I've been to the Belgishes Quartier (made that up, the Belgianised name I mean, not the place. The place exists. Really) twice before, but both times at night so can't say I was able to see much in order to give a comprehensive description of the area. So I set out wearing too many layers far too early in the year and battled my way against the gusty, blustery wind from Rudlofplatz to Brüsseler Platz where I stumbled upon a group of kids putting on a performance in front of a church for some sort of fete. As is evident from the name of the Quarter, this is where the Belgians decided to settle when they moved to Germany, lending a Belgian air to the place with their Belgian shops, cafes and restaurants. Could it get anymore Belgian? There are also many indie boutiques lining the narrow streets branching off from Brüsseler Platz. I suppose the most notable thing about the area is that the buildings have more decorative features compared with the usual bland and boxy buildings I've grown accustomed to here. A possible Belgian influence? Anyway, I wandered around a bit more, found a street with Asian restaurants (Chinese, Japanese and Thai mainly) and through a series of random and impulsive choices of streets to explore, somehow managed to return to my starting point of Rudolfplatz.
From Rudolfplatz, I decided to skip the usual route of heading straight down to Neumarkt and took a left turn somewhere very early on. It was the best impulsive decision I've made in a long time. I found a cafe called Royal Cupcakes (it was shut) that I'm going to take Saj to when she comes. A chocolate cafe called Hernando Chocolates (I think) that was also shut. Well basically it looked like it just sold chocolate related stuff when it was open. And a street called St. Apern Strasse lined with galleries. Just galleries, and more galleries and more galleries. And a glasshouse looking building with even more galleries.
I'm definitely coming back next weekend. It was the greatest discovery I've made since I moved here. Or so I thought, until I stumbled upon this most lovely open-spaced, high-ceilinged bustling cafe/restaurant/bakery called Bastian's Baecker, which also had a cosy little alcove and an outside seating area at the back in their garden. They had the most refreshing mint tea, mainly because it was made with what looked like half a mint plant. And their cherry tomato-onion-omelette with fresh salad came in the regulation jumbo sized portion that I'm still not used to but happily ate. Sated and happy and after spending more than an hour marvelling at how beautiful and cute the three children on the opposite table were and trying to deduce the ethnic origin of their parents, who looked distinctly Latin American , I left. But not before I bought some stuff from their bakery for "tomorrow". I'm proud of my forward planning because that was THE best bread roll I've had since I came here. It was amazing. It was fluffy on the inside and firm on the outside. It had just the right amout of pumpkin and sunflower seeds without it feeling like biting into a trail mix. It had the right level of saltiness-sweetness. And clearly my enthusiasm in bread is slightly abnormal. But you try eating nutella on stodge and telling yourself each time you buy a different type of bread that it'll be different this time... As I have also lost the art of self-control, I don't know what I'll be eating for breakfast tomorrow. But I know where I'll be going next weekend.This place is carb overload central. I may need to join a gym so that I can maintain this habit....
