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We had a weekend in Belgium in December 2005. The fact that Belgium is a small country has allowed us to visit all the cities we want to visit in 2 days. We flew to Brussels on Saturday at the earliest flight. Our first job was to get our rental car from the airport, which we booked online. Our route was Brussels-Brugge-Antwerp-Brussels. Making this trip in December may actually seem crazy because it didn't welcome us in Belgium. We arrived in Brugge on an hour's drive in a very cold and snowy weather. Luckily, the rainfall was interrupted from time to time, leaving it partly cloudy or even sunny.
Day 1: Bruggebence is quite different and beautifully preserved compared to many cities in Europe. The reason it's different is because of medieval architecture that we won't have the opportunity to see in other cities. The river and many bridges in the city give the city the feel of a lovely fairy tale town. Walking around Brugge is a 2-3 hour activity. It is possible to find many souvenir shops, a variety of chocolate shops and shops selling famous Belgian danteli. Of course, the chocolates were the ones that attracted us the most. Places where both variety surplus and shop owners can't pass without looking at or tasting the chocolate packets and display cases wrapped in gilded with ribbons they make with care.
Another activity in Bruges was to visit the Ice Palace. A large tent, which is set up every year during these months, exhibits sculptures of heykens from different countries chipped from ice. It's a different environment that really needs to be seen. First of all, it's a pretty cold exhibition, you can stay inside for an hour at most.
After we toured here, we took our car and headed for Antwerp. It was dark when we got there. We immediately went to The Christmas Markt in Grote Markt and sipped my hot wines and toured the stalls. We saw the Nearby Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kathedral and the large Christmas tree in front of him. After having dinner in Antwerp, we moved on to Brussels. It was night when we arrived at our hotel (www.eurovillage.be) and we were in the second world war. We had to listen to prepare for the day.
Day 2: Today we have devoted all day to Brussels. We looked for a café where we could go out early and have breakfast because breakfast was not included in the price at our hotel. Brussels is a full café paradise, there are many cute cafes cute. Since our hotel is in the uppertown' of Brussels, in other words, in the upper neighborhood, we first visited the sights around. There is an advanced metro network in Brussels, so it's easy to get there. As with every trip, we still had a book about Brussels, Brugge and Antwerp, our great guide. Our trip to Uppertown lasted about two hours, then we walked towards lowertown. The Grand Placede, which we might call the center of Brussels, was in lowertown. The concept of a large square in the centre and a main centre, as in other European cities, is the same here. Although similar, the Grand Place is a really impressive challenge. Each of the nearby alleys has different shops. Of course, christmas markets/stalls and shopping people were even more chirpy on the streets. Brussels is also the city of art-loving people. We've seen a lot of people spend Sunday scarring elegant famines in art galleries and having champagne glasses on their hands, and chatting about art.
If you want to eat, it's possible to find many restaurants along a long street just near Grand Place. Ideal especially for those who love fish and seafood. Of course, the other issue is Belgian beers. You can drink a lot of different beers. We loved the cherry beer the most, and if you go, it's for sure.
Our 2-day trip ended with the taste of the lovely food we had and the lovely beer we had to drink.
Bay