Wrapping Up Belgium ... Day 8

For our last day in Belgium, we had big plans - buying chocolates for friends and hitting up some kitschy touristy stuff.

First though - brunch! We went to Le Pain Quotidian - the original. This restaurant has since expanded to the U.S. (NYC, not Nashville), and for good reason. They get it right - excellent breads and pastries, superb looking sandwiches and salads, and tons of jams/spreads/ accoutrements for the tables. I ordered the big breakfast and was absolutely delighted.

We shopped a bit, weaving our way around crowds attending both the jazz festival and the grand opening of the Magritte museum, where they were handing out apples and plastic bowler hats amid costumed tableau of familiar paintings. Rather than spending a long time in line, we decided to head out to a suburb to see ....

ATOMIUM! This was erected for the 1958 World Fair, in an effort to show everyone how progressive and futuristic Belgium was in the post-war era. Pretty neat in a big silver structure kind of way. They actually had an interesting exhibit of what the fair was like and the world situation at the time. Of course, the obligatory pics of us holding up monuments:

Next up was Mini Europe. We were a little dubious about how cool this could be (it was highly recomended in the guidebook) and balked at the 12 euro entry price, but it turned out to be AWESOME! These people have made 1:25 scale models of well known landmarks in all the European Union countries. They have moving parts (boats, trains, clocks) and interactive features. They have done detailed research into historical documents and blueprints to get accurate models - they are ridiculously precise! It was so neat to see places we have been ... and places we hope to get to! Here is Ben holding up the real Tower of Pisa ... and the teeny Tower of Pisa. Ha!


Heading back into town, we stopped in the part of the city known for excellent seafood. The restaurant wasn't open yet, so obviously, time for a beer. We almost had a disaster because I ordered "Witbeer", or wheat beer which is unfiltered and delicious. The man misunderstood and thought I said "coffee with milk". So I said, "no, beer" and he replied, confused, "oh beer! Beer with milk?". So I changed my order to "beer" and got that. Phew!

The restaurant we chose only had seating outside on the sidewalk - no problem for us. The amuse bouche was a croquette with ham and gruyere. For appetizer we shared a tuna carpaccio which was heavily gingered and very refreshing. For entree, I got a seafood linguine with roasted red pepper sauce. Ben got langoustines with a herb aioli. Tiramisu for dessert. A great way to end the trip!

We headed out to the airport that evening to be ready for an extremely early flight the next day, the start of a very long (but luckily this time, very uneventful) trip home. As you may have gathered, we highly recommend Belgium as a wonderful place to visit for culture, food, and beer!