Bonjour Brussels!

This summer, I visited Belgium for the very first time!​

A few friends from school who have visited the country in the past told me a bit about it before we went, and even recommended places to visit and tasty treats to try while we were there. By the time I was done speaking to them, I was looking forward to going to Belgium even more than I had been before...

​My sister and I decided we'd spend our day in the country's capital - Brussels. Our plan was to get a train there as early in the morning as possible, so as to spend most of the day exploring.

We got to Brussels just after midday and immediately started touring the city on foot. The sun was out, the square was filled with the sound of music, beautiful buildings with intricate details stood on each side of each street, and the streets themselves were filled with people walking from one place to another. Some of them sat in groups at outdoor cafés enjoying a snack or full meals. 

Finally, we settled at the Hard Rock Café for some lunch: seasoned fries with jumbo wings, coated in a smoked dry rub and served with blue cheese, carrot, and celery sticks. We also ordered some fresh juice to wash it all down. A variety of rock music was playing in the background as we enjoyed our meal, and I occasionally looked around to admire all the rock artists' memorabilia hanging in different parts of the café.

​Soon, it was time to head back home. We got an evening train back to the Netherlands and arrived in a couple of hours. Hopefully, our next trip to Belgium will be longer and will allow me to visit more of its cities.

I recorded a short vlog of our trip, but before that, here are my *5 Tips for Planning A Day Trip to Brussels:

1. Book your transport as early as you can so as to ensure that you get an early train in the morning as well as a train that won't get you back home too late. A one-way ticket costs about €20, so you'll need to put aside at least €40+ for your transport. You can book your tickets on this website: https://www.thetrainline.com.
2. Remember to carry a form of identification (passport and/or ID). It will be used to identify you as the rightful owner of the purchased ticket. You will be asked to show your ID once you've boared the train and will not be allowed to travel without it.
3. Aim to get to your destination as early as possible so as to ensure that you have plenty of time to explore the city. You'll want to be able to spend a bit of time in every place you visit instead of rushing from one place to the other out of fear of running out of time.
4. If you would like to see the flower display outside La Grand Place, plan your trip for August. Otherwise, there's still a lot to see and do in Brussels in early summer.
5. Make sure you visit at least one of the shops selling Belgian chocolate. Not only do they have free samples for you to taste but they also sell unique gifts made out of chocolate that you may want to buy for somebody special.😉

Until next time, Brussels, Au revoir! ​😊
​
​- ✗O✗O.

As it was quite warm, we bought ourselves some ice cream to keep us cool. After enjoying it, we made our way to our first stop of the day: La Grand Place. Unfortunately, the big display of flowers that we'd been hoping to see outside La Grand Place only takes place in August, so it wasn't there. Nevertheless, it was nice to visit the famous place where the flower ceremony usually takes place.
Next, we decided to cut through one of the smaller streets and found ourselves surrounded by souvenir shops and little cafés selling the famous Belgian waffle. We also saw the famous Manneken Pis (Little man Pee in English) fountain and made a stop at one of the shops selling chocolate to get a taste of the delicious Belgian chocolate.