Adventures in Sisterland

Next stop: Brussel!

Sister loves exploring, so we decided to take a way-to-early-for-me train to Brussel. So excited to go to Belgium, even if only for a day! Of course we did not plan anything, but we kind of figured we would find everything we needed at the train station. Little did we know....

Arriving at the station, there was no food. Problem #1: Sister and I both get crabby when we don't eat. Then we couldn't find an exit. Problem # 2: Sister and I are impatient. We finally make it out, and there is no food in site. What city is this?! Problem #3: It starts raining. Ok, can we start over Day? I'd like a redo.

Sister of course comes up with a brilliant solution - something I swore I would never do when still living in NYC - take a Hop on Hop Off tour. it was definitely necessary though. Transportation taking you to all the spots of the city all day and more importantly - we figured we were sure to find food!

We get off at the next stop - it looks cute, we figured there should be a cafe around here. WRONG. There were all these fancy sit down places and an antique market. Where exactly do people get a quick grab and go meal?! Not here apparently.... I start taking my distance from Sister because I swear she is going to kill me even though this is not my fault, haha. While trying to find the next stop we end up finding a little cafe and ordering tea and crepes. Wonderful. You know the mug 'Instant Human Just Add Coffee' - well, try that one with us and food! We couldn't stop laughing over nothing all of a sudden. A quick map study later and we were finally good to go.

We find the next stop...sort of - but end up waiting for 30 minutes and having to run to another stop anyways! Owh well, we made it. At this point, all Sister wants to do is go to a 'normal shopping street', and so we do. Now THIS is life in Brussel. Before we got off at this stop I was wondering if Brussel had anything normal in it. Two awesome jackets from Zara later, and a failed attempt at finding an H&M dress, we go back to the bus and to stock up on some more history. And decide not to walk anymore, we both wore awful shoes. Now I know why tourists never look fashionable! Both of us would pick fashionable over comfortable anyday though!

We get to drive past all the great sites, and only get off once more, at Manneken Pis. I figure this is one attraction we should see. We also stop at the Central Market...which is not a Market. It is basically like the Dam in Amsterdam. I wish I would have known that sooner, it was soo cute!

A long exhausting, but ultimately super fun day later, we were off to Tilburg! Not before a train delay though...but hey, it could be worse!

Loved the trip, had a great time with Sister and ended up loving Brussel. A city with a lot of character.

Travel Tips: Bring food, a map, and good walking shoes! The city is not walkable though, so I'd take the Hop on Hop Off tour even if just for transportation!

And don't forget to have Vlaamse Patat and Belgium Waffles when you are there!