Mussels, Raspberry Beer, and Comics

The next part of my Spring/Easter break was a quick trip with Sue to Brussels, Belgium. After our overly frantic rush to the airport in Rome, we took the plane ride to Brussels to calm our poor hearts. With RyanAir, there are no assigned seats, so Sue and I ended up separating our ways for the duration of the flight. I found myself seated next to a loud, boisterous man who couldn't stop complaining about everything - from the man who wouldn't sit down so we could take off, to the woman who couldn't figure out how to fit her suitcase in the overhead compartments. As obviously enthralled with that conversation, I quickly found my headphones and promptly went to sleep, not waking until the sudden jolt of landing which was interestingly enough followed by a round of applause by my fellow flyers. Not having ever thought this happened outside of the movies, I was left wondering what the flight had been like to award an applause at the landing. I didn't dwell too much on these thoughts as I tried to figure out how to find Sue. After reuniting, I was able to revel in the French that surrounded me everywhere (plus Dutch, but I didn't really care quite so much about that, let's be honest)!! I used that opportunity to do my best to remember what I could of French, speaking as much of it as I thought possible. Unfortunately words like "bitte," "danke," and "Gruss Gott!" came to me more quickly than their French equivalents of "s'il vous plait," "merci," and "Allo!" Seriously. It was very fun and challenging searching my memory for the correct words, though.

As Brussels is renown for its comics, we decided (the instant we heard about it) to hit up the comic museum (Centre Belge de la Bande dessinée). Oh. My. Gosh. Soooo freaking cool! A breakdown of the steps to making a comic strip, original artwork, and exhibits on various famous Belgian comic artists filled our visit. A museum for the whole family, you could easily find really cool things like the Smurfs (did you know they were Belgian?!!!):

Tintin and Astérix (wonderful memories from my high school French days) were also found in the museum. I was thrilled for obvious reasons.

After the museum, we decided to walk around, but (obviously) in the direction of food. The street that finally captured our attention:

Lined with restaurants on both sides, we were glad that we already had planned a destination that we had heard had good food at a reasonable price. Otherwise, the indecisiveness of Sue and I might have left us wandering the streets until our stomachs finally forced us to make a decision on the matter. We wouldn't want that, now would we!? The stereotypical Belgian dish is moules et frites (mussels and fries). While I'm always up for experiencing culture through food, I was a little antsy about whether I would like mussels enough to eat an entire bucket of them. Going a slightly more conservative route, I ordered the seafood pasta, which still had the necessary moules for my convenience:

Mmmmmmmm! I was very much a fan of this meal! Washing it down with a framboise - raspberry beer, another specialty of Belgium left me in a state of pure contentment.

I must say - Belgium is a slightly odd place, in the best way possible. 'Why?' you may ask. Well, the things they are known for (moules et frites, beer, chocolate, art nouveau, and a hub for the UN: 

)are only a slightly bizarre combination. Where else could you go chocolate store hopping, sampling for free the specialties of each store? Where else can you find random comics on the sides of buildings:

Well hello there, Tintin!

But seriously, a very fun a quick trip. For a pictoral telling of my Brussels trip, click here.