Breva in Brussels & Brugge Belgium

Recently spent a few days in Brussels with a day trip to Bruge. Brussels was a bit of a mish-mash - some super charming neighborhoods and some not so much - overall it felt very safe (I walked all over the city and never encountered an area that felt unsavory) and there is enough culture to see in a day or two. We even had a traditional Flemish meal of rabbit stewed in fruity beer (actually very delicious - the most tender white meat I've ever had!) served with beer. Do you get the theme here? Pre dinner beer, beer to go with your meal, apertif/dessert beer....but it's actually very good beer so you don't mind drinking it all the time! Probably the coolest things about Brussels are that it's multi-lingual - English, French, Dutch, a little German and; comic strips are big - as in there are comic murals all over the city and even a Comic Strip Museum. Why? Because Herge, creator of TinTin is from Brussels and they love him!

Bruge (pronounced Broooogah) - we liked it! Bruge has quite a fascinating history - basically it was a hub of int'l trade in the 12th - 15th century. The town is Flemish and has a strong collection of medieval and early modern art, including Jan van Eyck, who lived and worked in Bruges. We walked around, went to a few art museums, and ended the afternoon with some delicious beer and cheese and a tiny pub (seating for about 15 people) and chatting with a native Brugian about his life there and how messed up politics are in the U.S.! The "afternoon" turned into night at the pub and resulted in a last minute hussle to catch the 10pm train into Brussels. We wish we would have stayed overnight there....