Kristin Hillery Photography

Liege Waffles

Kristin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:57:49 +0000

Well, I guess that concludes my waffle research. I’m still going with Liege as my favorite.

Brussels

Kristin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:50:56 +0000

Atomium Brussels

Kristin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:41:12 +0000

If you visit Mini-Europe, you may as well visit the Atomium, a monument built for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair.

View from the top. Can you spot Mini-Europe?

Manneken Pis

Kristin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:40:55 +0000

You may have seen a replica of this little guy in your wacky neighbor’s garden, but here’s the real deal.

Seeing All of Europe in a Day

Kristin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:27:23 +0000

Seeing all of Europe in just one day is possible thanks to… Mini-Europe in Brussels! Todd and I went into Super Tourist Mode 9000 and visited this park, where they have “reproductions of the most attractive monuments in the European Union at a scale of 1:25.”

Grote Markt, Antwerp

Kristin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:03:38 +0000

Grote Markt (the town square) in Antwerp.

No Such Thing as Too Many Waffles

Kristin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:25:12 +0000

Waffles are just one of many tasty treats in Belgium — there’s of course chocolate and a million different beers. But nobody every mentions the fries! There are fry stands everywhere, and you can pick from a few different sauces (my favorite is curry ketchup).

Anyway, back to waffles. There are two different styles: Brussels and Liege. Brussels-style is what you see above — it’s typically served with whipped cream and strawberries, and it’s lightly dusted with powdered sugar. The waffle is rectangular and a bit crispy. You mostly find these served as dessert in restaurants. Street vendors serve Liege waffles, which have uneven edges (they just sort of drop a ball of dough onto the waffle iron and quickly spread it out) and taste a lot like bread with a caramelized exterior. Liege-style waffles are great plain, but you can get them with ice cream on top.

I have a lot more research to do, but for now Liege-style waffles are my favorite.

Antwerp-Central

Kristin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:14:23 +0000

Um, wow. This has to be the most incredible train station in the world.

It’s of course the first thing you see when you arrive by train to Antwerp, and you wonder if everything will be all downhill from there in terms of pretty. Nope! Antwerp is so beautiful. This is the perfect welcome to an amazing city.

Trains on THREE levels inside the station. Whoa (Joey Lawrence voice).

The Royal Palace in Oslo

Kristin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:13:45 +0000

Vigeland Park

Kristin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:46:09 +0000

Oslo’s number-one tourist attraction! Gustav Vigeland created the 212 bronze and granite sculptures in the 80-acre park. The theme of the park is man’s journey from cradle to grave. How deep!

The Monolith totem took three stone carvers 14 years to finish!