How I ate my way through Germany and Belgium

I ate all the time on this last trip. Not meals per say, just lots and lots... and lots of good food, that wasn't good for you. But yes this past week, my two roommates and I made our way to Cologne, Germany and Brussels, Belgium for a five day trip. 

Köln, Germany

Cologne is actually, yes, where the oldest cologne in the world is from... or something like that (I have a mini bottle to prove it)! Our first stop was to the Kölner Dom, which is the largest cathedral in Germany. It is absolutely breathtaking - outside, inside, and even from the top. We hiked the 1020394958 stairs to the top and got to see the Belfry and get a sky view of Cologne on a rather cold and snowy day. 

Since it was rather chilly, we stopped into a perfectly precious cafe and had hot chocolate and apple strudels, delicious! After our little treat we went to EL-DE Haus, an old Gestapo prison that has been restored and converted into a historical museum about Nazis and the Holocaust. Although it was chilling and appalling to see what the prisoners had to go through in the prison, the museum had extremely good information explaining the history of everything. It was overall a really good experience, despite how horrifying the event was. To cheer ourselves up afterwards we went on a search for typical German food. Although I didn't find any bratwurst, I did get to try currywurst - curry and german sausage, two firsts, both yummy. Also both Germany and Belgium are known for their frieten (fries); however they usually eat them with mayonnaise or a different sauce, in Belgium the fry stands had 46 different sauces to choose from. 

After lunch we decided to shop our little hearts out and then for dinner we went to one of Cologne's famous breweries and got to watch a german show that was so fun to see. I tried to load the video, but it wouldn't load, so I guess you'll just have to see a picture for now and I'll try again later! 

Brussels, Belgium

Our next stop was to Brussels. We ultimately decided to go here because my friend Ashley has a cousin who lives there who let us stay with her, she was incredibly sweet and even made us crepes and muffins for breakfast one morning! We got to Brussels on a friday and went and looked around the center of town. The architecture around their town square was absolutely stunning. (Pictures below). On friday we managed to eat a Brussels waffle, a Liege waffle, fries, and chocolate. All in one day. Imagine our poor stomachs. Belgium is crawling with waffle stands, chocolate shops and fry stands. Friday night we met up with Lia (Ashley's cousin) and went to bible study with her. The hosts of the bible study were from Texas and the wife of the couple was actually born and raised in Lubbock and they both went to LCU, small world! Their nephew goes to ACU and they knew people that both Ashley and Lizzie knew and even knew the family of one of the guys on our trip - crazy! 

Bruges, Belgium

On day two in Belgium we took a day trip to Bruges, a quaint town an hour outside of Belgium. The city was at one point the chief commercial city and became wealthy off of this. The city invested its wealth into its buildings and preservation of keeping the city beautiful (unfortunately pictures do not do it justice). Besides seeing amazing buildings and being caught in the rain all day we also went to a Salvador Dali exhibit (a talented, but just plain odd painter) and of course ate more waffles and more fries (smart move).

Well that's it for this trip! Our next destination is Italy and Greece for spring break - I'm so pumped! (Oh and possibly Bath Saturday). Ta ta for now!