Gunter

Gunter has never really been a turkey and mashed potatoes kind of guy, so he was happy to escape to Brussels for the Thanksgiving weekend, where amongst other things he could indulge in gaufres, frites and chocolate. He stayed at the Sofitel Brussels Le Louise - he wasn’t too impressed with the service, but it was a beautiful hotel and conveniently located to his friends’ apartment (where he may have spent a drunken evening or two).


Gunter has his priorities in place, so the first thing he did after arriving at the hotel and freshening up was head out to the Place Jourdan for frites at Maison Antoine, which had been recommended by a friend in Washington. He agreed that they were rather tasty, and if you happen to find yourself in Brussels he recommends them, as well as the frites from the Fritkot in the Place Flagey. Of course Gunter always needs some sweet after his salty, so post-frites he greedily indulged in Liege waffles from the waffle trucks that can be found all over the city.


His second day in Belgium Gunter, who is a great fan of Christmas, decided to head to Bruges, which he heard is quite festive during the holiday season. He must admit that he was not impressed with its Christmas market (or the nonstop rain), but the town looked lovely for the holidays, and had an outpost of Käthe Wohlfart, his favorite Christmas shop.


Lest you think Gunter is only about food and shopping, he stopped by the Groeningemuseum, which houses six centuries of Belgian art, for some culture. His favorite works were those by the Flemish primitives and James Ensor. After wandering the town's charming streets for a few hours he headed back to the train station, where before hopping on a train to Brussels he popped into the Ice Age 3 themed Ice Sculpture Festival.


He was most impressed by the ice sculptures, but decided to pass on having a drink at the ice bar. As a penguin he may have a high tolerance for the cold, but he still prefers his cocktails in civilized places.