So when we got to Brussels, I'll admit that I was quite tired by then. The past 7 days, I had been getting up early and having to organize and remind people of trains to catch etc, trying to sightsee as much as I could, the frustration of things not working out as I had planned... all that had truly exhausted me. The toll of amsterdam had also gotten to me and I had hoped that things would not be so crazy as they were, as I already beginning to feel a little emo about the how the trip had progressed so far.

But I was looking forward to a few things in Brussels, which was mainly seeing my friend Erik again. I knew Erik in AIESEC in Auckland and the last time I saw him was his birthday party in Auckland, Nov 2008, shortly before he left for his internship in India. I had planned to meet up with him in his home country, Sweden, but when he informed me that he had moved to Brussels instead and was now working there, I was like perfect, since I had already booked my tickets there already at the point of communication. I think that I was also looking forward to having a friend whom I could talk to, as I did feel a bit lonely in the trip when my other friends were catching with their other buddies who had joined our trip as well along the way. While I did recognize that it was just natural evolution of things and I probably would have behaved the same way if roles were reversed, I did feel left out sometimes, so meeting up with Erik was something to look forward to in a sense.

Seeing Erik was like meeting a long lost friend literally, and I was glad that he got along so well with my friends and kindly took us for a tour around Brussels and introduced us to a few bars around the city. I could sense his enthusiasm about the city everytime he spoke about it, and he marvelled about everything and showed us all the highlights, that I myself could not help but like Brussels, even though having been told by many people previously that Brussels was boring.

The Grand square I think?? We came back here for a night show, which I would not have known about if not for Erik...

Night show along with classical music! People literally sit on the ground and watch enthralled for 15 mins while this is played...

Group pic after!

Erik and I in front of city hall

It's a bit of a tradition for every visitor to Brussels. Touch the statue and it means that you'll come back to Brussels once again.... As Erik explained, I don't know why but everyone does it.... so I did too!

I was interested in seeing a comic strip wall, since one of my favourite comics of all time, Tintin was created in Belgium! Too bad I did not have time to see the comic museum...

I still try to figure out why the mannenken pis status is so famous.... Why on earth would people come all the way to Brussels to see a little boy peeing fountain is beyond me... but apparently they do!

Beer party...

After our brief tour of the city, of course like any local we went for a couple of beers at different pubs....


WWII memorial at night, seen enroute back to our hostel... was quite funny coz the girls really had to pee urgently, but Erik wanted to show us the base of the status so we went closer to take a better look... Aimee barely took one glance and said "Ok, let's go..." It was so funny I burst out laughing immediately... the next day, on our way to the train station, James said, "Let's go take a look at the status which Aimee was so quick to dismiss last night...."

I made a suggestion to our group that we visit Brugge which I had read is a romantic European city and most tourists to Belgium visit Brugge more than they do Brussels. Luckily, everyone was keen about it, especially since there were 5 of us and we could purchase a go pass which meant that a return ticket only cost everyone 10 Euros... Brugge is like an hour away from Brussels using the express train, so it's an easy day trip to do.

There is not a single skyscaper in Brugge, unlike Brussels which is littered in them. So I am a sucky for beautiful cute European buildings, so please excuse the picture overload now...





This church is said to have the blood of christ kept in a vial, and everyday between 1400 and 1600 hours, it is brought out for people to see and pray to. I think that about me, I am the only church going person, so I was asked (kinda expected) if I believed in this sort of thing, since to the non believer, it does seem pretty far stretched... So my answer is, I choose to believe it... just as I choose to believe that a god exists....
I don't know how it started, but everytime I go into a church, I will light a candle, make a donation, say a prayer. So this time, I did it too, and said a prayer for the wellbeing of those around me.... little habits that one gets into... :)

Mussels and chips for lunch!!! One thing to note though is that service, for some reason is pretty bad in Brussels/Brugge.... Waiters mutter under their breath in Flemish/French if you don't speak their language... they take a long time to come serve you etc etc.... and they always look angry...

I did most of my chocolate shopping in Brugge.... There was one point whereby I was just running into every chocolate store I saw to check prices and bought at least one small thing from every store....

Found the windmills! And Brugge's newest bridge, completed in 2002...

We are exhausted!