This weekend, my friend Anna and I took a marvelous trip to Belgium. It was quick (1 day in Brussels and 1 in the Flemish city of Brugges) but so fun! It was the first time I'd left France since I got here, so it was good.

We left Paris at 7:55 am so we could have the whole day in Brussels. We arrived after only an hour and twenty minutes. We took a cab to our hotel which Anna found right in the historical center of the city. After we got rid of our stuff and settled in, we went out right away to find an authentic Belgian waffle. They are really delicious and better than any other waffle we'd ever had. We then proceeded to the Grand Place, where the City Hall and the historical old home of the King used to be. The old King's House is now a museum of the city of Brussels. It gave us a crash course in the history of the city as well as Belgian architecture, history, art, etc. After we finished there we headed over to a treasured city sight, the Manneken Pis. It is a small fountain in a little corner that is a small boy peeing, the water coming out of just where it makes sense it would. It was so silly but worth seeing.

After, we walked around the city historical central and did some shopping. I made a pilgramage to my favorite Belgian chocolate store, Leonidas. I got a box of truffles and had a special no-nuts box made for my mommy. There were chocolate and lace stores like every 10 feet....some more touristy than others but it was fun to look. We walked up through the historical part of the city up to the Mont Des Arts, the home of the Belgian Royal Library, the Museum of Musical Instruments, and the Museum of Fine Arts. We chose to go to the Museum of Fine Arts, only the old part dating from the Renaissance to the 1800s. We saw all the best Flemish paintersm including Van Eyck, Ruebens, and Breuguel. After that, finally worked up an appetite for lunch and ate at an authentic Belgian restaurant, sampling the frites (french fries) and a Belgian beer that is flavored with raspberry juice and was so yummy.

After that I dragged any to the business-government district of the city so I could see the European Parliament. I study the EU a lot and just wanted to make sure it was really there! The elections for the European Parliament are coming up soon so we got to see the posters up in like 5 different languages encouraging people to vote. All the different buildings in the complex are named after different European politicians which was pretty funny to me because I knew who they all were . We wandered around a bit and took a taxi back to the center of the city. We had the most ridiculous time trying to figure out the public transportation. It just made no sense to us! So we really just walked everywhere and took a cab twice. That evening after a short rest we headed over to the main plaza again and wandered down some side streets to grab dinner. Since we are both vegetarian, the mussels/seafood places for the tourists weren't really an option, so we went for pasta at a touristy Italian place instead. We then just spent the night out on the town going to some different bars and seeing one or two different neighborhoods we were told were cool for going out.

The next day we got up pretty early and took the local train to Brugges. Belgium, for those of you not in the know, is basically divided in two, one region that is French and the other that is Flemish. Brugges is in the Flemish part and is known as the Venice of the North because of its canals and great beauty. When we arrived we wandered into town from the train and ended up at the Church of Our Savior, the oldest cathedral in the city and dates back to the 10th century. It was pretty phenomenal and you can see how beautiful it used to be with faded paint on the walls. The stained glass windows were still pretty impressive and it was beautiful overall. When that was all done we decided we needed a snack, so we got some frites with mayonnaise (the traditional way to eat them in Belgium) and they were so tasty! After that, we headed to the city's historical main marketplace and the Belfry (belltower) which was supposed to offer a great view. We decided to climb and 366 winding stairs later we were at the top seeing a panoramic view of the city and surrounding countryside. It was worth the shaking legs and the 4 euros!!

We got down adn walked past the city hall and managed to find a boat tour, the thing we'd been looking for since we got to town. We got to go through many of the canals, seeing some amazing examples of Flemish architecture and saw old homes, taverns, poor houses, squares, and everything in between. It was definitely a highlight and it allowed us to see parts of the city we never would have found on our own! After that, we did some more chocolate shopping, more walking, and had our last waffle in Belgium. We took a long walk through the city's most beautiful park and then headed back to the train for Brussels. From there we grabbed our stuff, had a light dinner, and got on the train back to Paris!

It was definitely a great break from work and Paris. I would say if I had to compare it: Paris is like New York and Brussels is like Washington D.C. in terms of the lifestyle, the atmosphere, and the general tone. I would definitely go and spend some more time in Belgium. People were so outgoing, friendly, and helpful and we packed a lot into two days!

Pictures on Facebook are coming in the next 24 hours!! Go ahead and take a look. I was really good! I think I took almost 75 photos...then my camera batteries died.