Success Abroad: A weekend trip to Brussels

I know it’s been a while since I last got in touch with you all but since then unbelievable things have happened with me. You first have to hear my story.

So last Sunday, first time in my life I went to a soccer match (don’t be so surprised, I am not a sports person). I had no intension of going to this game but when I saw (from my room window) everybody in Copenhagen (and I mean everybody) heading towards this one general direction, I asked my dorm mates what was happening , first I got the stares and then finally they told me that there was this big soccer match in Copenhagen stadium (not far from my dorm) and that’s where all the people are going. To impress other people and hide my ignorance, I managed to get a ticket and joined the crowd. It turns out that it was totally worth it. I had great time, even though I did not know what was going on in the field most of the time. It was nice to see Copenhageners screaming.

I came back yesterday after spending three days in Brussels, Belgium which has the headquarters of European Union institutions. Three things about Brussels that I would remember forever are Belgian Waffles, chocolates, and people. There is a lot of diversity in Brussels; you would see people of all ethnic backgrounds there. One of the first things I did was to get a waffle as soon as I arrived in Brussels. There are three kinds of waffles (maybe more), one has sugar inside, one has sugar at the top and the third one is the fancy one where you can choose to put different toppings on the waffle, they are absolutely delicious. I definitely recommend Belgian waffle to everybody who goes there.

Brussels is a small medieval city with quite a few touristy places, modern EU buildings, and all kinds of museums. The official languages are Dutch and French.

Grand Place: The first thing to see is the Grand place or the market square, which has a breath taking view. The buildings are model of classical architecture, with fine works of art and splendid view. This square is probably one of the most visited sites in Brussels.

Manneken Piss: It is a little statue of a boy “satisfying a natural desire” (according to my tour guide), the statue itself is really small but it is the most famous landmark of Brussels. You would see different versions of it all around the city and in touristy shops. This little boy saved Brussels city from fire.

Chocolate Museum: There is a chocolate museum not far from the Grand Place, where they show you the way chocolate is made in Belgium. A lot of chocolate of cocoa materials come from African countries. The museum consists of three floors that have demonstration of chocolate making process. It was a bit disappointing to see it from inside but we got free chocolate samples.

City Museum: Located in the market square, a city museum has the different clothes of Menneken Pis from all the countries around the world. The museum also has different art pieces of the grand place and other beautiful sites of Brussels.

Museum of instrumental music: This was one of my favorites, there are five floors in the museums and it has all kinds of musical instruments dating as back as the early 11^th century. You can walk to an instrument and also hear the music sound of it in your headphones. There were instruments from India, Japan, China, Ukraine and different other countries. Only thing about all these museums is that they only have Dutch and French translation, so sadly enough there is no English description of all the things presented.

Sightseeing buses: Being a tourist, it was crucial that we pop on one of the tourist buses in the city and have a brief tour of the city. It was a one hour-long tour of all the important parts of the city. It was totally worth it. They had “pop on and pop off” policy, so you could buy the ticket once and then get off the bus whenever you like and get back on the bus whenever you see it again.

Atomium: Another famous symbol of Brussels is this Atomium. It looks very unusual and has an importance of its own, it is not a pyramid or a tower but is rather an arbitrary collection of metallic balls. It was an icon of World fair of Brussels in 1958; it really is the pride of Brussels.

On my way back, I ended up missing my flight from Brussels to Copenhagen, because of the new time change in Europe (my friend did not know about it) so we missed our plane, I found a great alternative which was a bus ride from Brussels to Copenhagen. I would not complain, I not enjoyed the beautiful landscape on my way but also caught up with my sleep. I have a lot to cover before I go on my spring break.

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