Here’s a story I’ve been forgetting to write about, my trip
to Brussels! As I said in my last ‘Saturday Away’ post, one of my flat mates and
I have been coming to the realization that we’re going to be leaving soon. So
the answer to this problem is to get the most out of our remaining time as
possible. To solve this we planned a few trips to keep the excitement flowing
and to see more and more of Europe. For this day trip we decided to make a trip
to Brussels, Belgium.
We had to get up earlier this time because the trip to
Belgium was about 3 hours. So we figured to get to most bang for our buck, we
should get up early and head out as soon as possible. So after a quick run to
the train station, we were off. The train to Belgium was so comfortable, which
was great because all we wanted to do was sleep the whole way there. That plan
worked like a charm and soon enough we were making our way out of the train
station and onto the street.
The first thing we saw when we began our walk was a huge
church, and as you may or may not remember my flat mate loves churches, so off
we went. It was so lovely, and it was a nice way to start the day. As we walked
around the front an older couple asked us to take their picture, and we ran
into a bit of a language standoff. First the woman asked us Spanish, then my
flat mate answered in English, I responded in Spanish, and her husband thanked
us in French. So many languages, so little time.
Our strategy for this trip was to just wander and see what
we found (though we did have a list of popular places at our disposal). The
city was so stunning, it really was a beautiful place. As you probably already
know, Belgium is famous for its chocolate, so both of us were bound and
determined to get chocolates for our families, and get some waffles. We were
told to go to one area to buy chocolates, and on our search we found a cool
place that sold all kinds of chocolates. As we continued walking, we realized
that the place we found before was the right place and we were on a bit of a
wild goose chase. It was alright though because we found a thrift store that
was selling clothes based on their weight. That would have been so cool, but it
was mostly jean jackets, acid washed jeans, and 90’s windbreakers. Sadly, I
wasn’t going to be able to pull any of those things off. Also on our journey we met a guy who'd been to Wisconsin and knew the Green Bay Packers, now that's what I'm talking about!
And don't you go thinking we didn't get those waffles. We actually ended up getting waffles twice that day, at a fancy place, and at a street shop that was recommended to us. Both were great, but the street shop was the best place ever. But I ended up accidentally dropping that waffles on my shirt. So there I stood with a hand covered in chocolate and my shirt covered in chocolate, gah! Luckily though I had a tank top underneath...which I spilled on as well. But ah-ha! I had a scarf in my purse, problem solved.
My flat mate and I traveled all over the city visiting all
kinds of tourist attractions, from Manneken Pis (I’m not sure why everyone
loves it, but you have to go see it, you just have to) to the Atomium. We spent
our last moments in the Square Royal listening to the jazz festival. On the train ride home, we even met some Americans who were traveling around to see WWII memorials. It wasn’t
until we got home that we were told we committed a deadly sin by not trying
Belgian beer, but I guess that’s just one more reason to go back.
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