Broer Bretel

On my last visit to Antwerp, I visited this cafe whose owners are four brothers who sure understand how to make tasty and good looking drinks. The place is cozy, service is fast and I had the chance of sitting at the counter and seeing two of the brothers preparing everything in full speed!

Milk hot chocolate and Maltesers hot chocolate on the making

Black Momma hot chocolate

They are specialized in all types of coffee, hot chocolate, tea (iced or hot) and sodas... and you also have cake to go along with your drinks, if you feel like it. Prices are quite good for size and quality and you can check the full menu here. If you happen to be in Antwerp, pay them a visit and enjoy a good relaxing moment with a high quality drink.

Broer Bretel

Nassaustraat 7, Antwerpen

+ 32 484 15 82 96
contact@broerbretel.be

http://www.broerbretel.be/

Royal Greenhouses of Laeken

Every year, the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken open their doors to the public for 3 weeks only. You can visit them for just 2,50€ and I assure you it is worth the visit. I was there last weekend and happily strolled along the corridors full of flowers, making a stop in the middle to see the magnificent view of the lake and the Japanese tower. It was a bit crowded, but that doesn't make a difference when enjoying the views, as there is many space around. Count with 1h to do the whole visit!

You still have the chance to visit them until next Sunday! Otherwise you'll have to wait until 2014.

The tricky question

One of the first questions everyone you meet abroad will ask you is, of course, where are you from. It seems like an obvious one, but for people who have been moving around a bit in their 25 years of existence (me!), it may actually be a tricky one.

The first answer I give is, obviously, Portugal. But then some people don't seem to be satisfied enough with the country reference and get more detailed by asking oh yeah, but from which city? And that's when I feel like no one-word answer I can give them will be true enough. Here's why:

• I was born in Braga (north of the country)
• When I was 8 I moved with my parents to Coimbra (center of the country)
• Where I lived until the age of 21, then I moved to Barcelona for Erasmus
• After one year there, I returned to Coimbra and lived there for one more year
• Then I moved to Oporto, where I lived for another year
• After which I moved to Lisbon, where I lived for 1 year and a half
• And then I came to Brussels

So, the final balance is: 6 cities, 3 countries. And in all of them I felt at home. So it is a bit difficult for me to define where I am from, as the sense of belonging is present in all of them.

As telling this whole story would be a bit too much for people you have just met and are expecting a simple answer to their (apparently) simple question, I usually answer Coimbra (as it was the city where I lived most of my life and where my parents still live). But I always get this feeling like I am hiding something from the person with my so blatant answer. I like it, though, that adaptation was so easy everywhere I have been to (in short and long travelings through Europe as well) and that there is more than one place that I can call home.

'T Bolleke

'T Bolleke is a Belgian restaurant conviniently located in the European Quarter and open on weekdays for lunch only. Managed by Florence and Thibault, a nice young Belgian couple, this is a cozy place where you can make a stop in your day of work and enjoy some very nice food.

Their specialties are the meat balls and the hamburguers, but they have other traditional Belgian dishes like the croquettes and croque monsieur. Everyday there's also a daily dish, which, in our case, was the Samba Burger, which we gladly ordered:

Bun légermeent toasté, vande "blanc bleu belge" juteuse, cheddar juste bien fondu, oignions grillés, salade et sauce Brazil avec frites mayo-maison

It was delicious! And these sauces are great too.

For dessert: tarte tatin with vanilla ice-cream

Other guests were eating the famous boulettes (meatballs) with tomato sauce:

These were the daily dishes on the week we went there

So, if you're looking for some tasty food at affordable prices, not too far away from your place of work (if you work in the center) and award yourself some minutes of relaxation, this is the place! Their delicious food will certainly warm up your tummy for the rest of the day.

'T Bolleke

Rue de la croix de fer, 40-42 / 1000 Bruxelles

02 217 47 12

resto@tbolleke.be

http://www.tbolleke.be/

Joining

Joining is a project whose concept relies on the idea that anyone can join and plan social activities to meet new people. If you are an expat and you are searching for like minded people to do activities you used to do back home, give it a try and join someone. But if you are a local, and you want to find other people for the cinema, or the museum, just post your activity and have people joining you! These are their main features:

This is an on-line social start-up, currently present in the Netherlands and Belgium, free of charge for its users, whose Business Developer I became acquainted to because of this article. It seemed like a great idea to me: to have a place online where people can join different activities they are into, while meeting other people with the same interests (not so fun to do cool things just by ourselves, hein? I believe the whole thing about "happiness is only real when shared" is quite true!). So, start to explore the offers in Brussels or all around Belgium and join someone's activity! So many things are going on here that staying at home is a waste.

L'Entrepot du Congo

In the last weekend of April I have been to Antwerp, as I have some friends from my Erasmus year living there. I had been to the city two times before moving to Brussels, so I was already familiar with its major attractions. This way now I can go just to spend a nice day with my friends and enjoying the city from a non-touristical point of view. That is what led me to have lunch in L'Entrepot du Congo, a great Belgian restaurant decorated in an old colonies' style.

The menu is conviniently placed as the "cloth" for each table (and you can also see it here)

This is what we ate:

Steak with chips and sauce bearnaise and "De Koninck" beer

Gambas

 

Capuccino

Pancake with berries' marmelade

The restaurant also has a room in the upper floor to host groups.

I really loved the place with its antique atmosphere and the food was marvellous. The steak was very tasty (you could order it medium or raw cooked) and the gambas as well. All sauces tasted really good and natural (coming from the food itself!), you could really feel the food's taste (which is something I kind of miss in Belgium compared to Portugal, as here a lot of food is dipped in these pre-prepared sauces full of additives, so you loose the food's taste in them.... not the case here!). I highly recommend you to pass by there if you go to Antwerp (which you should, as it is a gorgeous town and only 40 minutes away from Brussels by train!). You can also go there for just a drink, as they work as a cafe as well.

L’Entrepôt du Congo
Vlaamse Kaai 42
2000 Antwerpen

+32 475 528 215

info@entrepotducongo.com

P3

Yesterday I was featured in P3, the digital supplement of our daily newspaper Público, about this website and my coming to Brussels to do this traineeship. You can read it here.

The beach

Today I took advantage of the good weather and the holiday and decided to take my chance at the Belgian beaches. I went by train to Duinbergen (direct trains from Brussels every hour, journey takes 1h30) and checked the beach there. First impression: it is great! Not too different from the Portuguese beaches. I confess I was a little surprised because I expected it to be somehow different, but it is actually quite similar. Even the town itself reminded me of other Portuguese coastal towns. 

We then rented a bike (there's plenty of bike shops along the main avenue which rent not only bikes, but also go cars) and first went north to Knokke and then south to Heist. I liked Knokke better: lots of people walking near the sea, several private beaches, cafes, restaurants, lots of movement and a general mood of enjoying the sunny day. You have a bike lane along the beach that leads you to a natural park (right in the border between Belgium and The Netherlands!), where you can walk or ride a horse. Lots of people there as well with their caravans enjoying their lunch.

It was a great daytrip to do from Brussels and a place I really recommend to take a stroll in a good weather day, specially to get out of the busy city life and enjoy the fresh air with the outdoor activities. I would love to be able to swim in the North Sea, so let's hope for some hot weather in July for me to comeback!