Day Trip: Brussels

When Didz first got accepted into his MBA program in Leuven, we threw around the idea of living in Brussels and having him commute to school every day (it's about a 30 minute train ride). I'm glad we didn't go that route - and instead (coincidentally) found our apartment directly across the street from his school. This way, we get to see each other during lunch, and he always comes home for dinner - even if he has to eat and go right back to work. It also means we get to take day trips into the big city, and (being a city girl) I look forward to taking more of these trips and getting to know Brussels' hidden gems - not just the super touristy spots we visited over the weekend.

Being tourists

Grand Place

We spent the first part of the day weaving through tourists and tour groups around the Grand Place which quickly became exhausting, so we found our way here:

Home of my favorite beer 

We got a little table outside and watched all the crazy tourists flood the tiny alley to see this (which sits perched behind bars at the end of the alleyway):

Jeanneke Pis

We revived ourselves with a little Delirium, and continued to wander through the narrow cobblestone streets, wandering in and out of little shops, allowing our senses to overload with sights, smells, tastes:

While fighting off the temptation to buy pretty things:

We wandered down to St-Gery, plopped ourselves down at another outdoor cafe and enjoyed the sunshine while sipping on beer and snacking on tapas. At one point it hit us that we *live* here now - we actually did it, and we're actually here, and we get to have this incredible experience together. It was such a perfect day.

Our day ended with an incredible dinner and an amazing little restaurant to celebrate Didz's birthday... but I'll share more on that later.