hanging out in the land of waffles, chocolate, and beer

So, after a very fun, but slightly longer than expected stay in Bonn (courtesy of Belgium having a one-day rail strike the day I was supposed to travel), I headed over to Brussels. There I met up with my friend Mark, who's spending the year there doing nerdy math things. It was great to see Mark and catch up on all that had happened since we last saw each other. . . ummm, 2 weeks earlier at Oktoberfest. Ok, so, not a lot of catching up to do. Still, it was good to hang out, drink some delicious Belgian beer, and lose a few games of Backgammon.

While Mark was at work I wandered around Brussels. Gotta say, I'm a pretty big fan. They've got a great old city, and lots of interesting museums (one surprise hit was the Musical Instrument Museum where you don these headphones and when you enter a specified area you hear a sample of the displayed instrument - pretty cool). They they also have delicious waffles, fries, and beer (which I mentioned before, but it bears repeating). Oh, and they also have a model of an Iron atom magnified 165 billion times. Good stuff.

Anyways, on to the pictures - enjoy!

hanging out with Mark at the Delirium bar - a very cool bar which has about a bazillion beers, including Delirium Tremens on tap. Fun fact: Belgian strong ales have a lot of alcohol in 'em (about 9%). To be that strong, they need lots of sugar for the fermentation, which means that they are delicious.

me at the Atomium, this crazy building built for the 1958 Brussels world's fair. It is designed to look like an iron atom, magnified 165 billion times. Inside they have a restaurant, a panaroma-view, and lots of exhibits about the world's fair. I liked the part where they talked about the cold-war tensions visible in the American and Soviet Union display areas. . .

artsy shot of the atomium

cool shot of late-afternoon light hitting the cathedral at Brussel's Grand Place

another artsy shot of the cathedral at Brussel's Grand Place

now THAT'S a big guitar!

Brussels is well-known for their waffles (as well as beer, chocolate, and fries). In case you happened to be in an area with no waffle stores, these mobile waffle trucks were there to save the day!

me and a somewhat scandalous but wildly popular statue, the Manneken Pis

what I believe are two pieces of the berlin wall

during my wanderings I happened upon this cool car museum with a bunch of awesome old cars. I'll take the 1927 Ford, please!