Thursday, May 23, 2013

Belgian birthday

So much to post, and so little time.

Last weekend I was in Brussels for my birthday, right? Monday was a holiday in Germany (and Belgium, actually - I'm thinking it was either a Labor Day or some religious holiday) so we were encouraged to leave Wiesbaden for three days. My classmates were headed to Berlin, Munich, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam mostly; with Copenhagen being too far and my little interest in seeing Amsterdam (again) or more of Germany, I decided to head back to Brussels. It was SO much fun the first time, and a day there just wasn't enough.

Holy cow, am I glad I went back.

I found Brussels to be one of my favorite cities I've visited yet. On my actual birthday (Saturday), I spent the entire day walking around the city and eating Belgian fare (much tastier than German food).

The beautiful Grand Place, a huge tourist spot in Brussels. The building with the huge tower is the Town Hall, and it literally took my breath away the first time I saw it, because I wan't expecting it. So gorgeous.



The next morning was when I did all my walking (Saturday) and got to know the city very well. Here's another shot of the Brussels Town Hall:


Le Manneken Pis! A famous monument in Brussels with a funny story. 

My favorite church in Brussels. I would visit here again and again throughout the weekend, and even attended church there on Sunday morning. The sermon was in French but it was pretty rad.



Park across the street from the church: 


Belgian ducks are cute. 


More views of the city. 

The Belgian royal palace (Palais Royal de Bruxelles) 


My tiny hostel room (so cute!)

Roy d'Espagne in the Grand Place, my favorite place to eat. They had a delicious goat cheese and spinach quiche that I ordered with a Coca-Light on two different occasions.

More Grand Place [grahn plahss] photos

The European Parliament building! This was neat to see as we had just studied it in class and I came upon it by accident. 


And because photos don't do it justice, here is a video of one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It was early in the morning, so the plaza was relatively empty.


Most fun birthday weekend ever. Yep.

I mean OUI.

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