Beer, Chocolate and Waffles

Along with the term and half term breaks throughout the year, there are a number of 'bank holidays' in England which provide a great opportunity for weekend getaways. I was surprised with a long weekend trip to Belgium! I was so excited to visit the country known for its beer, chocolate and waffles. We took the Eurotunnel from Dover to Calais, France then would drive up to Brussels, Belgium to stay, and go for a day Bruges. Of course to prepare we had to watch "In Bruges" with Collin Farrell.  

The Eurotunnel was very strange, though I much preferred it to taking a ferry. You drive onto the train and there's only a few feet between each car and you are locked and sealed into a section for 30 minutes until you arrive in France. Prior to leaving you also go through customs and just briefly show your passport before driving onto the train. 

Blurry photo, but best one I could get on the train

This was his first time driving on the left (correct) side of the road so he was a little hesitant at first but for once I was able to help with where he should turn. Our first day we wandered around Brussels. "Tin Tin" originated from Belgium, so there was a lot of graffiti on the streets along with a museum dedicated to the cartoon. Brussels is the heart of the European Union and hosts parliament in its beautiful

Tin Tin 

For some strange reason there is this bronze statue of a little boy peeing in a fountain called "Manneken Pis" translated to "Little Pee Man" which is famous in Brussels and known around the world. The statue is dressed in costume several times a week as pictured below. I don't understand the point of the statue, nonetheless it was funny and I had to get a picture of it while in Brussels.

Another thing on my list to do of course was having a Belgium waffle, and boy was it delicious! We also visited some chocolate stores and got some treats for ourselves and some souvenirs for family.

The parliament buildings were lit up in such pretty colours at night 

Brussels was so expensive! We went out downtown for a late dinner and some drinks on the main strip. Being a Saturday night, it was crazy busy with bachelor and bachelorette parties (it seems like Brussels is the place to go for that) and drunk people. We split the "meat plate" and had 2 drinks each which came to 90 Euros!

While there were some great sights in Brussels, it wasn't exactly the experience I was expecting. Sunday we made our way to Bruges which was the best decision as we both agreed it was so much better and later said we wished we stayed in Bruges (though we didn't because hotels were much more pricy there!)

There was this awesome store called "B2" which sold such interesting types and flavours of beer

My favourite memory from the trip was going on a boat cruise in Bruges, it was just magical! The beginning of the day was rainy and dreary, but luckily it cleared up just in time for our cruise!

During our drive back to Brussels we split a box of chocolates from one of the MANY chocolate stores in Bruges. This one was my favourite, it was a skull with cherry filling on the inside. 

Early Monday we checked out of our hotel in Brussels and had a lot of time until our train left from Calais, France as we booked a very late train so had a spur of the moment decision to drive to the Netherlands! I couldn't believe how flat it was, there were no hills anywhere. I had to take a picture of every windmill I saw too!

In all, it was a fantastic long weekend that I didn't want to end, not only because we had a good time, but because it meant that he was going to work in Ireland for at least a month.