BELGIUM: “A smile is the prettiest thing you can wear”

It was on the flight home from our vacation in Greece when Kevin asked, “Should we check out Belgium?”. Knowing this place is famous for chocolate, beer, mussels and fries – my reply was “Yes! How soon can we go?”. We wasted no time at all as it was 11 days later when we boarded the 6:29am train, ya know – to maximize our limited time, and boy did we accomplish this goal.

We had four days and decided to check out three places, and settled on Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges. It has been well over seven months since this trip and I’m not sure why it took so long to write about it. It seems if you were to google Belgium, all that pops up is the bad press surrounding the tragedy which happened in Paris.

Makes me sad because Belgium is an amazing place to see and so, just as I choose to live life in a positive way – I choose to fill this post with all of the smiles/good times found in this gorgeous country. Due to the neighboring countries, there are a few spoken languages – Dutch, French and German (which came in handy when reading the restaurant menus).

Each of the three places were vastly different, yet all had unbelievable architecture, which Kevin more than captured with our camera. We started our adventure in Brussels and stayed for one night. We found a great airbnb right in the center of the city, which was perfect for walking around, checking out the sites, and experiencing everything this city had to offer.

The first order of business was to locate the best fries. Did you know French fries are claimed to have originated in Belgium? Yeah, I didn’t know either, which was why we had to find the them.

To work off the fries, which were good, we decided to walk around the city.

Next order of business was beer. Kevin was in his glory and I made the decision to step out of the box and try a cherry beer*.

*Note to self, should’ve trusted my instincts.

I found my next smile when we spotted a macaron bakery!

Kevin’s jaw dropped when we went to dinner and they had an entire menu devoted to their vast selection of beer complete with description and history.

The following morning we packed our backpacks (gotta love traveling in Europe during the summer) and headed to Antwerp.

We arrived slightly before lunch and our airbnb host was not available until after 5pm, so we decided on a spot for lunch. We shared a couple of sandwiches and had a few beers. As we were walking around, making or way to the airbnb, we noticed some really dark clouds beginning to roll in.

We met our host and he popped open a bottle of prosecco to welcome us in his home. This place was wonderful and he was too, offering stellar recommendations for dinner and brunch.

We were preparing to leave for dinner and quickly glanced out the window and saw the sky open up, raining cats and dogs.  We were in no rush to get soaked outside, so instead we decided to relax a bit longer and finish off the bottle of Prosecco. Fortunately, the restaurant was a short walk, just a couple blocks away.

The dinner was tapas style and we enjoyed sharing various plates of food. The camera did not make it with us to dinner, so you must take our word for it. If you are living in Antwerp or plan to visit, put this place Bon Bini on your list.

Picture taken as we left Antwerp to go back to Frankfurt. Can you believe the beautiful color palette of blues between the building, sign and sky? Love it!

We had one full day remaining and on the agenda was to travel from Antwerp (the train station is one to remember!) to Bruges. This medieval looking town was so majestic, it almost didn’t seem real.

Unbeknownst to us, there was a food truck festival in Bruges and it was the perfect place to find a cappuccino and finally try the infamous mussels and fries.

Making our way to the center square, there were clothing and chocolate shops galore and this probably added to the reason why I loved this town so much.

It was time for a coffee and dessert break, so we settled on a place and I shared a lemon tart with my love.

Walking a couple of miles and taking in the sun, it was time for a beer.

This place was packed and the only spot available was just in front of a window at De Garre.

After a couple of beers, it was dinnertime and as we left De Garre I noticed a sign next door that said Cookie’s. At first glance I assumed it was just another bakery, however, to our surprise it was so much more. As soon as we opened the door, I knew we had to eat there. It was a hunch and unlike the cherry beer outcome, my instincts were correct.

I asked begged for any available seats. All tables had reservations and even though we were the first people to arrive, we were directed to our spots at the bar….the last two spots available for the night.

We enjoyed our chats with the staff, happily received their food recommendations, and took pleasure in seeing the tiny restaurant fill up with the buzz of conversation.

We began our meal with mozzarella garlic bread and after the first bite, Kevin exclaimed “This is the BEST garlic bread of my life!”. We had two orders and he was begging for a third. I think there was even a tear in his eye when he ate his last bite.

We loved everything about this meal – great food, great ambiance, and great staff.

After a few hours, we left the restaurant and the sun was still up. This is typical of Europe in the summer – you generally will see the sun until 10pm. I snapped a picture of Kevin on the train and I believe his ear to ear smile was because of the “best garlic bread of his life”.

Now brings us to Sunday, our final day in Antwerp, Belgium and something about brunch on Sunday makes sense. We took the recommendation Caravan from our host and we were so thankful we did. It was a 45-minute walk each way and so worth it.

For our takeaway item, we wanted something a bit different. We found a small bookstore and as I perused the selections, I came across a fun book called “Lost in Translation”. In it was the Dutch word gezellig and when I read the description, it made me think of our travels abroad.

Moral of the story and our time in Belgium, sometimes in life the unexpected can happen. You can choose to keep walking and move forward.

– OR –

You can daringly turnaround, give a spontaneous dance and flash your prettiest smile.