Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The Joys of Belgium's Food

One aspect of travel that I want to work harder at is food. No, not the quantity. We eat plenty, that's for sure. I want to focus more on eating at local, one-of-a-kind places, where we can sample the cuisine unique to that country or region. Expand our culinary horizons. And introduce that to our boys.

Doing so with kids isn't always easy. I can usually tell when my two just aren't in the right frame of mind to linger over a slow meal at a nice restaurant. Or try new foods. At times like this, I often give my husband "the look" and off we head to pick up a pizza or takeout or a grocery store. I usually kick myself after for missing an opportunity, but sometimes, it's the only option I feel we can tolerate.

Fortunately, during our long weekend in Belgium, we got to sample lots of local delights, in an atmosphere that was not only manageable with kids, but truly enjoyable.

One of my favorite memories from our trip was watching Little Arrow (2) eat his hot dog and Belgian "frites" with one of the little forks that are the custom there. His chubby little hand grabbed that fork so tight and he concentrated so hard. This is not a child known for impeccable table manners, so I'll never forget it. And it wasn't but a moment before he was dipping the fries in mayo (as one does in Belgium!) instead of his beloved ketchup. So proud.



Big Arrow (4, at the time) could have spent hours staring into the windows of the chocolate shops we passed. Its hard to walk a block in Bruges without seeing one. The fact that it was Easter weekend made the displays even more spectacular.


And you've never seen food disappear faster than the boys' first tastes of Belgian waffles. We had to get more the next day because my husband and I barely got a bite of these.


That's not to say there isn't anything for adults to enjoy in Belgium. Our's was just more of the liquid variety. I recommend finding a big square where the kids can play in your line of sight, and then order up a couple of cold ones and a bucket of mussels.



That's one happy traveling dad.

And of course, there's always the favorite treat of children all over the globe. Ice cream.



Needless to say, we hit the fruits and veggies hard when we got back home.

Heading to Belgium with kids? Check out my Belgium Itinerary and my Bruges City Walk with Kids posts.

This post is a part of Friday Postcards at Walking on Travels.

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