Brussels

Three days in Brussels

Arriving late evening with the obligatory Ryanair smack down on the runway we quickly navigate our way out of Charleroi on a bus thats infinitely more premium than the aforementioned airbus. Once in Brussels Midi station we are a few stops to our AirBnb located in the centre of town. Noticing the off license below our flat we quickly stock up on a few local beers ( god bless Belgium ) and crawl into our studio flat for some much needed sleep. 

Day 1.

Up and about early doors we head out for breakfast before one of us gets hangry as we missed dinner last night. We are here between Christmas and New year and it immediately becomes clear, that as we are on holiday, so are the locals. Like a shining beacon we stumble upon Chicago coffee and fill our boots with filter coffee, eggs and fried bread before we head out and find out what this beautiful frosty city has to offer us.

The first thing to strike us was the architecture, followed closely by the amount of incredible bars on offer. It would have been rude not to have at least popped into one, it is after all 1pm. After wandering around the beautiful Grand Place, just round the corner we settle on The Delirium cafe. They own a gigantic building comprised of 8 different bars all under one roof, its basically Delirium street. We popped to the ground floor first to taste their range of hoppy beers, before moving to the basement bar (the main attraction) for a great selection of beers on tap but their main focus was the bottle selection. We made a dent but decided it was best to move on before we lost the light and got sucked into a drunken vortex. The main standout beer was the Struise Pannepot Grand Reserva 2010, a barrel aged beauty.

After leaving Delirium we realised it was too late and we were already partially in the drunken haze. Food was needed and stat. Grabbing some infamous frites we passed the Manneken Pis statue (that boy has a better wardrobe than me) and spotting some tin tin graffiti whilst getting lost in the beautiful alleyways, we decided to throw in the towel and drink and eat the rest of the evening away in Moeder Lambic, the ultimate Belgian beer bar. After inhaling our (amazing) food we realise its late, cold and we have clocked up 8 miles walking and that we are now bone tired. 

Day 2.

Waking up a little later than desired but feeling pretty damn good we head out just before lunch with the sole purpose of eating at the Pistolet. Gutted when we get there and see there is only one incredibly mouth watering beef sandwich left but hunger wins and we do the only thing we can and share it. It was so good that now I am even more grumpy that I had to share it. Reluctantly move on in search of the Marolles flea market. There is always a fine line between wonderful vintage and tat. Marolles is a 50/50 mix, not helped by the fact that everything we would have bought would never fit in our Ryanair briefcase sized luggage. Worth noting is the street you walk down en route to the market, Rue Blaies, which is a mecca for well sourced vintage and mid-century furniture.

Wishing we had a car or a bigger case we head back into town ready for our tour at Cantillon. This place is a must if, like me, you love sour beer. The building is an intricate rabbit warren complete with brewery tour dog, innumerable cobwebs and a tiny tap room. We advise buying the beer at the brewery and decide we have to bring some home so end up buying check in luggage for our return home, and a lot cheaper than the town centre beer shops.

We decide to walk to our evening food destination and pass a group of tourists outside a beautiful 1920s door. My interest is piqued so after a quick google I realise we are outside the Horta museum and drag Mark in for a well timed tour. Frustratingly there are strictly no pictures but you are transported back in time through some magnificent architecture and interior design.  How this missed our initial radar I don't know but I tell everybody to go now. We leave with me trying to fathom how I can mix our mid century design aesthetic with 1920's art deco and realise it's not really possible. Realising we are ravenous, and after beef sandwich gate and practically run to Le Meute. We order the same (steak, frite and red wine) and wolf it in seconds. The space is pretty beautiful so we order more wine then plan our route back to town.

We pass the malting pot beer shop by accident and pop in for some special beers for the room (Gueuzerie Tilquin & 3 fonteinen to name a few, plus great to see Northern Monk and plenty of other British Breweries on the shelves) and realise its cheaper than the main ones in town. Win. Settling in to Poechenellekelder to break up the trek home we spend a few hours tucked in a tiny corner drinking Belgian classics and putting the world to rights before falling exhaustedly into bed several hours later and forgetting to put the shop beers in the fridge, oops.

Day 3

Late start again and decide breakfast is overrated and that lunch is a much better idea. We stop for quick pick me up at OR coffee before heading to Monk. Spaghetti is one of my favourite things in existence so I opt for a large bowl of wild boar spaghetti washed down with local beer and a generous portion sprinkling of Orval cheese. Actual heaven. We waddle out and head over to Magritte Museum, we already trekked over on day 1 to realise it was closed so definitely check before making the trip. The walk over is beautiful and we have been far too lucky with the weather so we take lots of photographs and slowly make our way around the exhibition and museum space. Mark wanted to check out Brussels beer project so we navigate our way over and its thankfully open (they open Thurs, Fri and Saturday only) the space is small but substantial and their offering of keg beers and extensive bottle list is greatly welcome after the long walk over. There's plenty of small-batch beers, collaborations as well as the core range available. We could stay here all evening but we have a late flight home and need a big meal, all this walking has made me ravenous. Restaurant Ogenblik was recommended by a few people before we came and its a great space with good food. We opted for more red Chateaubriand en croûte and wine. Amazing. Worth booking though as it's a small space and very popular. Bellys full it was time to make a reluctant schlep back to the airport. A few hours later and we get chance to reflect on the incredible trip. Our feet are on fire, we have drunk and eaten enough that I am surprised neither of us has gout and my jeans are much tighter than they were before we arrived but we would come back? In a heartbeat. Mark has already booked flights. 

Things to note

• The best thing to do in Brussels are drink and eat, its bars, immense food and grand architecture make it a photographers dream (we never stopped clicking) 
• Be prepared to be overwhelmed and bloated by all of the above.
• They take opening hours and holidays very seriously, they tend to shut up shop in the afternoon so don't wait till mid afternoon to grab food.
• There are two airports in the area, Ryanair fly into Charleroi which is much further out than Brussels Airport, a bus takes you to Bruxelles Midi (where the Eurostar stops) there are some very safe and reasonably priced storage lockers in here if you need to explore for the day.
• The main language we found is French but some places do speak Dutch/Flemish and the effort is always appreciated if you try a please or thank you.
• There's so much much we didn't get time for and other places worth checking out include Brasserie de la Senne, Mer Du Nord, A La mort subite, Nuet nigenough, Pop,up sablon