Brussels is ugly but we loved it !

I  was in Brussels for the weekend with my friend who is in Charleroi as a language assistant and we absolutely loved it. the journey was about two and a half hours from Leiden Centraal to Brussels Centraal and it costs 41 euros for weekend return. the weather was the only downside of the weekend. on friday, it was so sunny that we used our sunglasses but the next two days was so rainy and windy. nonetheless, this did not stop us from discovering the city. first of all, we started with all the touristic places such as gothic St. Goedele- St. Mıchels Cathedral, Grand Place which is the touristic heart of the Brussels with the town hall, the Bourse (this is the wall street of the Brussels and the meeting point of the local people, there are always people sitting on the always dirty stairs chatting, eating or drinking),  the oldest Galleria in Europe and of course, the peeing boy. Reine Koninginne Galleria was built in 1845 by Jean- Pierre Cluysenaer. He was inspired by the rainy weather and the muddy streets of the Belgium as the ladies did not want to stuck in the mud and get wet while shopping. In the Grand Place, there is a statute of a lying man who sacrificed his life for Brussuls and regarded as a hero. Some parts of the statute are gold. touch it, it is believed that it brings luck. There is something with Brussels and peeing people. there are peeing statutes everywhere, a peeing boy, a peeing girl and a peeing dog. In addition, the bande dessinees on the walls of the buildings were thought by the the night mayor of the Brussels as a way to prevent people from peeing on the walls. The next day, the Parliament, Palais de Justice and the royal palace were among the list of what to see. moreover, for people who like to go to museums, there is a museum area. Museums there will take up all of your time, so it would be wise to decide which one/ones to see before going to Brussels.
when you get hungry, you can grab a sandwich or frites on the way. they are good and quiet cheap. waffles are another choice. Brussels waffle is the one with powder sugar on it and the proper eating way is by a fork and a knife.my personal preference is street waffle (plain with sugar in it) whereas my friend loves waffles with nutella and bananas. and chocolate! Brussels is the home of Godiva and Neuhaus. The Neuhaue family was a pharmacist family. all individuals of the family had interested in pharmacy until a son who was not. He then began to make cough sweets, liquirice for stomach, chocolates for broken hearts and depressed ladies which were sold in small boxes. Now, the first Neuhaus shop is found in the oldest gallery of the Europe.
Mussels are another must. We had a delicious pot of mussels at a restaurant called Chez-Leon which is found in the street where all the fish restaurants are (http://www.chezleon.be/index.asp?intro).
If you would like to try different types of beer, Belgium is the place. they have fascinatingly wide range of beers. from chocolate beer to citrus beer.

Accomodation:
we stayed at a hostel called Bruegel which is quiet close to centraal station. the price is very reasonable for students below the age of 26 and it is little bit more expensive for people over 26. the rooms were clean, warm. the showers and the toilets are outside the room. you may choose to stay alone or in a double room. there are also rooms for 4 or 6 people.

Leidens Ontzet - 3rd of October celebrations

3rd of October is the Leiden's Relief and the celebrations have started on friday! everybody is on the streets, celebrating the relief. There is a biig funfair in the middle of the city with a roller coaster, mini London eye, something like bungee jumping, carousel, bumper cars and many more funfair games. having tried couple of them, I think the best was the mini london eye at night as when you are at the top, you can see the whole city and it is an amazing view.
Besides the funfair, there is a lot going on in this weekend in Leiden. There are concerts, competitions, dinners and some of the museum entrances become free in this weekend. One of these museums is where the 'hutspot pot' (this pot is left by the Spanish on 3rd of October when they are escaping from the city) is exhibited. Some part of the canals are closed so that people can stand on it and dance, eat, drink and speak to each other. A variety of music is played at nights. You can find 4 different concerts at the same time along the same street! most of the restaurants are turned into open air clubs with different dj every night. Moreover, bars, pubs and cafes come off the streets. Restaurants took their kitchens in front of the doors.
In terms of food, there is all kinds of food for every taste from Greek food to Thai, from Chinese to döners and lot of hamburgers, hotdogs, waffles, candies and fish. The city Hall gives free herring on the 3rd to people who are registered for it. However, as there is high demand, registration must be done at least 1 or 2 weeks before the 3rd of October.  Other traditional Dutch food is Hutspot which is actually mashed potatoes with carrots and onions in it. It is quiet delicious though. They serve this with meat and you can find hutspot in almost any bar or pub.
and of course, BEER! a lot of beers. Heineken is what you drink all weekend.
It can be said that people hardly go to their homes. Everyone is out. Number of tourists, students and people who would like to see the celebrations from other cities such as Den Haag, Rotterdam or Amsterdam should not be underestimated. When this is coupled with restaurant kitchens, bar tables, bistros, parked bicycles on the street, it becomes even more difficult to walk.
The quiet, calm city is gone, now we have a loud, super dynamic city!

This weekend is all about eating, drinking, dancing and celebrating! ENJOY :)

tonight's menu: HUTSPOT !

wealth of imagination

Albert Einstein said that 'imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.' 

Nowadays, couple of bridges are wrapped up with wools. people are knitting and they are wrapping them around the bridges. I do not know if there is any specific purpose of doing it (probably there is) nonetheless it is colourful, bright, alive, animate and creative..

Leiden Saturday market

The market is held on Wednesdays and Saturdays but the saturday market is much bigger than the wednesday market. The market is spread over the bridges along the canal in the city center. You can almost find anything in the market. The variety of the things sold is amazing. You can find buttons for your shirt, ribbons for your bed (!), delicious waffles, fresh tomatoes or any kind of cheese.. and the floweers.. you want to buy all of them! Orchids, beautiful sunflowers, sowbreads, pinky, white or yellow daisies.. it is impossible to see a person to pass by the flowers without buying a bouquet. It is always crowded but if the weather is nice on that saturday, it will be jam-packed.

I tried the famous herring today and I  think that it was not so bad as I imagined it to be. I also tried something called Bali, kind of fish and it was quiet good too. there is a variety of sea food that fish-lovers will surely enjoy.

N.B: if you ever decide to study in netherlands, make sure you know how to bike ..

a sunny day

It is almost a month since I have first arrived in Netherlands. The weather is usually grey- windy and rainy. However, today there was no clouds in the sky, no rain but it was a little windy. As I studied 2 years in Scotland, I am used to grey weather :) number of days we see sun in the sky in Scotland is limited.
so I walked around the city which looked even more beautiful in the sunny weather. People were having coffees ( Dutch coffee is really nice), pies (apparently they have great applepies!), wines, beers, sandwiches.. they were sitting in the cafes talking to each other,  reading their books, shopping, having boat trips..

as the city has many canals, boats are very popular and people having boat trips while sipping their drinks and watching around seem to enjoy theirselves a lot. Having a boat trip is a good way of sightseeing.