Faster than a plane? A train.

As I soon as I settled on the title of this post about our inaugural journey aboard the Eurostar train the following CNN newsflash caught my eye - '18 killed when trains collide in Belgium'. Yikes! The Eurostar rail that connects the UK to mainland Europe via the chunnel is not without criticism - it's unreliable, expensive and breaks down often.  This year in particular it has received more than its fair share of blows.  From today's crash to the complete catastrophe at Christmas when the busiest routes were cancelled, stranding holiday-goers. So I was somewhat apprehensive about the idea of a recent last-minute train ride from London to Brussels.

Things didn't start out well. I forgot my passport. Luckily, when you miss a train there are usually several others waiting to depart. So post-panic, I found the Eurostar service to be smooth and efficient. The way traveling ought to be with no worries about weighing your bag to make sure it is under 20 kilos or fussing about the amount of pint-size liquids that can be crammed into a Ziploc.  Better yet, rather than spending an hour on the Tube or praying in the back of a taxi that traffic will subside, I remained cool, calm and collected.  No annoying queues or first-time travelers trying to navigate security. London's St. Pancras station is also possibly the nicest train station I have been in, rivaling the sleek interiors and clean vibe found in the Reykjavik airport.  I arrived 30 minutes before my train and got on without a hitch, enough said.

Let me caveat the following trip to Brussels by saying we have been to Brussels.  We found amazing places to eat and with his Belgium beer obsession, Lou is like a dowsing rod (a.k.a water witching) to the best watering holes in town.  So we basically did the same trip  all over again plus a few wonderful local places that Tanya, our college friend and favourite expat, introduced to our repertoire.

Starting with Antoine, which is quite possibly the best frites shop in Brussels. Double-dipped like a chocolate cone, the takeaway fries are crispy, golden and gorgeous, accompanied by fixings from curry mustard to housemade ketchup.  The local pubs even let you bring your "little" cone of frites inside, happy to help you wash it down with a pint of beer.  

Grande Place is truly one of the most beautiful squares in all of Europe (see first photo). We could sit at a cafe all day and just enjoy the view.  But we are doers and couldn't bare to while away an afternoon without taking in a new sight or two.  So we jumped on a local train to Bruges.   A return ticket was less than 20EUR and the trains run every hour, perfect for a quick getaway. We spent the day walking around the cities canals and side streets, perusing an amazing local market and enjoyed the solitude (and warmth) of the small stone chapel underneath the Basilica of the Holy Blood. After seeing the movie Bruges, we had aimed to climb the 336 steps to the top of the belfry tower, but we were inpatient to see as much of the city as possible.  For those visiting Bruges, definitely visit the tour first thing in the morning or expect to wait at least and hour in line.  We visited in January so I can only imagine the wait in the summer.

After a very average lunch of very average mussels off the main square, we set out to find the oldest pub in Bruges, the Vlissinghe tavern, dating from 1515.  It was charming and the perfect place to while away a chilly Saturday afternoon.  It also received top marks for having a shelf behind the bar filled with decks of cards, which we originally mistook for cartons of old cigarettes.  

We left Bruges at about 5:30 and arrived back to Brussels around 7pm in time for a few Belgians at Delirium Cafe.  This is quite possibly the holy mecca of beer drinking.  With over 2,000 bottles and 12 on tap, most of which you have never heard of, Delirium is chaotic and fun, even if a bit touristy.  It is also below ground so it is easy to while away a whole afternoon here without noticing.   

Post-delirium (which is appropriately titled) we walked across the city to Au Vieux Bruxelles, one of our favourite restaurants in Europe.  Our dinner marked the second time in all of our travels that we have ate at the same restaurant twice (the first being Badia Coltibuono in Tuscany) - it is that good.

We spent Sunday visiting my favourite chocolatier Pierre Marcolini, picking up boxes of gifts (which I conveniently left in a London taxi) and sampling a range of flavourful oddities from saffron and dark chocolate to cardamam and chilli.  Luckily, I found the lone importer in the UK and hope to have replacement Valentine's out soon!

From there, we explored a busy antiques market and grabbed a bite at the original Pain de Quotidian and then headed to the train station - with 30 minutes to spare.