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| Map of Belgium showing Liège and Brussels |
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| The flag of Belgium |
It's been three weeks now since I left my time in Salamanca behind, and I've really enjoyed my time at home relaxing with my family and getting ready for moving to Italy. I have been lucky enough though to have spent the last week in Belgium visiting Florian for a mid Erasmus trip. I can't believe how quickly the week went and that it's now Monday and I'm back home on the Island with only a day until I leave for Italy. The flight last Monday was only an hour from Southampton airport to Brussels, and then another hour down to Liège by train with Florian, so it was probably the most hassle-free travel to a different country that I've had in a long time.
On arrival it was snowing which made the countryside look so pretty, but it soon stopped and we were left with ice on the roads as the temperature was so low. After introductions to the family, on Monday evening Florian's mum Patricia made us a lovely dinner which was a buffet of salad, tomatoes, different cold meats and cheeses as well as eggs and new potatoes. The strange thing was though that there was a hot bar on the table and everyone had their own little mini grill pan..... the idea was to put the cheese in the mini grill pan and then under the hot bar to melt it. You could also crack an egg into the mini grill pan and put cheese in and cold meats to make a mini omelette- amazing eh? It's a typical French meal which is called 'Raclette'.
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| The snowy scene out of Florian's window |
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| The cobbled streets and the cathedral |
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| Inside the cathedral |
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| Me on Place Saint Lambert |
Tuesday morning we went into the center of Liège as Florian wanted to show me me the city. We wandered around the narrow cobbled streets and then went into the cathedral 'Saint Paul’s' which I later learnt is a baroque/gothic style cathedral which was built in 1812. Florian had never been inside before, so of course I insisted that we had to have a look. The inside was incredible and the stained glass windows were so pretty. After seeing the cathedral we wandered over to the 'Place Saint-Lambert' and Florian explained that there used to be a cathedral there named 'St. Lambert's cathedral' but it was burnt down in the 1790's and nowadays there are a number of columns to symbolise where the cathedral used to stand. Taking prominence on the Place Saint-Lambert is the 'Palais de Justice' which is an incredible building. At 4 Florian and I went to see the University as he had an English literature class to go to for 2 hours. I also went, but used the Internet for that time. I hope the teacher didn't think I was rude! After the class we then wandered into the city to take the bus, and on the way we stopped to take a few photos as the cathedral looked so pretty at night as it was all lit up! We then took the bus to an Italian restaurant called 'La Scuderia' near to Florian's house in 'Chaudfontaine' where he had booked a table for Valentine’s day. The restaurant was very posh and it was quite busy! I chose a pasta dish with courgettes, aubergines in a spicy tomato sauce and Florian had a dish with slices of beef steak and typical Belgian chips! (Frites). During the meal a magician came around and made all of the ladies hearts using balloons! I thought it was a bit tacky, but then everyone started taking photos through the heart so we did too! I was stuffed after my meal, but Flo was still hungry so ordered a huge ice cream trifle with vanilla ice cream and lots of chocolate sauce and cream! I have to admit that It was really yummy (I nicked quite a bit of it despite claiming to be full, much to Florian's annoyance). For my Valentines present Flo had been planning to surprise me with a trip to Brussels for the weekend, but his mum accidentally let the surprise slip on Monday evening so Flo was a bit disappointed! I on the other hand was still surprised and excited, and was really happy and looking forward to our weekend plans!
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| The cathedral at night |
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| The river at night all lit up |
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| Old Liège at night |
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| La Scuderia Italian restaurant |
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| Our meals |
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| The wonderfully tacky red heart balloons! |
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| Flo and the heart |
We went to sleep really late on Tuesday as we were watching a film so we didn't wake up until midday on Wednesday! After a snack lunch of biscuits and different cheeses we went for a drive with Florian's Dad around Liège where he pointed out many sights and showed me the University campus which is on the outskirts of the city centre in the hills! It's surrounded by a forest and must be very beautiful in the summer. We then went back to Florian's Dad's house for the evening and chatted with his step-mother, two brothers, step-sister and father. We sampled different alcohols- Florian's dad is definitely an expert. Then we sat down to enjoy a lovely meal prepared by Jacqueline, Florian's step-mother. For the aperitifs we had olives, feta cheese cubes, crisps and sun-dried tomatoes which were so delicious. I love Mediterranean foods. Then for the main meal for the starter we had a squash soup with Italian focaccia bread, followed by a Mediterranean pasta dish and a variety of ice creams and biscuits for dessert. After the meal we chatted with Florian's father about skiing whilst he showed us some family photos, and then enjoyed listening to various indie/rock bands such Snowpatrol, The Killers and The Kooks as well as French music as we relaxed. Around 10.30 his father drove us back to Florian's mum's house where we further chilled out watching a film.
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| La maison du Peket! |
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| Inside the bar- themed a bit like a castle |
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| Our drinks! chocolate and coconut |
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| Us |
Thursday was a chilled-out day as we just went for a wander around the Center and did a bit of window shopping. We decided to go to Pizza Hut for lunch and had a lunch menu of a salad, drink and a pizza. It was great, but quite different from British Pizza Huts. It wasn't very busy, there was much less of a menu and the 'Hut' just seemed cold as it had nothing on the walls and the staff weren't very friendly. We then were going to go to the cinema, but the show times weren't suitable, so we decided instead to go to a typical local bar called 'La Maison du Peket' where we ordered a chocolate and a coconut Peket. They are alcoholic creamy drinks with gin and different flavours typical from the region. We then headed home when it started to get dark and watched some TV before Florian went to a local 'Friterie' to get our dinner! It's like an English chip shop, but with the famous Belgian fries! (You know French fries? Well did you know that they actually originated from Belgium, and not France?) In the 'Friterie' you can also get things to accompany the chips- for example Florian had a meat ball in a rabbit sauce and I had vegetarian spring rolls and some mozzarella sticks which were great.
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| One of the shopping centres in Liège |
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| Our Belgian dinner! (might need to go on a bit of a health salad-munching spree after pizza and so many chips in one day!) |
Friday morning Florian had to get up early for his classes, whilst I slept for a few more hours before joining him in the Center for lunch at 1. We went to a student sandwich bar next to the University called 'Chez Lucifer' where I had a Mediterranean baguette and Flo had an Italian baguette with Parma ham, Parmesan cheese and salad. They were so cheap, but really great and certainly filled a hole before heading off sightseeing around the old part of Liège. We weren't blessed weather-wise as it continued raining all day long....... But we didn't let the weather stop us from enjoying visiting the city. First stop on Florian's tour of 'Vieux Liège' (Old Liège) was climbing 'The stairway of the Montagne de Bueren' with no less than 395 steps! There were some wonderful views of the city from the top and I can imagine that on a sunny day you can see for miles. We then took the longer route down the mountain through a forest which was very picturesque. Once on ground level again, we wandered around the old streets and saw a lovely church (St. Bartholomew's) and various statues and monuments. After all of our walking we were soaked from the rain, tired from all of the walking and very thirsty, so we decided to go for a quick drink in a local student bar called 'Pot au Lait' where we each had a nice refreshing Belgian beer.
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| One of the museums in Liège |
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| The stairway of the Montagne de Bueren- can you see me half way up waving my umbrella? |
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| Flo and me on the stairs |
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| The view of the city from the top |
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| The forest walk |
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| St. Bartholomew's church |
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| A monument in the centre |
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| Saint James church |
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| The 'Pot au Lait' bar |
At 5 Florian had 2 more hours of classes, so instead I met up with Nastasia one of his friends, and we had a drink in a cafe and chatted in Spanish. It was really nice for me as it's been a few weeks since I had a good conversation in the language and I'm beginning to miss it. After his class finished at 7, we went for a walk around the 'Carré' which is a lively student quarter full of bars and clubs and it was incredibly busy due to being a Friday! Finally we decided to have a cocktail in a 'Celtic bar' whilst we waited for Florian's mum and brothers to collect us by car as we were all going for a Chinese meal in the Center. The Chinese restaurant was very busy and the food was lovely, although it was a little difficult to find anything vegetarian on the menu, unlike in British Chinese restaurants! I chose a vegetable stir fry dish with a portion of rice on the side which was really tasty. We then went back to the house and relaxed whilst having a look at information for Brussels for the weekend and even threw a few things into a case to take with us.
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| The Carré |
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| Our cocktails |
The weekend came around really quickly, and soon it was time to leave for Brussels. We left Liège quite early on Saturday morning and Patricia was kind enough to drop us at the train station. The train only took an hour, and before long we arrived in 'Bruxelles Midi station' where we had some instructions to follow to find Florian's friends flat in the Ixelles quarter which is south of the city centre. Pauline was kind enough to let us stay at her flat on Saturday evening which was perfect as we didn't have to look for other accommodation and waste our money. We took the metro, and then a bus, and after 15 minutes of walking we finally found the right street and her flat. After dropping off our case, we set off (with me very excited) for the centre of Brussels! We already had a day travel card from our trip to Pauline's flat, so we hopped on a bus which took us directly into the centre. First stop was for lunch as we were both starving and as we didn't have much time, we ended up opting for fast food and going into a 'Quick' restaurant which is the Belgian equivalent of a Burger King. It was surprisingly quite tasty and even vegetarian friendly! I had a goat's cheese melted toast type-thing whilst Flo was greedy and had 2 burgers. Yes you read that right, two big burgers! After our fuel stop, we went for a wander around ‘La Grand Place' which is the historic centre of the city. I read on an information sign that it was built in the 15th century and used to be a marketplace. After admiring the ancient buildings and their architecture we then wandered around some of the cobbled streets which led off of the Grand Place, and went for a visit to the 'Galeries Saint Hubert' which was interestingly (for a self-confessed shopaholic such as myself) the world’s first shopping mall which opened in 1847! Full of upper class shops and chocolatiers, the mall was really pleasant to walk through, although in my opinion it was of course lacking a Topshop and an Accessorize!) There were amazing chocolate chops though and we couldn't resist!
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| La Grand Place |
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| Galeries Saint Hubert |
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| A wonderful chocolate shop in the mall |
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| Me with a bar of choc in the Galeries Saint Hubert |
In the mid afternoon we decided to go to visit the legendary 'Atonium' which is the symbol of Belgium and Brussels. It is a strange looking gigantic structure which is modelled on an elementary iron crystal but enlarged by 165 billion times! It was built for the 1958 world exhibition in Brussels and has remained ever since due to being such an icon. There are 9 balls representing the regions of Belgium, and to get to the highest one there is a vertical lift which climbs at the rate of 5 m/s. There were incredible panoramic views of the city from the top at the height of 102 metres above ground, and even though it was a bit cloudy you could still see for miles! After visiting the ‘Atonium’, in the early evening we took the tram back to the Center and started to look for somewhere to have dinner. There were so many restaurants to choose from offering all types of cuisine, so we had a hard task on our hands. We decided to head for the 'Rue des Bouchers-Beenhouwerstraat' which is basically the tourist restaurant haunt, and had a look at some of the menus on offer.
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| Flo and me by the Atonium |
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| A close-up of the Atonium |
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| A view over Brussels from the top ball of the Atonium |
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| La Grand Place at night |
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| La Grand Place- charming even in the rain! |
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| One of the old cobbled streets full of restaurants, shops and bars |
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| Rue des Bouchers-Beenhouwerstraat (street full of cafes and restaurants) |
Being a vegetarian, it was of course slightly harder for me than for Flo, and I was feeling fussy and didn't want pizza or pasta which are the two easiest options when abroad for vegetarians. After circling the centre a few times, we eventually decided on a restaurant as we were starting to get very hungry and the rain was pouring down by then. The inside of the restaurant was lovely and inviting, and there was a roaring fire in the middle. We were led to a small table for two near the window with a lit candle where we were handed the menu. The best deal seemed to be a three course menu for €18, so we both decided to go for that. Florian had prawns for his starter and I had a mozzarella and tomato salad, and for mains I had a vegetarian paella and Florian chose 'Moules Frites' (Mussels and chips) which is the national dish of Belgium. The food was good, but the service was incredibly slow! However outside the rain was still hammering down, so spending the evening in a cosy restaurant was definitely the best option. For dessert we had a cheesecake and a vanilla and chocolate trifle which we shared. Around 11pm, we left the restaurant and braved the torrential rain. I have to say though that like Salamanca, Brussels still had some charm to it even in such bad weather. We found the bus stop fairly quickly and before long we were back in Pauline's flat where we slept very quickly as we were exhausted from all of the walking!
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| Flo's traditional Moules Frites |
After a long and much needed sleep, we woke up around 9 on Sunday to enjoy the last few hours we had in Brussels. First of all we headed by tram to 'Le Palais Royal' and then for a walk around the gardens just in front. We then walked to the 'Parc du Cinquantenaire' and under the monument before heading back to 'La Grand Place' to bask in the sunshine which appeared out of nowhere. Suddenly the sky cleared and the sunshine was pouring through. It was perfect as I had the chance to take some photos in the sunshine- always makes a better photo I think. We then were pretty hungry by midday as we hadn't had and breakfast and began debating what to have for lunch. Neither of us wanted any fast food and I didn't want a sandwich either, so eventually we stumbled across a Greek sandwich bar where we had filled pitas and a portion of fries to share. It really cheap, and tasty too. A good choice I think!
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| Le Palais Royal |
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| Parc du Cinquantenaire |
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| The center in the sun |
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| La Grand Place in the sun with blue sky! |
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| La Grand Place |
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| La Grand Place |
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| Our Greek lunch |
Flo then decided that I really needed to see the famous 'Manneken Pis' which is a bronze statue of a little boy peeing! It was sculpted in the 17th century making it over 400 years old and there are many stories as to its origin. I found out that a story often given to tourists tells of a wealthy merchant who, during a visit to the city with his family, had his beloved young son go missing. The merchant hastily formed a search party that scoured all corners of the city until the boy was found happily peeing in a small garden. The merchant, as a gift of gratitude to the locals who helped out during the search, had the fountain built. Another legend tells of the young boy who was awoken by a fire and was able to put out the fire with his pee, in the end this helped stop the king's castle from burning down.
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| Manneken Pis! |
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| The wonderful variety of Belgian waffles |
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| Our banana, strawberry, chocolate and cream waffle |
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| Me by a chocolate Manneken Pis eating a waffle! (I don't think he was too happy to share it, do you?) |
Now if I wasn't stuffed enough from our Greek lunch, I just HAD to try a famous 'Gaufre' (Waffle) from Brussels. There were so many shops selling different varieties of the original waffle, for example with melted chocolate, cream and differnent fruits. After acting like a kid in a sweet shop, I finally chose a banana, strawberry, melted chocolate and cream one. It was delicious. After the waffle it then started to rain again- (the sunshine didn't last for long) and we then headed back to Pauline's flat to meet her, return her keys and collect our luggage before heading to the train station to return to Liège. We were really tight for time, and arrived at the station with only 4 minutes to go and as we were in such a hurry, I began to run down an escalator which was stationary (presumably not working) and about a few steps down it suddenly jolted and came to life taking me upwards again! I was so disorientated and confused what was happening it was hilarious and we were laughing for ages afterwards! We eventually found the platform with 1 minute to go, and just as we got onto the platform the train pulled away! After a minute or so of being peed off with our lack of luck, we noticed another train to Liège on another platform which was leaving in 5 minutes, so we ran as quickly as we could up the stairs and across the station to get to the platform and on the train with seconds to spare! Maybe we did have some luck after all! Sunday evening we arrived back at the house at around 7 and Patricia introduced me to Luc, her partner, and we all had a meal together with quorn! It was like a curry with rice which was very tasty, although Flo didn't think so! (then again how can you expect a steak lover to like Quorn?).
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| A lovely photo onto La Grand Place through an arch |
This was my first time in Belgium, and it most certainly didn't disappoint so I'll be back for sure in a few months. I really loved Liège and the weekend in Brussels was incredible, so thank you Flo for a wonderful Valentines present. Also merci beaucoup for organising everything (it made a change for me as anyone who knows me will know I'm a compulsive planner with the guide book when going on holiday!) - I've met my match in Florian! Right, that's all for my blog from Belgium, I'll be back in a few days with an update from the start of my Erasmus semester 2 in 'Bella Italia'. BISOUS, BESOS, BACI, kisses =]
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| A Belgian cookie I saw in one of the chocolatiers! Mmmmmm! =] |
