Mussels in Brussels
Okay, yeah, so I did have mussels in Brussels, but I also just really liked how that sounded. Gotta love rhymes.
Just as a blanket statement here, my day-to-day work life can be a bit repetitive. Which is totally fine with me, I love a good schedule, but it's not super exciting to update you all on, so I'd rather focus on the exciting travels I go on! I do want to say though, at work I use a German keyboard, which is similar to the US keyboard (but with vowels with umlauts and all), except the y and the z keys are switched, because there are more words with z's in them than with y's. The transition from my work keyboard to my own laptop keyboard is pretty rough. Imagine all the y's I type being z's. Because that's what happens. Every single y.
Anyways! Last weekend I had an awesome trip to Brussels! I took a FlixBus (which is basically the European/German equivalent of a Greyhound) (but way nicer) from the central train station here directly into Brussels. These buses are cheap, convenient (free wifi!), and usually more direct than trains. Speaking of trains, they were NOT on my side when I left Saturday morning. The German train system is often praised for be able to connect the entire country. Which is definitely true, but, these trains are not all they've cracked up to be. First off, they're ALWAYS late. Which usually isn't so terrible, but when you're trying to make your bus to Brussels, can be a bit annoying and stressful. Long story short though, I made it (after literally running to the bus).
I met my friend, Kiara, who I met at the university I studied at here last semester, at the hotel we were staying at and we set off on our adventures. Our first stop was naturally food. We grabbed a quick lunch, and then went to the Parliamentarium, which is a free museum at the EU Parliament. The museum was amazing. Everyone got an audio guide that would sync up with the exhibits and give you blurbs to read, or things to listen to that described how the EU came to be. There were tons of interactive exhibits, and it was really an awesome and educational museum.
We then sat down back in the center of town for some waffles (which were amazing), and decided to walk around the city a bit after. Brussels is known for beer, waffles, chocolate and fries, and I kid you not, every single store was dedicated to one of those four things. Mostly chocolate though, which was awesome. AND every chocolate store gives out free samples, so we went in probably a dozen that night. On our way back to the hotel we grabbed some fries, which were amazing, and decided to call it a night.
On trips I'm not really much of a night owl, as I find that being a tourist is pretty exhausting. I'd much rather go to museums and check out the city, than stay up to all hours of the night at a club or bar. Does that make me a 21 going on 81? Eh, who cares. I was also watching Santa Clarita Diet (10/10 would recommend), so that gave me something nice (lol, it's about zombies) to unwind with.
The next day we got up early because Kiara had a 1 PM flight and grabbed some breakfast at the hotel. Important note: I LOVE BREAKFAST. I don't care how basic it makes me, I could eat brunch all weekend and breakfast for every meal. So I love hotel breakfasts because you can eat until your heart's content.
Afterwards we walked into the city to see Manneken Pis which is one of the biggest tourist sites in Brussels. And also a water fountain where the water comes out of a boy statue as if it's peeing. Mature, Brussels. They also dress it up for each season/holiday, which is apparently a ridiculously long process that involves voting and a dressing ceremony.
After that underwhelming fountain, we went to the Musical Instruments Museum, which I would HIGHLY recommend. Again, everyone gets a headset and audio guide. In front of many exhibits is a number that you key into your guide, and music starts playing that features the instrument in the case. Very, very cool. Especially because many of these instruments are native to certain cultures, very ancient, or just not really seen in modern times.
Kiara went straight from the museum to the airport, and I went straight from the museum to get another waffle (they're so good!!). I then went to get on a City Sightseeing bus. If you've never tried one of these, I would also very highly recommend it. They're those obnoxious red tourist buses, but I find them to be really great because they're relatively cheap, take you to all the sights worth seeing, and give you a brief history of them too! Totally worth it in my mind, and a real time saver when you only have a short amount of time in each place.
I ate a yummy lunch/dinner after a couple rounds on the bus that included mussels and fries, two famous dishes of Brussels, and watched some weird ski jumping something on the TV in the pub. Gotta love being alone with no cell service!
It was nearly time to head back after I ate, so I walked around and shopped a bit more, then went to grab my bags and called an Uber (side note: also have an unnatural love of Uber) to take me to the bus. One more waffle and three hours later I was back home.
Overall an awesome trip, and Brussels is definitely an underrated city in Europe worth seeing. Up next is a one-day whirlwind trip to Amsterdam, so stay tuned for how I hold up for that one.
Just as a blanket statement here, my day-to-day work life can be a bit repetitive. Which is totally fine with me, I love a good schedule, but it's not super exciting to update you all on, so I'd rather focus on the exciting travels I go on! I do want to say though, at work I use a German keyboard, which is similar to the US keyboard (but with vowels with umlauts and all), except the y and the z keys are switched, because there are more words with z's in them than with y's. The transition from my work keyboard to my own laptop keyboard is pretty rough. Imagine all the y's I type being z's. Because that's what happens. Every single y.
Anyways! Last weekend I had an awesome trip to Brussels! I took a FlixBus (which is basically the European/German equivalent of a Greyhound) (but way nicer) from the central train station here directly into Brussels. These buses are cheap, convenient (free wifi!), and usually more direct than trains. Speaking of trains, they were NOT on my side when I left Saturday morning. The German train system is often praised for be able to connect the entire country. Which is definitely true, but, these trains are not all they've cracked up to be. First off, they're ALWAYS late. Which usually isn't so terrible, but when you're trying to make your bus to Brussels, can be a bit annoying and stressful. Long story short though, I made it (after literally running to the bus).
I met my friend, Kiara, who I met at the university I studied at here last semester, at the hotel we were staying at and we set off on our adventures. Our first stop was naturally food. We grabbed a quick lunch, and then went to the Parliamentarium, which is a free museum at the EU Parliament. The museum was amazing. Everyone got an audio guide that would sync up with the exhibits and give you blurbs to read, or things to listen to that described how the EU came to be. There were tons of interactive exhibits, and it was really an awesome and educational museum.
We then sat down back in the center of town for some waffles (which were amazing), and decided to walk around the city a bit after. Brussels is known for beer, waffles, chocolate and fries, and I kid you not, every single store was dedicated to one of those four things. Mostly chocolate though, which was awesome. AND every chocolate store gives out free samples, so we went in probably a dozen that night. On our way back to the hotel we grabbed some fries, which were amazing, and decided to call it a night.
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| The beautiful city center |
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| Fries #1 ft. snap filter |
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| Waffle #1 |
On trips I'm not really much of a night owl, as I find that being a tourist is pretty exhausting. I'd much rather go to museums and check out the city, than stay up to all hours of the night at a club or bar. Does that make me a 21 going on 81? Eh, who cares. I was also watching Santa Clarita Diet (10/10 would recommend), so that gave me something nice (lol, it's about zombies) to unwind with.
The next day we got up early because Kiara had a 1 PM flight and grabbed some breakfast at the hotel. Important note: I LOVE BREAKFAST. I don't care how basic it makes me, I could eat brunch all weekend and breakfast for every meal. So I love hotel breakfasts because you can eat until your heart's content.
Afterwards we walked into the city to see Manneken Pis which is one of the biggest tourist sites in Brussels. And also a water fountain where the water comes out of a boy statue as if it's peeing. Mature, Brussels. They also dress it up for each season/holiday, which is apparently a ridiculously long process that involves voting and a dressing ceremony.
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| In all his glory |
After that underwhelming fountain, we went to the Musical Instruments Museum, which I would HIGHLY recommend. Again, everyone gets a headset and audio guide. In front of many exhibits is a number that you key into your guide, and music starts playing that features the instrument in the case. Very, very cool. Especially because many of these instruments are native to certain cultures, very ancient, or just not really seen in modern times.
Kiara went straight from the museum to the airport, and I went straight from the museum to get another waffle (they're so good!!). I then went to get on a City Sightseeing bus. If you've never tried one of these, I would also very highly recommend it. They're those obnoxious red tourist buses, but I find them to be really great because they're relatively cheap, take you to all the sights worth seeing, and give you a brief history of them too! Totally worth it in my mind, and a real time saver when you only have a short amount of time in each place.
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| Where I obtained waffle #2 |
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| Atomium-- another major sight in Brussels |
I ate a yummy lunch/dinner after a couple rounds on the bus that included mussels and fries, two famous dishes of Brussels, and watched some weird ski jumping something on the TV in the pub. Gotta love being alone with no cell service!
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| My mussels in Brussels! |
It was nearly time to head back after I ate, so I walked around and shopped a bit more, then went to grab my bags and called an Uber (side note: also have an unnatural love of Uber) to take me to the bus. One more waffle and three hours later I was back home.
Overall an awesome trip, and Brussels is definitely an underrated city in Europe worth seeing. Up next is a one-day whirlwind trip to Amsterdam, so stay tuned for how I hold up for that one.
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