WEEK 11: Brussels - City of Chocolate, Waffles, French Fries and Beer

Brussels, you were good to me.

The city known for waffles, chocolate, French fries and beer...and wow did we embrace that. Angie and I had planned Brussels back in January and really had not done any researching. We went into Brussels with a couple suggestions from friends and were pretty much open to seeing and doing anything. We flew in on Thursday night pretty late and after getting to the airport, we were ready to head to the hotel. The last train had already left for the night, so we hopped in a taxi and told our driver our hotel in the City Center. "You know that's not a good area," our taxi driver says. Wait what? "It's where the prostitutes are at night. With the red lights." A red light district? In Brussels? Angie and I looked at each other...very confused and as we approached our hotel, our driver pointed to the street behind it where there were windows with red and blue lights and girls posted up in the windows. How did we miss this when looking at the reviews for our hotel? Dear God. We contemplated switching hotels but knew that we wouldn't spend much time there and it would probably end up being a waste of money. It was a sketchy area though and definitely would not suggest getting a hotel there hahaha.

On Friday, we had plans to meet up with our friend Trevor from high school who is studying in Maastricht, a city in the Netherlands about an hour and a half train ride away. We slept in a little bit and ended up meeting him at Delirium Cafe around 11am. If you haven't heard of Delirium, it's a bar with over 3,000 beers, the most anywhere in the world. We caught up for a little bit until Angie and I decided to get Mango and Banana(!!!) beers which were so good and pretty strong. We had a quick bite to eat at a cafe and then Trevor showed us literally all of Brussels. We had waffles at Le Funambule and it was probably the best thing I've ever tasted....topped with bananas, chocolate and whipped cream...all of my favorite three things combined together on a waffle. We saw the Grand Palace, Manneken Pis, Cinquantenaire, the Royal Palace, the Town Hall and so much more. We definitely would not have been able to see all we did or known where to go without his help so it was so fun to hang out and catch up and hear about his study abroad experience. He left around 4pm to catch a train back and Angie and I walked around some of the shops a little bit before heading to Delirium because we heard that it gets really busy early. We ended up hanging out there for 3 1/2 hours....drinking the famous Tremens beer, meeting Italians in town for a wedding and hanging out before going to dinner at place called Hemgie's that had gourmet burgers and craft beers. After dinner, we went out to a couple bars in the area before calling it a night.

Saturday, we had plans to visit Bruges. Everyone person we told that we were going to Brussels insisted that we go to Bruges for a day. It was about an hour and fifteen minute train ride away, which was really easy. We had no expectations or plans at all so once we arrived, we followed the mass of people walking towards the town. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch because we needed to have french fries and we were STARVING. The restaurant had Wi-fi (Thank God) and we looked up different sites in Bruges that we wanted to see and map our directions while we had internet. We ended up going to the Frietmuseum (french fries) and Choco Story...a museum all about chocolate. We got chocolate to taste at the beginning of the museum, chocolate to take with us, and a hazelnut filled chocolate to try after they showed us a demo of how to fill chocolate. It was awesome. Apparently the type of chocolate that I should like best is Venezuelan chocolate after taking a quick test based on my preferences. We walked around some more, saw a couple churches, went into some shops, and eventually settled on stopping into a chocolate shop to purchase some because....when in Belgium, you need Belgian chocolate to bring back. They had everything from dark chocolate hazelnut to milk chocolate with pistachios and even had these chocolate blocks with spoons stuck inside them and they gave you hot milk for you to then stir the chocolate in for hot chocolate. We left stocked and headed to a bar in the area with live music before heading back to Brussels. We got back and headed straight to the City Center to see the different building with the lights at night and it was beautiful. We had waffles (again) and then went to a local pub to hang out after having a long, exhausting day.

We came back early Sunday morning to sleep, get homework done, do laundry and rest before El Clasico - the soccer match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. People in Spain go crazy over this game. It started at 9pm and we thought getting to a bar at 7pm would be fine.....no, it wasn't. Everywhere was PACKED. We ended up finding a place and having a good time and FCB won! So it was a good night. I'm just exhausted and have a pretty busy week finishing up things before Spring Break next week. I cannot believe it's already Spring Break. It's going wayyyyyyyyy too fast. I don't want to come home.

WEEK 10: Dublin - The Good and The Green

St. Patty's Day Weekend in Dublin. 

A weekend filled with beer, lots of green, and a bunch of Americans.

The beer. It's everywhere and it's good. Immediately after getting in on Thursday, we went to the Guinness beer factory tour which was actually really fun + you get free Guinness! I had tried Guinness before but wasn't sure if I actually liked it or not. I thought it tasted like a combination of chocolate and coffee and beer...I mean I like all three but not mixed together. Well, when I tried it again at the tour, I really liked it. It's definitely not something that I want everyday, but it's nice for sipping on and having on occasion. At the top of the Guinness building, there is basically an observation deck with a big bar that you can see the city from which was really cool. This weekend I also tried a Doolin beer which is a red ale lighter than a Guinness but still heavier than a blonde. I love beer. On Saturday we slept in (much needed), had brunch and got festive. Sarah, Angie and I bought green spray paint because why not? and spray painted the tips of our hair green to get into the St. Patty's day mood. We went over to our friends' airBnB and got ready before heading to this Irish Beer and Whiskey festival where there were stands filled with different types of beer (some dyed green!) and whiskey tastings. There were also different food vendors and people just hanging out. We met up with some people from TCU who were also there before going to a bar with some of our friends from Barcelona. 

The green. Early morning on Friday, we decided to do the Cliffs of Moher tour which involved an 8am departure and a 9:30pm return, but was so worth it. You can only sit at Irish pubs, drink, and eat for so long. So we decided to sign up for the tour to see another part of Ireland while we were here rather than just stay in Dublin the entire weekend. We made various stops along the way, seeing various castles, the baby cliffs and more of the countryside. It was beautiful. When we finally got to the actual cliffs, we were given an hour and a half to take pictures and walk around. There's something about nature that is absolutely breathtaking. I always love seeing famous monuments and architecture, but the Cliffs of Moher were really something else. Although it was a long day, we did have Wifi on the bus and a tour guide who made the ride back entertaining playing Backstreet Boys and joking around. 

The Americans. I'm pretty sure every single study abroad student was in Dublin this weekend. On our flight from Barcelona, there was actually one family. Even though there were so many Americans there, I didn't think it was overwhelming. Being able to hang out with friends from TCU who are studying in London and Florence as well as friends from Barcelona through my program was probably the best part about this trip and being in Dublin meshing your friends from college with friends that you have met while being abroad. A city can be so fun, but the people who you are with is what really makes it too. This was definitely one of my favorite weekends because I was able to see the city of Dublin, hang out with so many people and see a part of Ireland that I will probably never go to again.

I have a pretty busy week ahead...a couple of projects and a paper due before Spring Break. The fact that Spring Break is in two weeks is actually crazy. Ang and I are headed to Brussels this upcoming weekend. I'm excited for chocolate and waffles and more beer! See ya next week