Belgium was an interesting country. It was a filler country but definitely one I knew I was going to hit during this semester. It just so happened that it fell during my fall break, which consisted of 10 days off from classes that I used to travel. For context, I am a counselor at a summer program for teens back home, which has been so fulfilling over the years, getting to meet and support young women. This year, one of the girls I oversaw was an international military kid from Brussels. During this week, I mentioned to the different girls I had that I was going to study abroad in Italy at the end of the summer and my girl from Brussels said if I ever wanted to stay with her to visit Belgium or other nearby cities that I was more than welcome. And I took her up on that offer because who am I, a broke college kid, to turn down a free place to stay in a new country while getting to see one of my girls again. So that was the premise of this trip, was to see one of my girls again, and to explore a new country.
It was nice having a place to stay. It was safe, quiet, comfortable and a perfect middle ground for the two other places we were visiting: Amsterdam and Paris. In her house, we were in a separate guest house which had a room and a bathroom, so it was nice knowing if we came in late or stayed up late, we wouldn’t wake or disturb her family. It was also nice that on a longer trip, I had access to a laundry room so I didn’t have to pack as many clothes and could do a mid-trip wash.Â
During this break, we only spent one full day in Brussels. We spent multiple nights there, but came in too late and left too early to fully count it as time there. So, with one day to spare, we had to make the most of it. And by the most of it, I mean we finally slept in for once and only gave ourselves around 7 hours to explore the city. We started out going to get brunch at this food court that was near a chapel I wanted to see. The food was good but priced like every other European city, so it wasn’t the cheapest. But one thing that I found nice but also anticlimactic about Brussels was that everything was so walkable or easy to get to by public transit. It felt like within 4-5 hours we were able to hit all the spots I wanted to see, eat a good meal, and not get too tired. During these 4-5 hours, we got Belgian waffles and fries, shopped at a market, and saw the Grand Place and other pretty spots in the city center. We ended the night meeting up with the girl I was staying with for dinner and drinks, catching up and gossiping, and just being girls before we headed back to her house to continue yapping for hours. It was moments like these that made me remember how wholesome and fun girlhood can be. It was so nice to not only catch up but just hang out with my friends in such a relaxed setting while still being in a new country.
Since we were able to hit a bunch of different spots and cover a lot of the city center in such a short amount of time, it felt anticlimactic, like we hit everything we could but not really, because it felt so short. However, the time spent in a more relaxed setting, like getting dinner, drinks and just chatting, felt so fun and truly made up for the entire experience in Brussels. I think that goes to show how memories really do outweigh accolades when traveling because in 5 years, I may forget what the Royal Palace of Brussels looks like, but I’ll never forget venting with my friends on the couch at my friend’s while being in a new country. Overall, I don’t think I would recommend visiting Brussels other than for simply hitting a new country. If anything, I would recommend making Brussels a part of a Belgium trip where multiple cities are visited. But other than that, if I didn’t have my friend there, I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it as much. A few of my favorite spots visited were The Grand Place (a beautiful plaza), Wolf Market (a nice food court with cuisines from many different countries), and The BeerLab Rooftop Bar (that was a very pretty skyline view of the city). And in the end, I would rate my time in Brussels an 8/10, significantly because of visiting my friend.