A brief afternoon in Brussels, Belgium

Emily

After leaving Amsterdam we rode to Brussels. It took us about three hours with a couple of stops along the way. Riding through the Netherlands is basically green fields, beautiful waterways, cows and the occasional windmill. It’s stunning. We rode a long the motorway so I didn’t really get any photos but here’s one I did manage to get of the back of Mitch’s head.

We were both a little reluctant to leave Amsterdam having had such a great time but heading somewhere new is always exciting.

We’d booked an Air Bnb just on the outskirts of Brussels centre which is the same thing we did with our previous place, only this time our results were a bit different. We stayed in an apartment above a pharmacy in an okay-ish area. The centre was 12 minutes by bus and a five minute walk to the stop. We dumped our stuff off, showered and headed out. As we walked closer to the stop, the area seemed to get… More dodgy. A lot of people sitting about day drinking on the streets, hanging about and overall a lot of people getting turned up for a Thursday afternoon. We got to the stop, paid for a ticket and got on. The driver didn’t speak any English, which I’m not complaining about, I don’t speak any Dutch, it just made things a bit tricky. After a couple of hurdles, we were off to the centre. I always watch my location on Google maps to make sure we’re on track and it was lucky I did, because the bus went off in a completely different direction. Shortly after, everyone had to get off. So after spending 15 euros for a day pass, we had to walk half way… We were a little annoyed.

As Brussels is the birth place of the comic strip, we headed for the comic book street. It was pretty cool, not as full of comics as what I thought, but definitely worth seeing.

Along this street we also saw the brass statue of Het Zinneke. Erected in 1998, this statue is an amusing one. Especially if you’re missing you’re pooch like we were.

We took a walk around Brussels and looked around the beautiful architecture. Brussels centre is so beautiful and there is so much to take in. Its a shame we only had a few hours but I have a feeling we’ll be back on another bike trip.

We looked around a few of the chocolate shops but after seeing the price, opted for chips. We took a stroll for some where nice to sit and sat infront of the museum. In the five minutes we were there, there was an argument between two men, a dog fight and then a woman passed out infront of us after smoking too much of whatever it was that was in her roll up.

Having seen enough and with chocolate still on our minds, we went to Lidl. For the cheaper and in my opinion, just as good alternative. We took it back watched some TV and ate the whole box in one sitting.

Published by Emily

A strong love and passion for travel, dogs, coffee, dogs and motorbikes. Yes, I did say dogs twice.

23 Comments

  2. We went to Bruges a few years ago and it was beautiful. All we saw if Brussels was the drive from the airport and the train station, there was an amazing thunderstorm at the time. The architecture in you pics looks amazing and absolutely stunning!

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  5. Lovely photos, Brussels is such a great place to visit. You really need to get back for a few days. Brilliant bars and restaurants all over the city and the chips are obviously amazing.

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  7. Brussels looks like such a cool city – I love when there’s such amazing street art and incredible architecture not too far away – I need to visit soon

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  8. This is such a cool city, your photos are so awesome as well, great skills! I was captured by how awesome some of these shots were! I’m hoping to visit Europe in the near future, and I need to do my research on Brussels now! Thank you for sharing!

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  10. Certainly some rougher parts to Brussels but still a nice city. I’m glad you enjoyed your short trip though! This also reminded me I have some chocolate in the fridge so I’m off to grab that haha.

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  11. Hi Emily,
    I have friends in Belgium. That sounds awesome. What was in the box you ate? Chocolate, what?
    Gary
    On Sun, Sep 15, 2019 at 3:22 AM The Blog of Travel wrote:
    > Emily posted: “After leaving Amsterdam we rode to Brussels. It took us > about three hours with a couple of stops along the way. Riding through the > Netherlands is basically green fields, beautiful waterways, cows and the > occasional windmill. It’s stunning. We rode a long ” >

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  13. I had a similar experience of Brussels, good to know I wasn’t the only one! And of course you have to eat chocolate while in Belgium…good shout!

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  14. I visited Brussels in June. 2014, and so got to be at the victory celebration, after Team Belgium’s win over Algeria-with hundreds of people gathered in front of the Bourse. The city’s Algerian community was there in force, and were welcomed as brothers and sisters by those celebrating the victors. It was a perfect example of camaraderie, lasting peacefully, long into the night.

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  15. Pingback: A brief afternoon in Brussels, Belgium — The Blog of Travel – BENEDICT HERSTAL

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