Chocolate, waffles, Jesus' blood, chocolate, waffles, &more chocolate.

That pretty sums up my trip to Belgium this past weekend! I know, Belgium?! Sounds random, right?! Brussels was a cheap flight from Dublin, so why not?! I'm definitely tired of exploring cities and am in some real need of the countryside, but I can't complain when I get to travel all the time!  Belgium was a fantastic country, and most importantly...with amazing chocolate and waffles!! I came home with a permanent stomach ache and can guarantee chocolate will never taste as good as it did in Belgium.  We spent a night hopping to different chocolate shops, and they kept giving us free chocolates!  I kept wanting to buy only one chocolate, but they would give it to me for free instead! Hehe totally fine with me!!! We spent a lot of time just roaming the streets of Belgium, in the main square and random side streets with even more chocolate shops.  I had a fiasco with a Belgian waffle - the strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate ate my face.  My picture of the waffle attack -

We went to the main tourist attraction of Brussels - the Atomium, which wasn't as cool on the inside as it looks on the outside.  It was basically just an architecture museum. However it did have a view of Mini Europe (it was CLOSED....) so I was happy camper, I could somewhat see it through the fog!

 There's a famous statue - the Manneken, in Brussels of a little boy peeing. Weird famous statue to have...

 Above is a replica of him eating a waffle, but below is the real little guy!

I also went to the chocolate museum, so yummy! But at this point, I had a stomach ache and literally forced myself to eat more chocolate!

We got to visit another town in Belgium, Brugges, which was only an hour train ride away. Brugges was such a delightful little town, I definitely enjoyed it more than Brussels.  I had two very interesting experiences while in Brugges.  First, I got to see the blood of Jesus Christ.  Apparently.  The Basilica of the Precious Blood has a tube with Jesus' blood in it...I don't know the story behind it (because I don't speak French and couldn't ask!) But I went to go see it anyways.  It was pretty gross looking, but I still felt excited about the possibility and said a prayer touching the glass case! I didn't think it was possible, but I didn't do research to find out. 

My second experience was deciding to rent a bike.  I haven't been on a bike in about ten years, but I figured you never forget how to ride a bike! HA HA HA joke's on me!!! Because I DID forget how, not that I was ever good at it in the first place.  Why did I think I could just hop on a bike on a crowded street in Belgium and just be on my merry way?! The first time I tried, I couldn't turn and I ran into a man.  Yes, a human man. SMACK into him. & I don't speak French, so I just kept apologizing as he stared at me in confusion.  As I tried again, I ran into a cafe window.  I didn't even look up, but I did laugh at myself on that one. Really Ariana, a cafe window?! Classy. After finding a side street to practice on, I finally got the hang of it after about ten minutes.  I was then exploring the streets of Belgium with no trouble at all, it was totally worth the effort!

Belgium, you were one weird country...