The art and science of cooking, part 2

As promised earlier, here is part 2 to the food series, being posted slightly later than I had intended, but better late than never! I’ll skip the introduction since it has already been presented in part 1, so without further ado, let’s get to the goodies.

Did someone say sushi? Yes indeed! I made sushi for my friend Cindy’s birthday party last month and mmmmmm, it was worth every bit of effort. Certainly, sushi is one of those things that takes a lot of preparatory work but is also a lot of fun to make in the process. I had five main ingredients as the fillings: raw salmon, shrimp (with mayonnaise), cucumber, avocado, and crab sticks. For each maki roll (I tried to make nigiri sushi but failed miserably) I mixed and matched random ingredients and out came our delicious Japanese favourite!

Mussels in Brussels

The plan of “one different city per weekend” is working out so far, and only so because Brussels is such a convenient hub of transportation with easy access to many cities. To get to Brussels from Louvain-la-Neuve only takes about 45 minutes by train, and once you get there, the entire Europe is yours to discover.

Before going any further, I decided I should explore Brussels itself, the capital city of the country I currently reside in, and the capital of the European Union, by default. It was rather long overdue. Brussels has been calling for me ever since I stepped into Belgium, as if saying, “Hey, I’m right here.” So on Saturday, I set out for a first day trip in Brussels. It’s a big city, alright, but I figured I can always make short trips back if I feel like getting to know the place better.

Moreover, the weather this weekend couldn’t be any more perfect. It was raining on Friday and it was predicted to rain again on Sunday (and it did), but on Saturday, it was a glorious 21 degrees Celsius, with a gentle breeze that hinted the presence of spring. There was almost no reason NOT to go somewhere.

A weekend return ticket bought on the internet costs 5.60 Euros. With the Louvain-la-Neuve train station situated 7 minutes from my house by walking, I set out at 9:45 in the morning for the 10 o’clock train, arriving at Bruxelles-Midi station at around 11:50. I would start my itinerary there, after picking up my Eurostar tickets for London in May.

The first point of interest is, of course, the number one destination in Brussels, the Grand Place. I promptly purchased a metro day pass for 4.50 Euros and found my way to Central Station, where the Grand Place is located, and my search began.

This is the first thing I saw when I exited Central Station, a gigantic purple bunny. I doubt this has anything explicitly to do with Brussels, but at least it reminds us, Easter is coming in three weeks!