Brussels, Belgium

Saturday morning, I met two friends bright and early to take the tube to the train station. We had seats a crowded 2-hour train to Brussels. Luckily we booked a few weeks ago, because the train station was mobbed with people trying to get across the Chunnel around the ban (still in place) on flying.

Patrick, Chelsea, and I arrived in Brussels around 11AM, due to the time difference, and started off walking into town. Brussels is a city in Belgium, and we had a beautiful sunny, although slightly chilly, day to explore. It was really cute and very walk-able city, and kind of reminded me of Dublin in that way.

We grabbed a map with the main tourist sights, and started off seeing the famous statue, Manneken Pis, of a naked little boy peeing into a fountain. It is frequently dressed up in little donated costumes, and Saturday was no exception it was some type of solider.

Next we saw the Palace of Justice, which was huge and is where many laws in Brussels are passed.

We also saw the Brussels Cathedral, which we toured and was very pretty. It reminded me of Notre Dame.

Brussels Palace, which, liking Buckingham Palace, usually cannot be toured.

The sunny weather made the gardens and parks gorgeous and inviting.

The chocolates are just as amazing as people claim, and the different forms were very cool to see.

We stopped and had Belgium waffles with cool whipped cream and strawberries, drizzled with warm chocolate. They were delicious, and probably my favorite thing in Brussels.

We also visited Delirium, a bar that stocks and sells the most beers in the world, over 2000. I had a Belgium Passion Fruit white beer, which was yummy.

Fruity beers are very popular over here, I have also tried a strawberry and cherry version. The menu was huge! We just asked the bar tender for recommendations.

After walking all day, we enjoyed a leisurely hour sipping Belgium hot chocolate (amazing) and people watching at a small café, one of my favorite things to do in a new city. We caught a train back around 8PM to arrive back in our dorms (due to the time difference) by 10PM.

I’ve discovered I really enjoy day trips. They can be long, and the intense amount of travel can be tiring, but I love knowing at the end of the day I can settle into a familiar bed and wake up in a comfortable city the next morning.

Patrick and Chelsea have completed a few trips with me, and I have to say we are the ideal travel group. I think 3-4 people is perfect, small enough to stay together, large enough you do not tire of speaking with one person, constantly. We are all easy going, but decisive when it comes to choosing activities and what to see. Even if a delayed train frustrates us, I’d say we succeed at not taking it out on each other. That cannot be over-rated when figuring out who to take exploring, finding people with a travel style and attitude similar enough to you for ease, different enough to challenge you to try new things and step out of your comfort zone.