Why Belgium you ask? Simple. Chocolate and beer.
When I arrived in Brussels, the central city so they say, it was only 4am in the morning.
With little to do, and stores all closed, I had nowhere to go.
After a few minutes of aimless wandering, I finally found my way to the Grand Place, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Brussels.
Since the city was still lost in utter silence, I decided to stop by at a fast food chain that looked almost identical to McDonalds, to kill some time.
After a good two hours or so munching on salt-free french fries and stuffing my mouth with a hamburger loaded with mustard instead of ketchup, the city finally woke up from its eternal sleep.
I took a stroll around the Grand Place, went to see the Manneken Pis, and went into random chocolate shops to drool over the showcases loaded with one of the greatest inventions by mankind - chocolate.
On a side note, there were three limitations that I have decided to put on myself while I was in Belgium:
1) don't pre-book any hostels
2) no internet while in Belgium
3) turn off cellphone during the trip
These were the limitations I had thought of, to fully enjoy everything that Belgium had to offer (well at least most of it).
It's not that difficult when you think of it, I mean all backpackers do it... but it's not easy when you're an internet junkie....
On my first day in Brussels, I was able to visit a total of three museums: the chocolate museum, the beer museum, and lastly the music instrument museum.
I had high hopes for the chocolate and the beer, but these turned out to be the biggest disappointments in Daizo history. The beer museum was not a museum at all, just a room with a TV playing back a low budget video on how to make beer; the chocolate museum was a waste of time: just a small house with exhibitions that matched the quality of a high school student research project.
On the other hand, the instrument museum was one of the biggest excitements I've ever had since I've come to Europe. Known to house the most instruments in the world, every corner in the museum was a delight and surprise. As a matter of fact, the pianos I saw in the museum were more than just an instrument, they were works of art!!
What was innovative about the museum was that all the visitors would receive a headset that allows you to listen to how the instrument sounds, when you stand in front of it.
Just so that music geeks aren't the only ones being pleased, you can hear them being either orchestrated or in the form of an ensemble (I believe the instruments in the ensemble are limited to the ones you see in front of you... correct me if I am wrong).
Aside from all the traditional and classical instruments, they also had a floor dedicated to modern instruments (THE Theremin included) but this portion wasn't as impressive as the rest.
Also English wasn't being displayed on the signs so you had to use a guide provided in the museum to comprehend what it said.
Nonetheless, more than half the instruments in the museum were ones I've never seen before.... if this doesn't excite a musician, what would?
By the way, is it just me or am I the only one that didn't know about viols...
After a lengthy 3 hours of educating myself on how unknowledgable I was (uh... is this even a word?), I went to a pub by the name of Celtica to grab myself a beer.
I spent my night at a hostel which I found for a rate of 19 euros per night... (which is not too bad for a 8 person bed room in Belgium) and then I called it a day.
Who would have imagined that I would spend the next day with no bed, get lost in the middle of Bruges (Traveler's Choice Destinations 2010 Winner) and run into a potential crime scene involving a girl lying dead (or partially?) in the middle of the road? Continued to part two...
DAIZO
wow truly amazing.
ReplyDeletewow truly amazing.
ReplyDeleteYep there's lots to see in Belgium. I definitely recommend it.
ReplyDelete