Bruged and Brusseled

This past weekend my travels brought me to Belgium by way of train and bus with a group of my neighbors here at the castle. We left thursday night and five hours later found ourselves at Brussels Centraal with some faulty directions but we made it to our hostel well enough. Brussels had a lot to offer us in terms of sightseeing. On Friday we visited the Atomium, a building that somewhat resembles the structure of a molecule that gives anyone willing to pay 7€00 a panoramic view of the city. It was a bit cloudy, but it was still a neat experience being inside such a unique structure.

I'm finding out that good way to see some classic artworks without paying an admission fee is just to visit giant old churches. The Basilicas and Cathedrals seem to always have a solid collection of renaissance era paintings and, being the 'welcoming' organization that is the Catholic Church, never charge a fee. We visited two churches whilst in Brussels, neither of which I remember the name of, both of which were beautiful buildings with stunning collections. At one of these churches we visited we somewhat miraculously ran into a group of friends from the castle who also happen to also be visiting Belgium. So, that's awesome.

That evening we met up with the other group in the Markt square (the main center of Brussels) for some dinner. I had one of the best dinners i've ever had that night: shawarma with spicy sauce and frites and a 7€00 litre of beer. I mean, the only reason I describe this meal to you is because despite its "cheap food" facade it was for some reason literally that good. I don't know why I loved it so much. But I did. You're just going to have to deal with reading about it.

Anyway, after dinner we wandered around the lively Brussels, visiting the famous fountain of a little boy urinating, hilariously titled Mannekin Pis, and eating our fare share of delicious and genuinely BelgianWaffles.

After a somewhat disappointing visit to the Museum of Chocolate and Cocoa on Saturday morning we eventually made our way back to the train station and caught an afternoon train to Bruges. Bruges also had some pretty shitty weather but proved itself to be a very pretty, quaint town. A place I'm fairly confident Francine Weaver would consider rather "cutesie". There we stayed at a very cool hostel called Snuffel Backpacker, the bar of which proved to be the center of night life for the youth of Bruges. In Bruges we mostly indulged in the scenery and, well, food of the area.

After all the traveling it was very relieving to arrive home at the Castle where i've been getting some good rest. And going to class- I do that too.

All in all it was an exceptional weekend for at least 2 of my senses. Well done, Europe. You're score's rounding out to be just about 33. And I, David B. Weaver... 34(?!?!?!)