but the best part (part III)

the best part of brussels was all the belgian chocolate available around every corner! we tried the chocolate from all the well-known names such as neuhaus, godiva and leonidas as well as a few other chocolate houses. pictured above is jean philippe darcis hot chocolate with a surprise apricot cream filled chocolate. i preferred godiva's dark chocolate chocolixir which we had on the go. a hot chocolate is perfect for the cold weather setting in~

 

prettiest box (and my favourite chocolates) go to mary's chocolatier located in the galerie saint hubert. i bought a box of chocolates for the box, and shared a 250g box with my friend. they were definitely the best! one bite into their dark chocolate raspberry praline and i couldn't stop praising it. lucky i still have one left (not for long, i suspect!)

 

second best, was neuhaus' dark chocolate raspberry bar. i tried the same flavour by godiva, but the raspberry wasn't strong enough. the neuhaus one was almost on par with mary's. i should have bought a few more, now that i'm back, i'm getting chocolate withdrawal symptoms (mainly craving chocolate all the time)

the first waffle i had was a bruxelle style waffles. as soon as the bags were put down in the room, we were off searching for some waffles~ the waffle is made from a thinner batter and is usually rectangular. the waffle was so deliciously light and crispy. served best with fresh strawberries and dark chocolate sauce in my opinion!

day two, we decided to try biscuiterie dandoy where i tried a liege style waffle which is denser and semi-circled shaped (roughly). one bite and i was in waffle heaven. this was by far the best waffle i've had, and will probably ever have. topped with vanilla icecream and chocolate sauce. (no, it's not too cold for icecream)

strawberries covered in chocolate from leonidas! because i couldn't fit a waffle inside. or rather, i'd already had my daily waffle for lunch. the best waffle, might i add!

for late night and early sunday morning waffles, i had to turn to leonidas. the liege waffle is hidden by a mountain of deliciously sweet and fresh strawberries (where do they get them in the middle of autumn? it's not strawberry season?) and covered in the smoothest dark chocolate sauce. i had this twice within twenty four hours. ah, belgium is dangerous for the chocolate lover like me!!

there were other things (part II)

brussels is quite a small city compared to paris and london and everything is pretty close. we didn't even realise how close the bourse and the grand place was to our accommodation. this was a great win since the metro tickets were 30 euro cents more than paris.

 i had to crouch at a wierd angle to get the full length of that massive spire. it seriously towers over the whole city and even from the top of the atomium, it's very visible!

the grand place is literally grand! standing in the middle of the square, you're surrounded by the most spectacular buildings in brussels. not to mention there are countless chocolate and waffles stores in the vicinity. you can practically smell them from the square.  

brussels also has a number of lace shops! i spotted about five or more selling beautiful lacy doilies, brooches, table decorations and, my favourite, lace collars!! 

the only way to convince my friend to explore the fabulous galerie de la reine/ galarie saint hubert, was to tell her it was home to at least three chocolate shops. one of them turned out to be her favourite, so i win~ the gallery is reminiscent of the arcades back in adelaide, only the glass roof lights the space naturally.

the palais royal was unfortunately closed during the winter months. i was really excited to explore the palace interiors for free!!~ i had to settle for the grand exterior and formal green gardens instead. hello belgian royalty!!

the gates don't really beat those at versailles in paris, but they did have cute golden tassles~ it matched the dark green nicely too~ we also visited the magritte museum and horta museum, however, neither let us take photographs, so i can't share :(

it's not all chocolate and waffles (part I)

 we were straight off to brussels after the pre-colle exam with the intention of drowning our sorrows in chocolate and waffles. but belgium had much more to offer us. the stairs down to the bathroom (also known as the cave) in our bed and breakfast were deadly steep!

i fell in love with the tram line to the famous atomium! we had to stop here to change lines here, and i couldn't help taking a few photos of the lush green forest-like scenery to the right of the tracks.

 welcome to the atomium! built in 1958 for the world exposition in brussels that year, the atomium had the world's fastest elevator (at the time). we took it to the top (level seven) for some panoramic views of the city before exploring the exhibition in the lower levels. they had a cute 'welcome' sign at the entrance~

look how green brussels is!! i really love the autumn colours creeping in too~ it's much less busy and laid back which is perfect for relaxing after a stressful study period.

we also spent some time exploring mini europe!! everything here is set to a scale of 1:25, i almost feel like a giant walking among these minature buildings and landmarks. the grand place in the city centre of brussels is on the left, and the iconic eiffel tower in paris on the right.

the detail on the buildings in mini europe are still very incredible intricate! this is a photo i took of one of the models, but it looks like it could be the life sized building, right?