Day 10

Today I woke up and made myself some breakfast. I took the bus that my Airbnb host recommended to go to the information center so that I cold get my transportation card. I got dropped off and had to walk about 10 minutes to find the building.

I purchased my Brussels card which would give me free transportation, free access to 39 museums, and several store discounts. The lady helped me with what trams to take back to my Airbnb. They can not print the transportation card at their office. You must go to a metro station to get this. She pointed me in the direction of the station, I went there, I could not find it. So using google maps, I located a metro station 15 minutes away. I get to the metro station and I am looking around for this kiosk to print my card. There are ticket machines, but no kiosk. I finally sit down and start to research where these Kiosks are in the city. I find one that's about 10 minutes away. I finally locate the kiosk, print my ticket, and all was good. I thought that today was going to be horrible after another wild goose chase through the city of Brussels. But don't worry, it gets better from here.

So as I am walking aimlessly through the streets, I stumble upon the Grand Place. The Grand Place is absolutely stunning. There are tons of people in this open courtyard and cobblestones streets that diverge away from the Grand Place. Here is me at the Grand Place today.

I begin to venture down some of these cobblestone streets. This is basically the layout: waffle shop, chocolate shop, souvenir shop... waffle shop, chocolate shop, souvenir shop.. and on and on and on. I was enticed and had to get a Belgian waffle. I got a waffle with chocolate, whipped cream and sprinkles. This was probably the highlight of my day. They have so many different kinds and they all look so delicious. My goal is to try a new waffle every day. For those who know me well, I don't typically try new things so this is a good thing!

Now with all these chocolate shops, you would think this would be my paradise. However, most seem to be chain stores that only sell products and do not create anything. For example, a third of the chocolate shops I saw were Leonidas Chocolate. There was also Godiva which is a brand we have in the States. To find true Belgium chocolate, I need to locate a company that is not so large and industrialized. I hope to do some more research and go back to some of these shops and see if they have any information. No chocolatier was willing to work with me in Brussels. I have already scheduled to work with a chocolatier in Bruges so I expect to focus more on the chocolate there. 

Although I had no success with the chocolate shops, I did go to the Choco Story Museum using my Brussels Card. On the ground floor, I watched a lady demonstrate how to make pralines. We all got to sample one after the demonstration. I was all the way in the back so I could not hear or see too well. After the demonstration, I went upstairs, where they have displays about the history of Belgian chocolate. Chocolate first appeared in Belgium in 1635. Records show that some chocolate was brought by the abbot of Baudeloo in Ghent. Chocolate making in the 17th century was not considered a profession, rather a sideline product for apothecaries or merchants. Towards the 18th century, several manufacturing centers began to spring up. At this time, only the upper class could afford chocolate. To put this into perspective, chocolate was worth 15 loaves of bread. In the 19th century, industrialization boosted the chocolate economy and prices fell.

After the Choco Story Museum, I had to locate Manneken Pis. This little statue of a boy peeing, for some reason, is one of the top tourist attractions in Brussels. My opinion: it's pretty dumb and a lot smaller than you'd think.

I then decided to go to the Royal Museum of Art. I had known that there was a famous painting there that I studied in my World Art II class that I really wanted to see. The painting is "The Death of Marat" by Jacques-Louis David in 1793. I was super excited once I found this painting and stood there examining it for about 10 minutes. This is one of the most famous paintings from the French Revolution. The painting shows a dead Marat in his bathtub who was murdered by Charlotte Corday. While in the museum, I also ran into another painting that I studied in World Art. Seeing these paintings in person is absolutely amazing. Here is "The Death of Marat"

After leaving the art museum, I decided to go to the Museum of Musical Instruments. There were several floors of old instruments, so many that I had no idea ever existed. There were weird combinations of instruments such as a bassoon, bass clarinet, and tenor sax mix. Everything was written in French so I did not gain much from this museum. The instruments were just cool to look at.

My phone was low on battery so I headed back to my apartment early. I am not sure what I will do tomorrow. There is a 90% chance of rain and the city is about 20 minutes away by metro. If the rain is not too bad, I will try to go to more museums and visit the chocolate shops. If the rain is bad though, I will probably stay inside and do some more research about Brussels and Bruges.