Our trip got off to a very rocky start on Friday afternoon when the text messages from the airline started rolling in regarding a flight delay for our domestic flight to Detroit. The new departure time kept getting pushed back later and later, and it quickly became apparent to us that we would miss the connection to our international flight that evening. We then exhausted all scenarios with airline reps to arrive anywhere in Europe on Saturday as planned, so we were left with massive disappointment of missing one of the famous Spring Classic cycling races in the Netherlands, the Amstel Gold Race, on Sunday. Our original itinerary had us arriving in Amsterdam on Saturday around noon then taking a train to Maastricht, a university city on the southern tip of the Netherlands near the border of Belgium, for a VIP race experience on Sunday. The plus side of our revised itinerary is that we now had a non-stop flight to Amsterdam from Austin, but we were arriving a day later than scheduled. As a result, it no longer made sense for us to go to Maastricht since we would miss the entire reason for that leg of the trip. So, here we are in Brussels…a day early (because we got to Amsterdam a day late).
After checking into our hotel (ibis Brussels City Centre next to Place Sainte-Catherine), I quickly unpacked then headed out for a short run, while Kurt succumbed to jet lag and took a nap. I had a general idea for an out-and-back route, and I found myself drawn to a large church in the distance (which I later learned is Notre Dame de Laeken). Thankfully, my body didn’t feel too beat up from the travel (yet).
Before dinner, we walked over to check out Jeanneke Pis, the female version of the Manneken Pis, arguably the most famous statue in Brussels which we saw on a previous visit. She’s tucked away in a small alley near the Delirium bar.
Then, we had dinner and drinks at Ricotta & Parmesan, which was recommended for having gluten-free options (GF penne pasta with choice of sauce except for cheese sauces; no GF pizza option). Belgian beers are a favorite of Kurt’s, so he was eager to start his pre-race hydration while we’re here!
Having learned the lessons of our Boston->London marathon adventure last year, I deliberately planned minimal activities for this week before the race (this is definitely a challenge for me!). With the goal of keeping the main thing (the race) the main thing, we are prioritizing our runs and rest while we are here. Kurt is also working remotely in the evening due to the time zone difference.
For our morning run on Monday, I took Kurt on the route that I ran yesterday to the church. But, rather than do an out-and-back route like I did yesterday, we opted to do a point-to-point route so that we could check out the Atomium near the site of the 1958 World’s Fair (then we took the metro back to our hotel from there).
When in Brussels, you can have Moules-frites for your post run lunch! And, of course, Kurt tried another Belgian beer.
The only activity that I had scheduled for us here was a (free) visit to the European Parliament on Tuesday. We had a cold, wet walk to the Parliament building in the morning where we stumbled upon some sort of parade along the way.
I opted for a guided visit to the Hemicycle rather than a self-paced multi-media tour because I knew that Kurt would appreciate the opportunity to ask questions. We learned the basics of how the EU government operates, and then we had a chance to sit in the gallery of the Hemicycle itself.
After our tour, we walked through Leopold Park on the way to lunch at Il Veliero, an Italian restaurant in the European Quarter with gluten-free options (cash only). Both of us enjoyed our pizzas (and, Kurt enjoyed another Belgian beer).
We ran our final quality session of this training cycle on Wednesday morning. While we had hoped to check out the public running track at Parc du Cinquantenaire across town, we ended up just running our intervals back and forth on a bike path near the hotel because we had a very narrow weather window to get it done (we have learned that the weather changes very quickly here from sun to rain).
With our run complete, we walked over to Place de Sainte-Catherine behind our hotel to have lunch at Ellis Gourmet Burger (any burger except the mushroom burger can be made with a GF bun). While I enjoyed my burger with sweet potato fries, Kurt had poutine and, of course, another fine Belgian beer.
Then, we finally went inside the Church of Saint Catherine, which our hotel room overlooked.
Because you can’t come to Belgium without having a Belgian waffle, we walked through the Grand Place in search of gluten-free ones. First, we found The Sister, a popular vegan and GF restaurant, but we opted for Vegan Waf instead because they were cheaper and take away.
Vegan Waf is a little tricky to find, as it is located in a shopping mall. Directions:
At the Grand Place, you turn left at Rue de La Coline (where you also find the store of Timtim), and you’ll see a gallery named AGORA, you enter straight at the gallery and you’ll find us right in the beginning.
After we enjoyed our afternoon treat in the Grand Place, Kurt went back to the hotel, while I ventured over to the Magritte Museum. Even though we both visited the museum on a previous trip, I figured why not go back since I had the time and Magritte is one of my favorite artists? I don’t think that I would make another repeat visit though, as many of his famed pieces are located elsewhere. But, it is still nice to see the evolution of his work over his career.
And, that’s a wrap on our low-key detour to Brussels. London is calling though, so we’re out of here via the Eurostar on Thursday morning! More adventures ahead!