Going Home!

Last day of my trip! I thought it would be bittersweet, and although I have nothing but fond memories of my whole trip, I am ready to go home! 13 cities and nearly 2 months of traveling around, lugging HEAVY suitcases~ I am ready to just go home and focus on achieving my dreams & goals. I’d like to thank my parents for letting me go on such a dream journey. I’ve seen so much and learned so much and it’s all because of them. Love you guys, miss you and can’t wait to see you! ^.^
My flight home, I swapped my BA miles to get a business class trip home, which actually turned out quite worth it... I had to transfer in London Heathrow. I got to the Brussels airport early, because I had a LOT of luggage so I needed extra time to get there. But that just gave me more time in the Brussels BA Club Europe lounge ^.^ where I ate lots of croissants ~_^. The flight from Brussels to London is only 40 minutes, but I got a prosciutto salad with mozzarella and tomato along with a yummy and piping hot pumpkin seed bread. My transfer time in Heathrow was less than an hour, and I had to go through security AGAIN... which meant boarding the tram to another terminal, go up 2 flights of escalators and down another flight, then up another flight GRRRR... by the time I got to the BA lounge in Heathrow, I only had 20 minutes to spare! And that was only because I got to go through the VIP line at security (otherwise I'd have NO minutes to spare! the security line was SO long!). I was sweating bullets, but managed to fork down a trio of tea sandwiches (roasted red pepper spread, smoked salmon and tuna salad) and grab some beer before I was off running again toward my gate!
The BA business class is really nice though~ you get to lie all the way down! ^.^ The seat lowers all the way, then you just have to lower the foot rest in front of you for a full-on bed.
Right when I got on board, the flight attendant asked if I wanted any beverages. She had champagne on the tray, so I ordered that. I normally don't like champagne all that much because the bubbles hurt my throat, but this one was extremely smooth, creamy and lightly bubbly and sweet. There were 2 different champagnes on board, but I believe I had the Charles Heidsieck brand (Lanson being the other brand). There's a nice article on wikipedia about the man, if you're interested ^.^ ... hell, there's even a movie! Hugh Grant played the guy in the 1989 made-for-TV movie.

My dinner consisted of a first course of lobster salad with diced mango, champagne (of course hehe), and Lily O'Brien chocolate:

and a second course of beef with creamy peppercorn sauce and roasted potatoes, with another glass of champagne:

Dessert was a plate of cheese and vanilla ice cream:

I didn't sleep at all on the flight, in favor of lying back and watching the on-demand new release movies (four total! teehee). So that ended up being more champagne while I watched the movies.
Snack (I'm so sorry! I forgot to take pictures!) was fruit scones with clotted cream, a moist gingerbread cake, 4 different kinds of tea sandwiches and 2 pastries with roasted vegetables inside... and more champagne.
Can you tell I was very very full at the end? Live life to the fullest! ^.^

Brussels Day 4- Chocolate Tour, European Union Headquarters

Last day of my trip, which means stocking up on chocolate and Belgian beer! ^.^ Haha I hate beer but my mom loves the stuff, so I did a search on the best Belgian beer and bought two bottles for her to taste. I was bracing to pay some hefty amount of money for them, based on what Americans were saying online about how expensive these brands would be. Obviously, I forgot that while they are expensive in America, it’s damn cheap in Belgium! One 33ml bottle is around 1.08-1.70 euro. Chocolate, on the other hand, is really expensive!

I wanted to buy Pierre Marcolini’s chocolate cuz online, people were saying he’s one of the best in the world. It’s like 1 euro per tiny piece, and I just couldn’t bring myself to buy any because I wasn’t excited by any of his flavors. Plus the truffles are all square-shaped, hand-dipped in chocolate but my sister doesn’t like that shape!
His macarons (20 for 30 euros):

Mary is a famous chocolate shop that the royal family frequents:

I wanted to buy some, but the lady in front of me was taking forever with her purchases and there was only one cashier… plus again, I wasn’t excited by any particular chocolate I saw there so I left empty-handed.
Mary is near Parc de Bruxelles, and I was heading that way anyway. The European Union headquarters are on the other side of Parc de Bruxelles:

Well, let’s just say the whole neighborhood on the other side of the park is filled with EU buildings. But this is the official headquarters:


On my walk over, I kept seeing this huge monument at the far end of the street. So naturally I went :) The monument is the center of a ginormous park and it’s very pretty and peaceful (very surprising, given that it’s the biggest park in Brussels! I guess they’re not as big ‘park’ people as London. Not too many tourists around these parts either :T ):









It’s absolutely gorgeous! The park was built in 1880 as part of the ‘Grand International Show of the Sciences and Industry.’
Chocopolis is near Grand Place and a chocolate shop that really caters to tourists:

They hand out free samples, and have an open kitchen where they give free demos at certain times of the day. But I was impressed by the flavor selection and the variety of shapes, so I caved in and bought a box~ 30 pcs for 18 euros, which to me is freakin’ expensive! BUT not as expensive as Neuhaus! I saw two pieces that Angel would really enjoy, but they were sold by weight so I had no idea until the lady packaged them that the total was 2.08 euros for 2 pieces! Good grief!

Brussels Day 3

Place Annessens is transformed on Tuesday mornings into a clothing market. It is somewhat small, but I was very tempted to buy some flashy jewelry. I saw a Dior necklace for 5 euros and was so excited… until the lady told me that EACH trinket on the necklace is 5 euros so the whole necklace would have been somewhere around 50 euros.
Place du Congres:


On the very top, is a statue of King Leopold I. Underneath the column is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, buried here in 1922:

Nearby is St. Michael’s Cathedral:



It has some really tricked out stained windows… love ‘em!



Parc de Bruxelles:


The lion looks freaked out, no? ^.^

Next to the Parc is the Royal Palace.





I really like how the Palace curves at each end:

Brussels Day 2- Historic Sights

I had to practice some self-control and forcefully pushed away the shopping temptations~ and there is MUCH shopping to be done in Brussels! Practically every street is a shopping street! But Brussels is also the European Union capital and where Belgium’s royal family is based, so I knew I needed to get in all the cultural sights as well. The map is a tad bit hard to read, because every street has TWO names~ one in French and one in Flemish (supposed to be much like Dutch, but still different). It took me a while to figure that one out ^.^ So as a result of the two names for every map, the print is TINY and I have to squint to find the streets I’m looking for!
Place de l’Albertine is where many civil offices are located, such as the Ministry of Finance. There is a church in the plaza:

Behind the church is the Royal Palace, which unfortunately for me, is closed to the public. Like Buckingham Palace, the royal family actually lives in the palace so it is only open to the public during certain times of the year (I think it’s like July to September for this year). Saves me money though and temptation ^.^
The Palais de Justice is just down the street:

A very pretty church:

Brussels is divided into Lower Town and Upper Town. I didn’t know where the division was; just that Upper Town is “upper class” and built on higher ground to overlook the lower class. I gradually got a general idea on my walk today though. The climb is very gradual so I didn’t realize I was walking up (very gradual climb and a couple of staircases) but here’s the view:

There’s an observation deck/elevator next to the Palais de Justice.
WWI & WWII Memorial in front of the Palais de Justice:



Went to Place du Jeu de Balle, the daily flea market:

Nearby is Place de la Chapelle, one of the earliest churches to be built in Brussels.


The famous Flemish painter Pieter Broughe (Pieter Bruegel, depending on which language you’re talking in… AGGGH! This is frustrating!) is buried here:

His house is just down the street, on Rue Haute:

Rue Haute originally was a Roman road, developed throughout the Middle Ages to present day. On one end is the Place de la Chapelle, on the other end is one of the first fortresses built to defend Brussels against invaders, Porte de Hal:

The whole city was once fortified by walls, now all gone, except the Porte de Hal gate. But you can clearly see the pentagon shape that the walls must have run along and now forms present-day Brussels on a map.
Avenue Louise is just outside the pentagon, but is where all the upscale shopping is located~ LV, Hermes, Bvlgari, Cartier… basically the Champs-Elysees of Brussels. I found a really awesome fabric store located near Avenue Louise, on Chaussee d’Ixelles.

Oh my god I’ve gone to heaven!!! The fabrics there are SO gorgeous, so luxurious and so detailed! And there were trims there I’ve never even seen before, with chains on velvet and satin… *sigh* I wanted to buy everything I saw there! Errr… except the price tags… yeah… a REMNANT was 120 euros! There were fabrics costing around 1200 euros PER METER! The cheapest I saw was probably 90 euros per meter ;( They dress mannequins with fabrics they carry, so the fabric isn’t exactly sewn as a dress, more like pinned on in strategic spots to look like a dress. But man, they do such a good job, from far away, you can’t even tell they’re not dresses!

I found a gigantic Carrefour (two warehouse-size levels) and they sell truffle mayo too ^.^

I got too excited and broke the label before realizing that I needed to photo shoot! I paired it with Jambon de Bayonne, Belgium’s version of prosciutto (very good, sliced thin but oh-so-fatty and cured perfectly, not too salty):

and a buttery croissant et voila!

Sooooo goooooddddd….