Break In Brussels

We always tend to take a vacation in June/July. Its our anniversary month, summer vacation and just mid year to take a break from routine.

We set off to go to India like last year, and on our way we stopped at Brussels. 

During my research on Brussels, I read:

"Brussels, the capital of Europe, is the most boring city on the continent, despite its renown for its waffles, chocolates, and comic books, according to a survey of international travellers published on Wednesday (12 March).Mar 17, 2008"

Brussels boring??? not one bit! At the end of the day in Brussels before hitting the bed at night my kid said "This was the longest FUN day ever". Well that sums up Brussels for us. 

Brussels Airport - Immigration was really slow at the airport and unorganized. Welcome to Brussels at the airport was not so good. Be prepared for long, slow-moving unorganized queue. Keep some water and snacks for the kids handy. 

There are trains at the airport that take you to Brussels Central and Midi however we decided to take the taxi and get a glimpse of the city. We converted some dollars to euros and were ready to leave the airport.We had a booking at Hotel Manos Stephanie about 12kms from the airport. We paid around EUR 45 for the taxi ride.

After checking in and getting ready, no one wanted to sleep. We all had rested the whole night in the plane and were excited to explore Brussels. We took out our stroller and decided to explore. Jay slept off while we decided to walk to Grand Place. First stop - Famous Belgium waffle for Rishi. He bought his own waffle from the truck and he then walked, skipped and jumped. It was a beautiful long walk and there was live music playing at few spots. 

Grand Place

This is a Unesco World Heritage Site.This place has so much energy! It is majestic and really grand. I would say one of the best squares I have visited. During our time we spent here, we ate chocolate dipped strawberries from Godiva, got some sample chocolates, saw a performance by locals, clicked pictures and interacted with local performers, wrote 'I love you in Hindi' on an umbrella for a bride-to-be and got blessed by 2 monks from Thailand. This place made all of us happy! Local performers told us that we must visit Manneken Pis, a 5 minutes walk from Grand Place.

Next destination -  The famous Manneken Pis

My kid couldn't wait to go see a boy statue piss. He was giggling all the way and whispering piss in my ears!! It was a 5 minutes walk but One Direction was playing that weekend and the crowd had gathered to see them walk into their hotel room. We had seen their show in Hollywood, FL (R's first concert) so we were more interested in Brussels. We stopped at another famous waffle place for a strawberry whipped cream chocolate waffle. My kid was in love with Brussels already.

At Mannekin piss.. the tiny 2 feet statue was doing his job. Made my kid very very cheerful to see so many people gathered to see a statue boy do pee-pee. Made hubby and me happy since he was pissing free beer that was being served. On special occasions the fountain is attached to a beer Keg and Manneken Pis pisses beer, which is served to onlookers. We had our chilled beer and it was a good end to a wonderful afternoon.

We took a taxi, went back to our hotel room and slept for a few hours.

Got up and took the metro to our next stop - Atomium. The metro was filled with people going for the concert of One Direction. 

Atomium is walking distance from the metro station. This is a weird looking monument modeled on an iron atom with 9 metal spheres. R said it looked like planets except that it is not in color. There is Mini Europe right there too. We could hear wild applause and music of One Direction, so free music while touring the place was an icing on the cake :)

We took the metro back to crash for the night. Sunset happens only around 10PM so it really felt like a long fun day.  So, we ate dinner and crashed. Looking forward to our next day adventures!!

Few places we skipped this trip but will go to next time - Delirium Cafe, Bombay Cafe Indian Restaurant. Day trips to Antwerp and Brugges. 

Coming up next  - Paris !! A surprise for Rishi

Washington State - Olympic National Park

“Travel is like love, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” –  Pico Iyer 

Nodding our agreement to Pico Iyer's quote, we headed to the fascinating Olympic National Park

The drive to Port Angeles from Seattle was about 3 hours and 15 minutes. We drove leisurely stopping on the way at scenic spots and at Tacoma for some Indian lunch.


We stopped to look around the scenic port in beautiful Port Angeles. We continued our drive towards Granny's Inn. This quaint motel nestled in the woods is about 10 minutes away from Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. They have a restaurant that serves home-style delicious food with generous portions, fresh produce and reasonable prices. Children can also enjoy a small farm. Their website is http://grannyscafe.net/  and we do highly recommend this place for their restaurant and stay.

Tasty scrambled eggs with buttery rye bread and potatoes

Delicious french toast

Bear shaped pancake for Rishi

Olympic National Park: This NP is renowned for the diversity of its ecosystems, ranging from Majestic mountain vistas, Glacier clad peaks, clear blue lakes, green forests, magnificent rain forest, spectacular rugged pacific shores, Hot springs. Suffice to say, we saw the pure magic of nature in every spot we visited.

Lake Crescent
This was about 10 minutes drive from our hotel. I had never seen such a brilliant blue lake with exceptional clarity. The lake is blue due to lack of nitrogen in the water which inhibits the growth of algae. The lake was formed when glaciers carved out deep valleys during the last Ice Age.We visited this lake multiple times during our stay. This lake has a lot of hiking spots, a beautiful lodge with pristine views of Lake Crescent, a restaurant inside the lodge, a gift shop and kayaks and canoes for rent. 

My boys indubitably wanted to canoe and this made their day and their trip. Canoeing in blue lake with views of mountains and greenery was just perfect.

“Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.” – Frank Herbert 

Fish eye lens view of Lake Crescent

That is the Lake Crescent Lodge in front.

Hiking in Lake Crescent. We did a small trail towards Marymere Falls. It was a very easy walk in the forest decked with huge trees covered with moss. The last part of the hike had a steep climb but overall, it was an easy 1.5 mile walk.

Rishi the photographer clicked some cute pics of his parents

A walk in the forest

Rialto Beach
Rialto Beach is number 2 attraction in Olympic National Park as per Tripadvisor. This was about an hour drive from Lake Crescent. Sol Duc hot springs area is before Rialto Beach. However we decided to see the Pacific shore before checking out Sol Duc Hot Springs. 

We are from Florida and we have seen a lot of beaches, from the fantastic Florida Keys,Atlantic ocean,Gulf of Mexico to the exotic and  beaches of India in Kerala,Goa,Tamil Nadu, and 'aamchi' Maharashtra and I can say that this beach had so much drama. The rugged beauty of this beach is stunning. The rock formations in the ocean, the little pebbles, the driftwood trees, the loud crashing of the waves along with the blue waters of the pacific gave this beach a uniqueness seldom seen and experienced at beaches.





We soaked our feet in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, then sat and stared at the vastness that was in front of us. 

We had lunch picnic at the beach and then went on wards towards Sol Duc Hot Springs. 

Sol Duc Hot Springs

We had to pay an entrance fee to enter this area of the National Park. This fee would cover Hurricane Ridge as well which was next on our list. We collected the Junior Ranger Booklet here for Rishi to complete. There is a cabin and a hot mineral spring pool. There are some popular hikes that start from here and that is another reason that this spot is famous.

Hurricane Ridge 

We had to drive via the beautiful city of Port Angeles to go to Hurricane Ridge. We stopped at the visitors center in Port Angeles to get some information and to get Rishi's second Junior Ranger badge. 

The 17 mile long road to Hurricane Ridge from visitors center in Port Angeles, is uphill and winding and has some of the best view points. We stopped to see some lovely views of the Strait of San Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island.

Road leading up to Hurricane Ridge (Olympic National Park). This is the only picture in the blog that I got from google and is not from my collection. I had to post a picture of the wonderful drive that lead us into the spectacular Hurricane Ridge.

Photo credit: Alaskan Dude / Foter / CC BY

When we drove up to the elevation of 5,242 feet, there is parking and Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center. As we sat down to have lunch at the visitors center with the view of Mount Olympus and the Lillian Range in front of us, the clouds were temperamental and changing by the minute. It was like a blank white canvas for a minute and the next minute it had the best painting of the great mountains. After a tour and lunch at the Visitors Center, we wanted to attempt the easy 2 hikes that are recommended by everyone -

Hurricane Hill and Hurricane Ridge Meadow.

The clouds were passing us by and we found it exhilarating to walk in the clouds. 

We were heading towards Seattle for our next set of adventures -  

Sleep(less) in Seattle..