Belgium: Waffles, Chocolate and More!

What's not to love about Belgium? Waffles. Chocolate. Diamonds. A beautiful market square in Brussels (Grote Markt to the Dutch speakers, Grand Place to the French speakers). Fantastic art museums.

Quick Tips:

Shop around for the best deals on chocolate. Prices vary considerably. Taste doesn't vary so much -- it's chocolate. It's good.

I'm told that women traveling alone can face some harassment in Brussels. I didn't have any trouble, but be aware.

In Brussels, shop owners were a friendly lot who certainly appreciated any attempts at speaking French.

Best Way To Get Around:

With only a day to spend in Brussels, I didn't stray far from Central Station and the many things there are to do in that area -- walking was all I needed. I assume the metro would also be convenient.

I covered more ground with my day in Bruges. The walk from the station to the city center is lovely.

Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate
Tuesday-Sunday 10:00-4:30 pm
Admission: 5,00 euros (students 4,00)

This is the third chocolate museum I've visited (the others being in Cologne and Barcelona) and it is by far the least interesting and the worst value.

It was the most expensive chocolate museum I visited, and it only kept me busy for about 20 minutes. The building is charming, but the displays look more like a student's science fair project -- much of the information is displayed on posterboard. I could put together a better museum from my personal chocolate experiences.

Everything readable is written in French, Dutch, and English, but some of the information is outdated. For example, they included a chart of chocolate production by country -- for 1994-1998.

There are some dishes and things. Boring. Also some weird dresses. I still don't know how or why they fit in -- there was nothing to explain them.

The visit does include a sample, which is, of course, delicious, but for 5,00 euros you should just go buy yourself a whole box of chocolates from a shop.

Musee Royaux des Beaux-Arts
Tuesday-Sunday 10:00-5:00 pm
Admission: 5,00 euros (students 3,50)

This includes the Ancient Art section and the Modern Art section. I think. At least, nobody stopped me going either place. When I bought my ticket, I was under the impression it was just for the modern art, but I guess it was for both.

I really enjoyed this collection, mostly paintings, some sculpture. Look for Rubens, Delacroix, and Vogels. There are lots of works by Dutch, Belgian, and French artists.

Lengthy captions are in Dutch, French, and English. Paintings that have only a title and artist listed are just in French and Dutch.

What else do you need? You can keep busy all day just eating.

Waffle stands are all over the place. A waffle will cost between 1,50 and 4,00 euros, depending what you pile on top of it. Some stands just have plain ones, but others will offer a variety of toppings including chocolate, strawberries, bananas, honey, sugar and whipped cream. I enjoy the plain ones -- they're still really sweet and chewy, and much less messy.

Chocolate shops are also everywhere. Some are more expensive than others. The cheapest I saw was 250 grams for 4,00 euros. The most expensive was 250 grams for 8,00 euros. Pick and choose -- they're all delicious.

The Manneken Pis might be Brussels' most famous resident. He's a little tiny statue (for some reason, I thought he'd be bigger!) of a boy continually relieving himself.

There are some legends surrounding his presence, including that he commemorates a little boy who helped put out a big fire. The official word seems to be that he was to provide clean drinking water to the people. It doesn't really matter--he's still a funny little guy.

He has been stolen, dressed in costumes, and giggled at by, probably, millions. Keep an eye out for him--he's tucked into a street corner, so if you're not careful, you might miss him.

Groeninge Museum
Tuseday-Sunday 9:30-5:00 pm
Admission: 8,00 euros (students and youth 6,00)

You can also purchase a pass for 15,00 euros that gains you entrance to five different museums in Bruges.

Overall, I wasn't terribly impressed. The admission price seemed high for the paintings displayed.

You must put your bag in the lockers; they lost 1,00 euro. The audio tour is included in the admission price. It was a decent audio tour, but considering that much of the art was religious art, it wasn't usually necessary. I mean, you see a painting of the Crucifix, you know what's happening. You don't need an explanation. So, the audio tour offered information on the artists, where they came from, who their influences were -- which is fine, but not as interesting to me.

The museum focuses on the Belgian and Dutch masters. You can see works by Hans Memling and Hieronymus Bosch. Eh. They're no Rembrandt.

While I was there, they had a huge Frank Brangwyn exhibit which encompasses probably about half of the museum or more, and it was by far the most interesting. Unfortunately, the audio tour doesn't cover any of that.

If you have some time to kill, or if you have special interest in Flemish painters, check it out. Otherwise, spend your time wandering the lovely streets of Bruges.

I love Peter Paul Rubens. This museum is the whole reason I visited Antwerp. The Rubenshuis was indeed Ruben's House. He lived there. It now includes much of his own artwork as well as the works of others. The highlights, for me, were The Annunciation and Adam and Eve in Paradise.

You can also see works by Anthony Van Dyck and Jan Breughel. Right now, the special exhibit is of William and Margaret Cavendish. You're given a booklet when you buy your ticket that offers a brief description of each piece in the exhibit -- which includes pieces of jewelry, letters, and sculptures as well as paintings. It ends up being quite a history lesson on this couple, who spent some time in Rubens' home.

Overall, I was actually a bit disappointed. I expected to see even more works by Rubens, my favorite artist. The Cavendish display was very interesting, but I would have rather spent my time looking at the art of Rubens. But it's still worthwhile. If you like Rubens even half as much as I do, pay a visit.

Rubens Huis
Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm
Adults: €6 (students: €4)

* Prices change during special exhibitions -- when I visited the museum, adults were €7 and students were €5.