Traveling Abroad

By Ewa Szyszko

On my first stop of my almost two week long adventure exploring Europe, I visited the country of Belgium. I was excited to visit this country for two main reasons. One, this would be an amazing personal and cultural experience. And two because they are known all around the world for their world famous waffles!

            On my first day in Brussels Belgium, I got to experience my first taste of waffles. My friends aunt, who we were staying with, was kind enough to take us to one of her favorite waffles spots in the heart of the city. This was the moment that I had been waiting for since long before this trip had even been planned. This moment had been very high on my personal bucket list, to eat real authentic Belgian waffles.

            We entered the restaurant and seated ourselves before a waiter came around to drop off some menus for us to peruse. The moment I opened that menu I knew I had come to the right place. In the menu they had two type of waffles offered on their menu. They had the world known Brussels waffle and the Liège waffle (europeancusines, 2013). The time was right, the menu had a wide selection of toppings for my waffle and the price was right. At a whopping price of 8 euros I had struck gold. Looking at the menu and all the listed toppings available for my choosing, it soon became very difficult for me to agree upon. But lucky for me, on the back of the menu there was pictures of combinations the creators of these waffles had made up to help customers like myself decide on something.

            I had decided upon the chocolate, whip cream and strawberry waffle. This would be my first waffle I ate in Belgium and the point where I could cross this event off my bucket list.

            I placed my order along with my friends that I was traveling with. I waited patiently for the moment I would get my waffle. I could smell my waffle before it arrived at the table. Placed in front of me along with my glass of apple juice, was my plate of strawberry, chocolate and whip cream covered waffles. Looking at the amazing food placed before me I could not wait to take my first bite.

            Staring at my waffle I did not know how to attack my food. There was so much chocolate and whipped cream on top of the freshly chopped strawberries. I decided that I would start from the side of the waffle and make my way across. The first bite of my Belgian waffle was amazing! It was better than I had expected. The combination of waffle and chocolate and strawberry and whipped cream to top off the first bite was world changing. I could not believe that for the first twenty years of my life I had not had a waffle as good as I had here in Brussels. I have had waffles back in the states and even here in Heidelberg, but either had come remotely close.

            Being able to travel abroad and have the opportunity to experience foods of different cultures is amazing. Not only had I had the chance to experience a culturally significant dish, I got to check it off my bucket list!

           

Reference

Duane, Diane. Morwood, Peter. 2013. The Owl Springs Partnership.

http://www.europeancuisines.com/Belgium-Belgian-Waffle-Recipes-Liege-   Waffles-Brussels-Waffles