Brussels is the ultimate city break, and in spite of all the buzz and activity that comes with the city hustle and bustle, it was a great, relaxing experience. Usually, when I go some place new, I’m pressed about making sure I tick off all the sights I feel I must see, and try to get in as much exploring as possible. I never want to spend anymore time in the hotel room than I need to, it feels like wasted time!
I had to visit The Atomium while in Brussels
Well, not this time. My philosophy was different this time round: we’ve spent a lot of money on this hotel, we are here to relax, so we’re going to enjoy it in every way possible, we’re going to lie here in this room and soak in the view, lie in this monstrous bed a while longer, and luxuriate. And that is exactly what we did. A couple of times, anyway.
We did a lot of eating. Street food, that is, because you have to do that when you go to Brussels. Belgian fries with the fantastic sauces, Belgian waffles with a million toppings to choose from, and chocolate stores on every street. We tried it all, we lived our best Brussels life.
Shopping
I always thought that London was the ultimate shopper’s experience. It is still right up there, but Brussels definitely rides with the big dogs too. Think of a designer brand, name it, it is a stone’s throw away when you’re taking a stroll in Brussels City. I got up close and personal with Loubotins I had every desire to own but no current intention of purchasing, DVF dresses I hoped to purchase, and Chanel suits I just wanted to take off of the display and right onto my body. But, when it comes to big purchases, I’m not an impulse buyer. We need to scour that monthly budget and cross every ‘t’ before we jump at a €2000 handbag. I can’t deny it, it looked real good, Prada!
Storm Ciara
And then along came Storm Ciara from all the way in Ireland, which threw a real spanner in our works. Our flights got cancelled, rebooked and cancelled again. This was followed by us spending a lot of time on the phone with the airlines, trying to get a flight home that meant we got to our jobs on time, but in vain. This stole a lot of time from our sightseeing expedition, but we still managed to get some done.
See the sights
We were very fortunate to be living quite close to some of them, and those that were some distance away were only a single train ride away. We made sure to go up the Atomium, as well as visit the nearby ADAM Museum of Design. Many find the museum controversial and uninteresting but I thought the opposite. It was a good display of old machines, and how reliant to plastic we are as humankind.
Notre Dame du Sablon was worth the visit, and just like Grand Place was quite close to our hotel. Grand Place is a beautiful place, and it seems to be rather popular at night.
Stay
There are several hotels with good access to the metro and other places of interest, but we went for The Hotel. It is rather on the pricey end of the curve but you can find less costly hotels on Tripadvisor and compare prices and reviews there.
Brussels lived up to our expectations, and is the stuff city breaks are made of.
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