seekingmygreaterperhaps

Belgium is famous for it’s beer, fries, waffles, and chocolate. With a menu like that, I am shocked how all Belgians aren’t 500 pounds. But I guess as a tourist, it’s my duty to sample all of these delicacies… every day. To make the sure the quality hasn’t changed, of course. Overall, I will have spent a full week in Belgium, and seen 4 cities. Even for me, that is a lot, and it has been tiring. This post will cover Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent. Let’s get this show on the road.

Antwerp: home to the 2nd most diverse population for a city by percentage in the world. Amsterdam is the only city ahead of it. My hostel was in a more “locally flavored” area, so I got to hang with these people every day. Cool.

Whoa, Michaella is about to talk about street art again. Antwerp has a stretch of road 1 km long that is set aside just for street art. This is really cool. It is completely empty, and if you’re walking down it in the middle of the day like I did, you may feel like you’re in the wild west. But you’re really just in Antwerp, so don’t be silly. The picture above blew my mind, because it looks actually 3D, which is hard when your materials are cans of spray paint.

This is the Stadhuis, or the city hall. The statue in front in Antwerp’s hero: Brabo. He is chucking a giant’s hand, who was trying to takeover Antwerp, but luckily he slayed the giant, and that’s how Antwerp came to be. This is a bustling square, and the architecture surrounding it is really neat and old. (Probably older than America… as most things in Europe are.)

Antwerp is apparently a major fashion capital of the world. News to me- the Goodwill shopper. So I stepped in to the Fashion Museum, it was a cheap museum and I quite enjoyed it. I laugh, because every exhibit reminds me of why I will never ever understand “high fashion.”

(This picture reflects one of the designers “inspiration” by the old times. There were weirder ones… but to be honest, my finger accidentally hit this one while I was scrolling, and since it takes forever to upload pics, I let it be. #exhaustedtraveler)

This is a collage of just a few of the Belgium brews I have sampled. I realized today that I think I’ve become an adult, because I ordered a glass of water with my beer to ensure I could really taste it. I think my days of Keystone Light are over.

Next stop: Bruges. This may just be one of the cutest cities in Europe. It is a perfectly preserved medieval city, and it is like something out of a fairytale. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see little Red Riding hood, which is a bummer, but it’s okay, the city had plenty to offer.

We can’t have perfect hair days all the time, otherwise others would be jealous. 😉

Anyways, this was a really cool sculpture/ playground in Bruges. I let the kids have their fun, and only took a picture, but it’s still neat to look at.

A little late in my trip, but I finally realized I have a self timer on my camera! Da da da ch.

My first stop in Bruges was the Fry Museum. Of course. I learned all about the history of fries, and how they came to be so popular, and why Belgium makes them better. (One of the theories is that all the food is better quality in Belgium, so the Belgian people demand it… haha. Seriously, they wrote that.) I liked the pop culture section the best, because you get to see all of the old advertisments, which is really neat.

Choco-Story- the chocolate museum was right after the fry museum. I think it is run by the same company, because they have similar layouts. Also I learned that eating chocolate is actually good for you. They didn’t recommend huge doses… but that’s besides the point. Additionally, there is a demonstration and a sampling! AND you get a chocolate bar at the beginning. Major score. Go Chocolate Museum.

Bruges is actually gorgeous.

The next day I climbed up the Bell Tower! I got some killer views, and an awesome workout because it’s 366 steps up. I wish elevators had been invented in the medieval times, but hey- no pain no gain. Also, I stayed up there to hear the bells, which were super loud, but really beautiful.

I was in Bruges for Ascension Day! Yay! Crowds! I was planning on traveling that day, but stuck around for a parade. I found a bench by the parade route about an hour before it started, so I marked my claim and sat down, through the cold and the rain… to hear from the couple next to me who was doing the same that it was cancelled. Rats. Off to Ghent.

Ghent: another, less tourist infested, medieval city.

An artsy picture from inside the castle. In Ghent I walked around the sights, but chose to spend the afternoon in the castle. They had a funny video guide that had a story that was filmed in the castle, but didn’t actually tell you much about the history… I got to see some medieval torture instruments though, so that was the bomb diggity.

I got lucky because Ghent was having a food truck festival in the center when I was there, and I got some awesome spring rolls and sushi (from different trucks!) there. Bet you didn’t see that coming did you?

That’s a quick wrap up of those cities, thanks for reading! As an extra sweet bonus, here is a SELFIE of me with a knight.