

Got to our hostel late again. We are always the last in/first out. Oh well, if the other people in our dorm expect silence they probably shouldn't stay in a 24 hour hostel. We both had top bunks last night! It was fun.

This morning we had a simple hostel breakfast then spent about 1.5 hours using the free wi-fi to figure out our next few days. We are going to Amsterdam today and planned on spending the next 2 nights there, but it was really expensive. So instead we will stay in Amsterdam tonight then do two nights in Hamburg, Germany.

Finally situated, we wandered into Brussels to explore. We found the Grand Place which is noted as the most beautiful town square in Europe. It was extremely gorgeous with its old buildings and towering spire of town hall, but I don't know about most beautiful.

We continued on to go pay our respects to the most famous peeing boy, Manneken Pis. On the way we came across a place called Waffle Factory so we decided to see what all the hullaballoo about Belgium waffles is....well what can I say? It was the best thing to ever grace my mouth!!! Oh my gosh! It was like funnel cake, but better. We got the traditional waffle dusted in powdered sugar and it was to die for. We gobbled up our treats by the time we walked to Manneken Pis.

We took all the neccesary tourist pics with the fountain then grabbed a couple of beers at a bar across the corner. It was called, Poechenellekelder. Which is Flemish for....something...probably. They offered 142 types of beer, mostly brewed in Belgium. Most Belgium beers average 6% alcohol by volume! Some up into the teens!! There were beers that were 15% alcohol by volume! Wowza. We each tried two. First round was the Bink Blanche and the Leffe Blanche. Next round was 2 Hoegaardens (which we tried last night at the hostel bar and loved). Belgium beer is all its said to be, just like the waffles!

On our way back to the train station we 'accidentaly' crossed paths with Waffle Factory again. This time we split a strawberry & cream waffle and we made friends with the owner. :) He enjoyed that we came back to his shop out of all the other waffle shops on that street.

Made it to the station and sent out a postcard, then got to the platform just in time to miss our train. We waited an hour and now are en route to Amsterdam!!

We are staying in the infamous redlight district tonight and tomorrow we go to Alkmaar for the cheese market/auction! Alkmaar is the last thing we had to do on a specific date, so even though we have an itenerary for the next month...we havw all the freedom in the world to change it too! It feels good to travel on a whim.

Safe Travels,
- Kit & Heather