Nicole Goes To Germany: Brussels

A couple of days ago my host family announced that, in honor of my host Father's birthday, we would be visiting Brussels. As odd as it sounds to plan a quick visit to another country, Aachen is right on the border of Belgium, so the trip was very easy. So Iva and I took the hour and a half drive over the border and to Brussels with our host parents early Saturday morning.
We spent the entire day exploring Brussels. We started off by arriving and leaving our things in my host Father's appartment, then began our tour. Our host parents showed us through Brussels; past the glittering gold-topped Palais de Justice, through tents and barriers marking the location of the Summer Festival, and even by the world-famous Manneken Pis (the original peeing baby fountain). We stopped for lunch in a crowded section of town and got Moules Frites (a bucket of mussels with fries) in a nice restaurant, then kept exploring. It was all incredibly amazing, and all the buildings seemed so beautiful and interesting, but by five my food coma and lack of sleep caught up with me, and I nearly passed out at the table when we stopped for coffee. After a power nap, though, we kept on going. For a little bit of perspective, it was raining nearly the entire time. I walked the entirety of the city juggling an umbrella and a nice camera, trying to find the best way to get pictures without ruining the camera somehow. We were cold and wet, and we were walking all day. We ate at about half past eight, in a restaurant from the 1800s that's been turned into a trendy pita cafe. We stayed up long enough to watch a light show projected on the town hall, get waffles, and walk back home. I finally got into bed at about one in the morning.

Despite all of that, which really wasn't all bad, I loved Brussels. It's beautiful, with an architectural explosion of buildings; brand-new modern style office buildings butting up against centuries-old stone facades. I loved being able to understand people; as the primary spoken language we heard was French (I even helped a fellow American traveler order a waffle from a woman who spoke no English.) All in all it was a great experience, and I was quick to ask my host Parents about the possibility of going back.