Brussels

For our 2025 fall break, I took Colin and Liana (Nolan did not have a break) to Brussels. We stayed only 4 minutes walk from the Grand Place. The plan was to eat chocolate, waffles, and fries for two days (and beer for me). We got to the Craves Hotel around 7pm and walked to see the Grand Place lit up at night in purple. I found The Brothers Brasserie for dinner next to Grand Place. It was good, with fish chips, meatballs, Flemish stew, and the Karmeliet beer was good. We stopped at the Carrefour next to the hotel to grab a few things for breakfast.

The next morning we just walked around the city a bit and saw some sites. We got some frites (fries) with andalouse. Then we bought some chocolate to snack on. Then we spotted "The Goose" at the Grand Place. Then we visited Rose de Damas, a place we had visited years ago with delicious treats. We walked to Le Pre Sale for lunch on a recommendation. It felt very authentic. We ordered mussels, frog legs, and a salad. The frog legs were really good. After lunch we stopped at the hotel for a little relaxation. Then we headed out to stop in more sweet shops on our way to the Illusion Museum. The kids picked this place out and we had fun during our visit with a lot of silly pictures. After our visit we went for waffles at Gaufre de Bruxelles. After some more walking we got more frites at Frituur Tabora, which had over 50 sauces. We did some more shopping before dinner to buy some things for mom and get some souvenirs. For dinner we found some Belgian food at Le Coin de l'Ecailer; rabbit and snails. It was tasty. After dinner we walked around some more, found some mulled wine, and got more waffles.

The next morning we decided to visit Atomium. We enjoyed our visit walking around and doing a bit of reading. We booked an afternoon chocolate making class so we traveled nearby to find some lunch. We found Tonton Garby from reading reviews online. We were very lucky that the line was not very long (waited maybe 20 minutes). All the reviews online are correct, they even have signs up on the street that say if you are in a hurry, you should go elsewhere. The guy here hand makes each sandwich with either fruit or meat. He handcuts and slices everything for you. Goes through your options, makes suggestions, and has a nice chat with you the whole time. At the end, you end up with a delicious masterpiece. We even bought some of his amazing farmers cheese for a takeaway snack. The gentleman is Turkish and speaks eight or so languages. We had fun talking with him and eating our food. After lunch was chocolate making class! The kids enjoyed tasting and learning methods for molding. And eating some too! After the class we decided to walk and visit the Lego store. It wasn't that special, reminded me of Dublin (sorry). While walking back toward Grand Place we walked by a 2 story Flying Tiger, so of course Liana had to go in. Dinner we ended up at the Blue Restaurant. While Greek, it had many Belgian specialties. After dinner we had one last go of frites, and then some waffles, and then some hot chocolate.