The Road Well Travelled Around the world in 365 days: SE Asia - Europe - UK - USA

So we arrive in Brussels with a proper hotel booking for a few nights as I am in need of a decent break. Exhausted and just wanting to crash into a big, soft bed, in a private, quiet room, we emerge from the train station with no directions to the hotel in hand and no idea of where to go. My first impression of Brussels is of an unattractive place with a seedy kind of feeling to it. The area we are in is certainly no looker.  Perhaps due to my tiredness and even though its still daylight, I am feeling uneasy about standing around with our backpacks in this busy area, looking like exactly what we were - two silly foreign tourists who didn’t know where they were going or how they were going to get there. I feel extremely vulnerable. All I want to do is hop in a taxi and get out of the situation asap. The Doctor, however, being ever frugal, refuses to do so without first going into shop after shop asking for directions, even stopping the only other tourists we see, who are apparently smarter than us, as they DO have a map (the hotel street doesn’t even appear to be on it!). Finally admitting his defeat we head towards the taxi rank and make it to the hotel in one piece. (I later read a story about  a tourist who was conned into going with a ‘policeman’ here ... who turned out not to be one. Looking clearly lost and clueless =  easy target and in an area that feels unsafe, this is not a good idea. I am convinced that The Doctor should listen to me more often!).

Brussels seems to be a dichotomous city as when we eventually find the tourist area it’s a complete turnaround from the city outside - pretty architecture and attractive streets are a refuge from the ugliness enclosing it. After checking out Mannequin Pis (lame ... and tiny!) and stocking up on chocolate, I have an experience that will forever ensure that Brussels becomes one of the unlikely highlights of my trip.

Two words - the waffle. Not just a waffle, but importantly a Belgian waffle. And believe me, there is a difference. Looking to fill the void of disappointment left by the miss-able pissing boy, we scan the streets for a proper waffle house. There are stalls attempting to lure us with their display of waffle creations, and it almost works until we sneak a closer glimpse and see stale waffle, fake, as-thin-as-air cream and dried berries perching upon the lot. Eww and then sigh. On the brink of giving up we stumble upon a café serving nothing but waffles with a menu listing variety after variety of fatty goodness. Opting to devise my own waffle creation, I order one with ice-cream, cream, chocolate sauce and stewed cherries. The counter girl looks oh-so-confused and says “Cherries as well?” . I can only assume no one has ever dared to order so many toppings at once and she clearly thinks I am some kind of farm animal, most likely a pig ... but I don’t care, I will not feel guilty or humiliated, I want my WAFFLE!! My mouth is already salivating with the anticipation of what it is about to encounter.

And here it is ... the black forest waffle. Some people may see a plate full of double chin and stomach flab, but all I can see is heaven on a plate. And hey, I am only going to be in Belgium once in my life, I am going to get my full Belgian waffle-y sweetness! The waffle itself is warm and crisp on the outside but still soft and light on the inside, not stodgy and rubbery like the frozen versions. Lashings of cream sit like mountain peaks while chocolate sauce (real chocolate sauce that is - none of this cheap syrup business) dribbles down the ice-cream like streams, collecting in the square shaped wells of the waffle below. Dark red stewed cherries light up the whole plate with a splash of colour against it’s whiteness. It’s quite a big serving and while The Doctor shoots me looks of disapproval, I polish the whole thing off.  Although he has to roll me all the way back to the hotel Violet Beauregarde/Oompa Loompa style it is absolutely amazing, and (besides the Naples pizza) the best thing I have eaten on this trip. Even though I end up clutching at my gut and groaning from eating too much for the next couple of days, I will only ever recall that moment in Brussels when I experienced true dessert deliciousness.