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| This is really only 1/3 the size of the room! |
Brussels
After a fantastic hotel breakfast--thanks again, Kim, for using those points!, we went for a tour of the nearby European Union Parliament building. For a free tour it was pretty good, but sadly, we didn't get to see anyone at work. Next, we walked to Place du Grand Sablon, which is filled with chocolate shops. We wandered from shop to shop admiring all the pretty chocolates, but finally decided to buy our goodies at Leondias because it was the most reasonable (and so good!) |  |
I split ways with Kim and Shannon for a bit to meet up with my friend/distant relative from Norway, Line, that lives in Brussels now. Line's grandma and my grandma are related, and when we were in grade school, they set us up to be penpals (awww, cute, I know!). We wrote to each other through about jr. high, including some phone calls, but we had never actually met each other until this lunch! She works at the EU, so I had lunch with her for an hour. Not only does she speak fluent Norwegian and English, but her French is comparable to mine. I really feel like kids who grow up in Europe are at an advantage in becoming multi-lingual!
After lunch, I met up with Kim and Shannon again (not having cell phone service really makes you wonder how people traveled anywhere without them before!) and we wandered the Grand Palace and more chocolate shops before visiting Manneken Pis. He's much smaller than I imagined...(yeah, yeah, bring on the jokes...), but the tourists still flocked to him! We decided to end our day with Belgian beers & waffles....warning: Belgian beers are STRONG! Drinking 1 is like 2 regular beers, but it is delicious!
Summary:
Would I go back? No, probably not. I'm glad I can say I've been there, but really there's not much to see other than the Grand Palace and chocolate and beer
Must-see/do's: Grand Palace, Manneken Pis (if you're there, you might as well), buy chocolate, drink a Belgian beer
Tips: 1 day is plenty in Brussels. I think Kim and Shannon may have liked it better than I did, but I would prefer to go to the some of the smaller villages in Belgium than Brussels. You can still get chocolate and beer there too!
The next day was the only day of rain our entire trip, but we still managed to make the most of the day. We took a canal boat tour and did some shopping, and of course ate some chocolate and frites! Late in the afternoon we boarded the train back to Paris for one last weekend before Kim and Shannon had to go back to the U.S.
Summary:
Would I go back? Yes! This isn't a place you can spend forever at, but I'd love to go back and explore more of the outer city, and bike to some of the nearby towns.
Must-see/do's: Belfry, canal tour, just walk around and explore all the cute alleys!
Tips: Stay at Hotel Fevery. Seriously, it's not often I'm so in love with a hotel. The owners are super friendly, there's free tea and breakfast, and it's a good value. It's also about a 10 min. walk from the main square, which means it's super quiet and relaxing. Just enjoy the town...for me, it's nice just to have a relaxing vacation sometimes! :)
Just one last picture, mostly because I want to see another one. But be sure to see all the Brussels and Bruges pictures here.
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| Kim & I at the Grand Palace |
After lunch, I met up with Kim and Shannon again (not having cell phone service really makes you wonder how people traveled anywhere without them before!) and we wandered the Grand Palace and more chocolate shops before visiting Manneken Pis. He's much smaller than I imagined...(yeah, yeah, bring on the jokes...), but the tourists still flocked to him! We decided to end our day with Belgian beers & waffles....warning: Belgian beers are STRONG! Drinking 1 is like 2 regular beers, but it is delicious!Summary:
Would I go back? No, probably not. I'm glad I can say I've been there, but really there's not much to see other than the Grand Palace and chocolate and beer
Must-see/do's: Grand Palace, Manneken Pis (if you're there, you might as well), buy chocolate, drink a Belgian beer
Tips: 1 day is plenty in Brussels. I think Kim and Shannon may have liked it better than I did, but I would prefer to go to the some of the smaller villages in Belgium than Brussels. You can still get chocolate and beer there too!
Bruges
Thursday evening we boarded the train to Bruges...note: if you travel on the Thalys train, I wouldn't recommend buying the 6 euros add-on that allows you to travel to any other Belgian station. It seems like a good deal, but after multiple conversations in French and English and getting mixed answers, we were a little nervous that they'd check tickets, think our ticket wasn't valid, start yelling at us in Flemish, and give us a big fine. Luckily, it was rush hour, so no one checked tickets!
We arrived in Bruges to some breath-taking sights...it had been a beautiful warm day and the sun was just starting to set. Our hotel, which was FANTASTIC and I highly recommend (Hotel Fevery), filled us in on all the must-sees and we ate dinner in the main square where the bell tower is. Our cab driver made sure to tell us that just because they jumped off the Belfry in the movie In Bruges, we should definitely not do that, if we climbed it!
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| Awesome, cute cafe |
The next day was the only day of rain our entire trip, but we still managed to make the most of the day. We took a canal boat tour and did some shopping, and of course ate some chocolate and frites! Late in the afternoon we boarded the train back to Paris for one last weekend before Kim and Shannon had to go back to the U.S.Summary:
Would I go back? Yes! This isn't a place you can spend forever at, but I'd love to go back and explore more of the outer city, and bike to some of the nearby towns.
Must-see/do's: Belfry, canal tour, just walk around and explore all the cute alleys!
Tips: Stay at Hotel Fevery. Seriously, it's not often I'm so in love with a hotel. The owners are super friendly, there's free tea and breakfast, and it's a good value. It's also about a 10 min. walk from the main square, which means it's super quiet and relaxing. Just enjoy the town...for me, it's nice just to have a relaxing vacation sometimes! :)
Just one last picture, mostly because I want to see another one. But be sure to see all the Brussels and Bruges pictures here.
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