Since we don't speak the language, it's been very frustrating trying to interact with Mai's friends and people around town, so we've taken it upon ourselves to try and experience as much as possible - hands on - in an attempt to overcome the language barrier.
On Thursday night, Mai took us to get a Belgian sandwich and fries called mitraillet, which in French means machine gun, but in Belgium it refers to a special kind of sandwich that served with frites or fries.
Going to the shop was a treat and I'm glad Mai was with us because she helped translate the many choices that we had not only for sandwich fillings but also for sauces for our fries. There must have been about 20 different sauces ranging from Brazilian (spicy) to Ketchup-Curry and Sweet and Sour. Sandwich fillings ranged from lamb to chicken to breaded cutlet to meatballs! Our meal was so delicious and I have absolutely no idea why there aren't any of these shops in the US (I believe there's one in Seattle and one in NYC).
On Friday, we borrowed Mai's car and drove about an hour and a half to the beautiful city of Brugge (Bruges in French). With a population of just over 100,000, Brugge is a filled with old buildings and a canal system that reminded me of Amsterdam (just smaller and prettier). It was interesting seeing the change from French speaking Belgium to Flemish (Dutch) speaking Belgium and how the people in Brugge spoke French, Flemish and English (compared to the French-only speakers in the Walloon region of Belgium. For more information, check out wikipedia's entry on Belgium.
I drove from Mons to Brugge and Gavin drove back and we were both a bit scared in the beginning since Belgian traffic signs are very different from what we are used to. After a quick lesson in Belgian driving (really, what would we do without the internet?) and a stop at the gas station, we were ready to hit the road!
For more pictures, click on my Picasa Web Album link at the bottom of the page.
We totally pigged out on frites and Belgian sandwiches called mitraillet.
Brugge.
53 Euros later, we have a filled gas-tank! (The car is tiny, too!)
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