Belgium 2013

Antwerp > the Dutch & Belgian coast (Breskens > Oostende) > Bruges > Ghent > Ypres > back to DE

Belgian Chocolates ― Overhyped & Overrated

The last few days before our vacay last month, my students kept telling me to go crazy trying all the Belgian chocolates I'd encounter. But I'd read in all the guidebooks that local Belgianites don't bother buying chocolates from expensive chocolate shops. Instead, they say the supermarket chocolates are just as good and of course cheaper. After having tried chocolate from the touristy shops as well as the lowly supermarkets, I'd say I agree.



Moeder Babelutte is a popular chocolate shop chain in Belgium. Most of their locations are along the coast, and the shop that we visited was in Oostende. They're known for a few signature items, one of them being their chocolate praline shells. Now anyone who really knows me knows how crazy I used to be (or still am?) over Guylian. So I was excited beyong words to try what I believed would be a higher-quality and even better-tasting version of the well-known brand.



Chyeah. If I were blindfolded and made to try a Babelutte shell as well as a Guylian shell, I wouldn't be able to say that one tasted distinctly different from the other. Disappointing. Overall, I had this same reaction to all the chocolates I tried from other chocolate shops. Nothing special! Though they offered some interesting flavours (e.g. Cannabis, Black Tea, Peanut), none of them blew me away. I think it's about time we start shining some light on the chocolate produced in countries that aren't internationally known for their chocolate... helllllloooooooooooo SOMA.

Mosselen-friet / Moules-frites / Mussels-fries

I miss Belgium already. Not really their fries (I know, I'm crazy, right?!) ...but rather, their abundance of cheap/tasty mussels!!! 2kg cost us 7€, ain't that nuts??! These particular mussels were from Zeeland, which is actually a province in the Netherlands that borders a part of Belgium. After purchasing a big ol' pack of Zeeland mussels (from I think it was Delhaize supermarket), we cooked 'em in onion-y white wine and gobbled 'em down on a rainy evening at some campground that I can't remember the name of.



Let's not get confused here. I did not eat these mussels and fries at the same time as I should've (it's a classic Belgian combination, so I've heard). We were sorta on the healthy tip during our trip and so we indulged in this greasy, calorific catastrophe above only once!

The Belgian Frituur/Friteries is basically equivalent to the German Dönerbude: fries joints can be found on any and every corner in Belgium! What makes Belgian fries unique is that they're double-fried (to ensure a crispy exterior and a moist/fluffy interior) and served with a kajillion different sauces to choose from. While I opted for the spicy Samurai sauce (mayo with harissa), Andre settled for plain ol' mayo. The verdict? I still prefer poutine. Why? Because #iamcanadian.

Madonna and Child

I spotted these Madonna and Child statues everywhere in Belgium, especially in the cities. They're just there, jutting out of buildings, flat buildings I presume... some of them more elaborate than others (e.g. lit up or strewn with flowers). I found them simply fascinating to say the least. And after doing some research, I found out a Madonna and Child statue created by the one and only Michaelangelo sits in one of the churches in Bruges (which we unfortunately didn't see, boo us). Could this be a reason why different versions of the statue can be seen everywhere?

DSLR Camera Fun

Who: us!!!!!!!
What: just plain messin' around with the DSLR
When: around midnight on 30th August 2013
Where: on holidays in Ypres, Belgium
Why: ...because being creative's fun?! It was André's idea.
How: 1-2 headlamps + wild arm flailing + 30 sec. exposure time



I think my fave is the Pac Man one, which I will not take credit for. Jeez, why didn't I think of that?!! Heaps of photos turned out crap the first time, and we did them again and again 'til they turned out decent... but it was well worth it! Luckily no one saw us or they might've thought we were crazy jumpin' around with headlamps at such an untimely hour. I cannot stress enough just how much fun this was!! Guess because I haven't really sketched/drawn/painted (or done anything arts-y) in the past while. May the creative juices continue to flow...

Deuces, Deutschland!

Peace out, Germany! Hello Begium!!! After endless weeks hearing about other peoples' vacations, it's officially our turn! Omg, I can't effing wait. It's just important for me to continue travelling, you know? I feel like lately I haven't been doing it as often as I'd like, so seeing something different, even if it's just a neighbouring country, is invaluable for me. Yup, we take off for Belgium in a few hours.

Antwerp will be our first stop. And then I've kinda roughly planned it like this: Antwerp --> Gent --> Brugge --> hit the coast --> head back inland onto Brussels. Camping/Backpacker stylezzzz. We gangster like that. We don't need the hotels and the high life. Not yet, anyway. Teehee. Okay kids, have fun!!! And enjoy what's left of the summer, k?! Tschüß!!!!!