It’s been a while since the last time I wrote anything here… Let me explain: first I went to Bruges, then our little one got laryngitis and I tried to be a full-time mother and a nearly full-time working woman. That was a real challenge! But life is getting easier now and I managed to find some time to write about Bruges, Ghent and some delicacies we tried there…
former market halls on Grote Markt in Bruges
Belfry tower
This time it’s going to be more a travel entry than a culinary one. You have been warned! That’s because our three day menu was quite monothematic: mussels, mussels, mussels, fries, fries, fries, beer, beer, beer and waffffles with Belgian chocolate. But first a bit of sightseeing.
Bruges at night
We first visited Bruges in the summer of 2011 during our looong Eurotrip (Germany-Belgium-Spain-Portugal-Spain-Italy) with our 2,5 month old little one. We were told to visit Bruges on our way from Germany to north France (fantastic destination!). We really liked the place and you can see the effects of this visit in the pictures above – colorful houses, beautiful squares – an ideal city for long walks. Also, the best mussels we have ever eaten. Gigantic, bursting out of their shells and served with fries and tartar sauce.
Last year we ended up in a restaurant that is a real must. Even though great mussels are omnipresent in Bruges, Breydel DeConinc (http://www.breydeldeconinc.be/), on Breidelstraat 24, is the best place to eat them. The name of the place is a combination of names of leaders of the anti-french uprising from 1302. It’s a bit patriotic then…
The place is impossible to miss as it is situated on the street between Grote Markt and Town Hall…
A must for mussel lovers
Mussels and chips
Mussels are an obligatory dish but the fish soup is also worth checking out. Recommended by all three of us including Maks, a young connoisseur.
back then he only recommended milk 😉 in Breydel deConinc in August 2011
What do we recommend for dessert? It’s best to leave the restaurant and buy a hot and delicious waffle from a nearby booth. There’s no picture because the waffle with heavy hot chocolate and hot whipped cream topping was too good to wait – I ate it right away. Belgian waffles have pretty much nothing in common with the Polish ones. The texture and shape are different and they smell of caramel… There used to be booth selling that kind of waffles near the Palace of Culture in Warsaw in the times of the great bazaar where I bought an excellent dress for my eight grade party. It was 13 years ago… OMG!:)
But let’s get back to Bruges…
After lunch and waffles you might want to check if Bruges really is the “Flemish Venice” and go for a boat trip. The views are spectacular.
marvellous views
This was fun even for our impatient little one 😉
For dinner after a boat trip we ordered mussels with fries once again. This time with an addition of a warm goat’s cheese salad. Belgium may try, but they will never beat France in that matter. Even though the salad looked tasty…
a big pot of mussels in white wine
and warm goat’s cheese…
Our plane was departing from Brussels so on our way there we quickly visited Ghent. We saw some more colourful houses and went for a nice walk but the city wasn’t as cool as Bruges.
Both in Ghent and in Brussels we encountered a Sunday without a car which meant no car traffic in the city centre. In Brussels there was also some kind of bike festival. We have nothing against bikes, just the opposite, but this time the bikers left almost no place for pedestrians. Especially for little ones who like to run here and there 😉
We managed to have a quick lunch though. Mussels, fries and Belgian beer obviously 🙂
colourful Ghent
the castle of Flemish counts
flowers
If you drink beer, do it the unusual way…
have you tried already? 🙂
Next weekend think about having a beer in Bruges 🙂
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