!!!Bruxelles!!!

My Friend Jamie and I left for Brussels on Saturday morning really really early! We got their around 9 am and headed to the flat where we were staying. Immediately I loved the city! Brussels, for most American travelers is a bit off the beat and path and maybe thats why I loved it so much, but without a doubt it was amazing. It might even go down in the books as one of my favorite spots in Europe. I don't know exactly what I liked about it so much, but it was a very friendly city and it felt very comfortable despite the language barrier. Saturday morning we arrived at our flat, my friend in Dublin offered us a place to stay there so that we could see the city and it was really nice being in a home rather than a hostel! We tried to walk into the city, not realizing that we were to far too walk, but we hopped on the metro and in minutes we were in the heart of Brussels. Jamie and I went out for lunch and I, of course, had mussels and pomme frites which was absolutely delicious! Jamie also had a belgium dish, basically a hamburger with an egg on top which was also very tasty. We toured around the city center and ended up in the Museum of Music. It was a pretty amazing full of old instruments; however, we didn't learn much because there wasn't anything written in English. After, we did a lot of taste testing, beer being on the top of the list and it was valentines day, so lucky for us, there was free belgium chocolate everywhere, and of course we couldn't come back to Dublin without having a Belgium Waffle... AMAZING!!! The city of Brussels is very small and we nearly covered everything in a day. The streets are narrow with lots of cobbles and it definitely has its own unique vibe. On Sunday we took the train to Bruges. It took us about an hour to get there and I am really glad we went and checked it out. It is a very cool city, although it is a bit more touristy than I would have expected. We had a great lunch there and walked along the streets and to the main plaza, which was pretty spectacular. We got back to Brussels just before dark, did a bit more tasting of Belgium beers and headed back to our flat to make dinner and get some rest before our early flight the next morning. It was a great trip, so nice to have a real place to stay and be in a city that was so friendly. It seemed to me, more of a town than a city and I feel its always worthwhile to experience something a bit off the beat and path!