Even before I left for my trip, I had read a lot about the types of beer in Belgium. While I was keen on visiting the Hoegaarden brewery, I couldn’t manage to. But I ended up sampling quite a variety of beer. If there’s one thing I’ll visit Belgium for, it will have to be for the beer.
My trip to Brussels started on a pretty bad note. While the original plan was to leave Eindhoven at 10, I finally ended up boarding the train at 12. Interestingly while I boarded a train bound for Maastrich, I ended up at Heerele. Turns out that 1 half of the train travels to Maastrich while the other heads to Heerle. Whoever heard of one train going 2 different ways? Since I had to catch the train from Maastrich to Brussels, I lost 30 mins and another 30 waiting for the train to Brussels Central.
Arriving at Central I just couldn’t spot the tram station and ended up losing my way miserably. After calling up the hotel a few times, asking for directions, via the metro and then a tram, I finally ended up at the hotel at 5 pm. Turned out that the hotel was a hole in the wall and the room barely enough for 1 person.
I had to get myself a beer for all the hard work. I started the evening with a Leffe. Took a tram to the Grand palace, had a lovely dinner of mussels & fries along with a pint of Maes beer. I then wandered to the famous Mannekin Pis and then ended up sitting in one of the cafes nursing an amazing pint of Chimay.
I was amused to find some really interesting stuff during my short stay
2 way escalator
I saw this at the station I was boarding from called Josephburg. It had a 2 way escalator. It helps that there are hardly any people around but its a huge space saver. It would be disastrous to have it anywhere in India.
Connection metro trains
This one is pretty cool. There are a few guaranteed connections on the underground metro. Basically if you are on the one that’s coming in, then you have another train waiting for you on the other side of the platform. Though its just 2 minutes but the co-ordination is what’s amazing
Jet spray in the loos
The hotel we stayed had jet sprays in the loo. I’ve got frustrated with no options during our last 2 Europe trip. So it was a great relief.
Encouraging group travel
The Metro offers a huge discount for group travel. Euro 5.20 for one person and Euro 9.40 for 5 people. No wonder everyone takes the public transport.
Exit
Different word for exit for people -Ausgang and different for vehicles – Ausfahrt
