Today was another of those “make the plans” at the day goes by.   I knew for sure that I was going to Brussels today to go on a free walking tour but outside of that, the rest of the day was open.

I woke up at 8am and I had my first decision.   Do I race out of the hostel to catch a 9:30 train to get to Brussels for an 11:00 tour or do I hang tight and leave later for the 2:00 tour.

That decision wasn’t hard.   I was gonna take my sweet ass time.

For breakfast today I actually went for the buffet setup that the hostel/hotel I stay at offers every morning.   For 16€ ($24) you get a spread of breads, eggs, bacon, meats and sandwich spreads.

I was even able to pre-order some gluten free buns so I was in heaven.

I loaded up a couple of sandwiches and some scrambled eggs and bacon and of course a couple glasses of OJ.

I also made a sandwich to eat for breakfast tomorrow before I leave early for my day trip to Luxembourg and quietly wrapped it in napkins and shoved in my bag.   Shhh, don’t tell.

With breakfast in me, I now found I had a good two hours before I had to catch my train to Brussels.

What to do?   What to do?

Hanging with some animals

I contemplated just relaxing in the hostel catching up on some TV shows I’ve missed but I came to my senses and formed a new plan.

The zoo!

I haven’t gone to a zoo since my amazing trip to the Singapore zoo a few years ago.   This seemed like a perfect way to spend a couple of hours.

I mean, the zoo is so peaceful, so serene, such a nice place to walk around quietly and gaze at the marvelous animals from around the world.

Today must have been school field trip day or something because the zoo was filled with group after group of school kids excitingly walking through the different exhibits.

Can’t really be mad, right?   I mean, the zoo is for kids.   It’s a place for them to learn and discover what’s roaming the earth with them.

So, I kinda chuckled and soon the noise of excited kids just kind of blended into background white noise.

Myself, I was in my own little world.   I had two hours and I was just going to casually stroll through the zoo.   Oh, and take photos.   Like, alot of photos.

The two hours came and went and, before I knew it, it was time to catch my train to Brussels.

Brussels walking tour

I signed up for the Sandeman’s Free Walking Tour in Brussels.   Our tour guide was a Scottish guy named Fraser.   I find that most tour guides aren’t actually from the city or even the country that you’re visiting.   No mind though, he’s been doing the tour for 14 years and he knew his stuff.

The tour itself was long.   Normally a walking tour is about two hours while this one ran close to 3 hours and started to drag near the end.

Here’s some interesting tidbits I learned along the way:

Flemish stew:   The stew you find in restaurants across Belgium is meat stew made with beer.   Back in the day they used to give the old and unwanted cuts of meat (ie. intestines etc) to the poor while the rich ate the premium cuts.   The poor did not eat well.   The meat was often rotten having been a few days old.   Eventually the Flemish figured out that if you marinated the meat in beer that the beer would help preserve the meat allowing to last longer and that is how Flemish stew came to be.

Piss poor:   The phase “piss poor” came about from when little boys, usually poor, would sell their urine to tanners to use to tan hides to make leather.   The pee has ammonia in it which would help soften up the hide.

French fries:   Technically the USA “invented” french fries.   Back in June 1944, on DDay, the troops were in Belgium, specifically the French speaking part of Brussels, eating the fried potatoes here.   They took the recipe back home and dubbed them “french fries” and that’s what they’ve been called ever since around the world.

Holy beer:   Belgiums love their beer.   In fact, there’s a brewery here run by monks.   They brew, distribute, and sell their beer here in Brussels and donate all the profits to charity.   If you need an excuse to drink beer here, you can just say you’re doing it for charity and you’re doing it for the kids.

Parliaments:   If you had to equate one word to Brussels, it would be government.   They have a dozen different parliaments.   A French parliament, a Dutch parliament, a Flemish one, a Flanders one… you get the idea.   Lots of parliaments.

More government:   Brussels is also home to the EU government.   Out of the 1.2 million people living in Brussels, 10% or a whopping 120,000 residents work in the EU government.   It is a major employer here in the city.

Immigrants:   Brussels is also home to the second most immigrant population in the world next to Dubai.   62% of the city population are immigrants with most of them coming from other European cities.

More food please

After the tour ended I was on my way to another restaurant offering gluten free food.

I ended up at The Sister which offered gluten free and vegan options.   I was most excited about finally trying a Belgium waffle but that had to wait, I had another focaccia sandwich to devour.

I opted for the “Only You” sandwich which was bacon, gouda cheese, avocado and pickle.   To my surprise, it also was served with a little potato vegetable soup.   So good.

For dessert, I had the “Peanut Foster” waffle.   The waffle, made with gluten free ingredients, was topped with peanut butter, banana, and ice cream.   If I’m being honest, it wasn’t the best thing I’ve eaten.   I guess there’s no substitute for a real waffle, but it was nice to have that crossed off my “to do” food list here in Belgium.

In for the night

By 7pm I was back in Antwerp.   I stopped by a bank machine to withdraw some more cash and, when I got back to the hostel, I discovered I either lost or more likely left my bank card in the ATM.

Well, that was stupid.

By now it had been an hour and it didn’t make sense to walk back to the ATM.   My hope is that the ATM just eats the card after a little bit so no one else can use it.

I did check my banking online and it looks like everything is still there.   Even still, I did transfer all the funds out of the account to my other bank account at a different bank.   I also left them a message that I hope they see.   Luckily I don’t need my card for the rest of the trip so it’s a very minimal inconvenience.

And that was it.

Another strange way to end the evening, but there you have it.

The zoo, a walking tour, some great food and another amazing day.