Day Two of our adventure in Brussels weekend actually started out with a bit of a hiccup. I might not have mentioned that I accidentally forgot my mini iPad on the plane when we landed in Belgium. Fortunately our quick thinking (and hotel WiFi) allowed us to track it down at the airport, but Nacho assured the ramp agents we would be back to collect it the following morning. So the next day he woke up early and hopped a train out to the airport to do just that. I mean, what a good guy. I stayed sleeping with the girls happily sawing logs in the beds next to ours and by the time he returned, we were just waking up. So off to breakfast we went where we enjoyed all kinds of pastries, eggs, bacon, yogurt and fruit before waddling back upstairs to prepare for the day. The temperature was in the upper 40s and no sign of rain despite gray skies, so we really lucked out with great walking weather. We headed back up one of the main streets toward the Grand-Place pit stopping in a few stores to check things out and oggling all the beautiful bakeries in between. Everything looked delicious in this city of the famed waffles (and Smurfs). We made it up the huge staircases of the Palais des beaux-arts and passed several museums to get ever closer to the Parc de Bruxelles where we expected a bit of greenery and the girls demanded a playground. Luckily there turned out to be both. It was also where a well meaning local father interrogated me about the American election and if I had voted for "that man?" Oh fuck no. I wasn't like that. And most New Yorkers didn't, I assured him. It was a light hearted, if serious, chat about the state of our union and I was at a loss to explain how someone wins the popular vote and loses. Yeah, I don't get it either.
Third times a charm for this family portrait in the Grand-Place
Just 15 minutes of walking and Carolina proclaimed she was too tired...oy
Scaredy lion faces
This beautiful concert pavilion was a makeshift homeless shelter...oh well
After touring around a fairly gritty Turkish neighborhood and getting the girls a little pizza for lunch, we made it to Pierre Marcolini--one of the poshest chocolatiers in the city
Required pit stop to see Manneken Pis--the iconic 17th century statue of a, yes, pissing boy--Elisa was not impressed. Don't blame her
More importantly, we made it to Delirium for a sampling of a few beers...this is more like it
Time to hit the markets again and this time sweets were on the menu--to the tune of €20!
A walk passed this church seemed to beckon us to enter...so we listened to a lovely trio singing and then lit a few candles. The girls were in awe
Finally getting our waffle on!
We had finally made it back to our hotel around 7:30 or 8:00pm and it seemed like that might be it for us. The night was closing in fast and we had to be up fairly early the next day to get out to the airport for our 10am flight. But no sooner had Nacho taken the girls swimming, leaving me to chill out in the room, than he returned and we both nearly said in unison that we'd like to go out again for waffles. It was almost too perfect. We'd really been in sync for most of the trip but this was eerily so given that Nacho is not usually the one craving sweets. But apparently, we had the same feeling that we couldn't leave Brussels without at least trying their famous waffles. And so we dressed the girls and scampered back out to the market where I'd seen them offered from a giant stand full of lights and as many waffle toppings as you could imagine. I ordered one plain, one with hot chocolate sauce and one with Nutella. And boy, let me tell you, they were worth the wait. The dough was fairly neutral in sweetness letting the sauces do the work, but the edges were hot and crispy and perfectly melt in your mouth delicious. I felt like our trip could now come to a successful end. And not a moment too soon. It was time to get back to the hotel and rest! The next day wasn't too bad logistically, but for whatever reason I felt Nacho and I slip out of our travel rhythm so the tensions were eased when Elisa and I scored some first class seats and sipped our bubbly (and juice) in peace before cruising home. I watched a few movies and dozed a little making it a pretty night flight back. And our line through immigration was nothing like the return from Spain last summer. So all in all, our re-entry to the US was just about as smooth as I could have wished. We will need a few days to readjust our body clocks but for now we're feeling like we got to enjoy the best of Brussels during a particularly lovely time of year. It was such a gift to be able to do this. The whole flight round trip cost us less than $200 which is just insane. I know it's something the girls have no real clue about right now, but I'm happy they are getting their feet wet as world explorers in places other than Spain. My goal for them for the next decade is to embrace it all and dream bigger. So where to next?
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