Belgium!

Guess what I did last weekend. Visited four amazing cities in three short days. Then passed out as soon as I got back to my room.

BELGIUM IS AWESOME.

First, my friends and I went to Bruges, which ended up being my favorite city. It's smaller, not as overwhelming as Brussels, but we didn't get bored at all there. It's so beautiful, quaint, and distinctively Belgian in style. We climbed The Belfry and got an amazing view of the city. Took a relaxing and scenic boat ride on a canal. Visited a brewery, and sampled some of their brewed-on-the-premises beer. Went to the stunning Cathedral where they have a Michelangelo sculpture. Ate some local food, including the AMAZING Belgian waffles. Hung out at some pubs. And, checked out the local market. All and all it was incredible.

Unfortunately, what you think of a place is often defined by the weather when you go there. And when we went to Antwerp, it rained. All day. We did try and make the best of it though. We started by getting lost trying to find these houses that were supposed to look like castles. We did eventually find a street of very interesting houses with various ornate and strange styles though. Then, after discovering that the permanent collection at the museum wasn't there, we went to check out the cathedral. It was sort of a combination of a museum and a church because it had artwork all throughout it. The main pieces were four incredible Ruebens. From there we checked out the main square and the river, and then Ruebens' house. We didn't stay in Antwerp for though night though, so we hopped on a train (part of Belgium's great train system that is really easy to navigate) and ended up in Leuven.

Leuven's a student town. There's not a lot there besides students, schools, and bars. In fact, it has what it claims to be the longest bar in Europe, as a string of bars wraps all the way around a square. We visited a couple, and it was fun to see how they each had developed their own personality. Out hostel here was also really nice, which was a pleasant change.

Our final stop was Brussels. It was obviously the most touristy of all the cities, and the most overwhelming in this way. We started by seeing the Atomium, which can't really be explained, so just click on the link to see what it is. It was nice that Brussels had a subway though, so we didn't have to walk quite as much. Then we checked out some of the main squares and markets, and of course, bought some chocolate. We also finally managed to go to a museum and saw a great collection on Orientalism featuring a lot work by Delacroix.

Tons of fun, and really exhausting. But, totally worth it.