The Land of Chocolate: A Walking Chocolate Shop Tour of Brussels.

Although it was ultimately serendipity that brought me to Brussels, one of the main things I planned on doing while there was eating as much of that famous Belgian chocolate as possible. This was a daunting task, as I wanted to be sure to really get the good stuff – the stuff made by famous chocolatiers – not the touristy “chain” chocolate shops where the chocolates are mass-produced in some factory somewhere, possibly not even within the country itself. I started researching “best chocolate shops in Brussels” and did actually get some helpful and informative search results. As with the Paris Patisserie Tour, I wound up taking the shops that appeared over an over again as “the best” along with the shops that sounded like the most fun or unique, and put together a comprehensive walking tour of 10 of Brussels finest specimens of chocolate shop. A big thanks to Google Maps for making the route-planning so darn easy.

simply the best.

And while I maintain my belief that there’s no such thing as bad chocolate (unless you count year-old fuzzy chocolate like the piece I found mixed in with my Christmas decorations), my taste buds have been forever altered by the silky smooth deliciousness of authentic Belgian chocolate, and I am deeply saddened that I do not have a suitable replacement back home in the states. I will never look at Hershey’s the same again.

Anyway, the next few posts will relay the tour details in-depth, one stop at a time. So stick around, and let me be your chocolate-y tour guide as we stroll the streets of the land of chocolate, indulging in the best freakin’ chocolate I’ve ever eaten and probably ever will.

they’re real, and they’re spectacular.