Bruxelles, Belgique

So, last stop on this tour of the European Union, or at least the institutions of the European Union. The last place we visited was Brussels. I was happy just to be back in a big city again, all of the others that we visited were rather small, so this was definitely a welcome visit! On the way to Brussels from Trier, we stopped in Waterloo to see the battle site. Here is a photo of the big hill that we climbed at the battle site. Does anyone know if it's a natural or man-made hill?

Once we got to Brussels, Heidi and I found Mr. Falafel, a place that seemed a lot like Maoz Falafel, but the small business version. There is only one option at Mr. Falafel, so there isn't even a menu! Also, you put your own hummous on; that means you can put as much as you want on. It was wonderfully tasty, so if you're ever in Brussels, visit Mr. Falafel!

The next day we visited Den Teepot, a vegan , macrobiotic restaurant in the first level of a health food shop. They offer one daily plate, a few sides and desserts, and several drinks. I got the pear juice and it was incredibly fresh and refreshing tasting.

Here was the daily plate the day that we visited. It had a side salad, roasted beets, tempeh, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, mushrooms, and possibly swede (I'm not sure if that was what it was). It was really tasty, and incredibly healthy. I was so happy to have such a great meal when I have been living on such unhealthy food!

There were unfortunately no vegan cakes available that day, so I got a mix of the vanilla and chocolate soya puddings. The chocolate had a very authentic chocolate flavour and the vanilla was equally delicious. I really enjoyed it!

Brussels was full of hilarious statues and here is one of them - cute, huh?

We visited Musée de l'Armée as well and of course I had to have a photo taken inside one of the children's photo stops. I mean, who could resist this?

We also visited the Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique and saw so much beautiful art. This particular piece was part of a series of many such sculptures by a Mexican artist called Javier Marin. I really loved his sculptures, they reminded me of Body World for some reason. Does anyone else see the resemblance?

When one goes to Brussels, one has to see Mannekin Pis. He is the symbol of the city and someone even dresses him up in seasonal outfits. He unfortunately wasn't dressed up when I went to see him, but here he is in all his pissing glory!

The only logical thing to do after seeing Mannekin Pis is to go have some chips and Manneken Frites! As you can tell by the illustration on the window it was inspired by the statue Mannekin Pis. 

Here were the frites with ketchup that I got at Manneken Frites. They were lovely and even came with a cute little plastic fork!

I bought this Sojade soya yoghurt at a health food shop when Heidi and I got lost on the way back from Mannekin Pis. I had this in London and thought that it was incredibly tasty and creamy. I really liked it and was so glad to have the chance to blog about it when I bought some and remembered to photograph it. 

Here's what it looked like on the inside. Yummy, right?

Well, that's all for Europe. The rest of my posts will be of the American Vegan in America...imagine that. I plan to be back to London in the spring for a little holiday to visit some missed friends and food. I can't wait to tell you what I've been eating since I've been home!