Belgium
Sage and I had discussed going to Belgium several times, but it was always very expensive. Finally, she found a deal online and we were able to go over our long Easter weekend. What better place to celebrate a chocolate holiday than the land where it was perfected? We took the longest overnight bus ever; in fact it ran into the next day. Note: make sure your driver knows where he is going, speaks the language of the country, and tries not to get pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt leaving you stranded in France for 2 hours. Each time I woke up, I was in a different country. I woke up first in London, then France, the Belgium. We might have even wandered into Germany at some point. I don’t even know.
We finally go there and checked into our lovely hotel. Showers with water pressure! What was this novelty? We went to the grocery store and gawked at some funny foods
and got some funny flavored beers, like raspberry.
We spent the next day exploring the city, a bit confusing at first.
But we got some chocolate covered waffles, and took a ton of pictures.
We went out for a drink that night at the Delirium Bar, boasting a bazillion beers on tap (yes, a bazillion).I had a mango beer. We wandered all over the city, and headed back to the hotel before it got dark.
The next day was Easter, and we got free Easter chocolates! And of course ate more waffles.
I was surprised how many people were out and about on a holiday. I’m exactly sure what I was expecting, more people to be at home with their families and going to church? We walked by several churches, but even more chocolate shops, I think the total came out to be around 35 stores.
On our last day, we conquered both the Atomium and every country in the EU in miniature. The Atomium is an impressive piece of architecture, and is cool inside as well. It is a functional space for events and conferences. There is even a section to housing underprivileged youth; giving them a space to live and study. It looks small from the outside, but each ball is a few levels with quite a lot of space. A lot of it is a museum dedicated to modern architecture and the World Fair.
Next we went to Mini Europe, which is exactly as it sounds.
Ok, it’s more like a huge advertisement for the all the countries in the EU. But it was a great way to travel to all the countries I didn’t get to go to. Like Berlin, and the Berlin wall. Can I now say I’ve signed the wall?
We also saw some familiar places. The first is Amy catching me falling off the cliffs of Dover… too soon?
And of course, some sights that I see at least weekly while living in London.
I thought mini europe was a brilliant idea. Admission came with a a detailed booklet of the sights to see in each country, it really inspires people to travel and see new things.
