It was not straightforward to travel from Luxembourg City to Brussels by train on my own. I have to take 2 buses and 1 train ride to get to Brussels. Taking trains/bus in Europe is a bit complicated for me. First of all, I am not familiar with the bus/train system here. Secondly, the language and communication is a problem. I was lucky that a few people helped me in the train station (I look really lost), so I did not miss any train. Most of the people are helpful here. 🙂

 

My first impression of Brussels

Not a good first impression. I reached Brussels after 4.5 hours of travelling. I was starving when I arrived in Brussels because I forgot to have my lunch (a bit embarrassing), and I was suffering in the train. I just wanted to find some food in Brussels, but it was not as easy as I thought.

I can’t find any shop or restaurant on the way from train station to the hotel. It was at 3.30pm. Brussel looks like a boring city. The street was very quiet.

After I checked-in, I walked around the city. Finally, I found a small café. Perhaps I was too hungry, the crepes taste super good… I was so happy and all my negative thoughts about Brussels disappeared. 🙂 It is actually quite a cute city with many interesting old buildings.

 

Rainfall in Belgium

My first morning in Brussels was a rainy day. Later I realised this is normal because Belgium typically gets more rainfall than other places.

 

Manneken Pis

I don’t know why this is so famous! It is just a little boy peeing XD It is much smaller than I expected. I know there is a story behind it, but there are too many versions of the story and I don’t know which one is true. But because of the tourists like me, it will always be famous and the shops will be making money off it.

I want to punch this little boy because he is peeing in public area XD

There is a female version which is called “Jeanneke Pis” but I did not visit it.

 

Grand Place

The main reason that I can’t find any food nearby my hotel is that my hotel’s location is not in the city centre (although it is very close to the train station). It is fun to visit Grand place. There is a lot of café and restaurant here so I won’t be starving again.

 

Belgium Waffles

You can find waffles everywhere in Belgium and they look delicious. I had a chocolate waffle. It was good but I felt a bit too sweet.

 

Belgium Chocolate and Beer!

Belgium is all about chocolate and beer. Since I am not a big fan of beer, I would rather spend my money on chocolates. 🙂

 

Buildings

The buildings are colourful. I like this place.

 

In the dorm room

On the first night, I was the only person staying in the dorm room. On the second night, a French woman stayed here and she was trying very hard to communicate with me, but I can’t understand French. 🙁 I also met a gal from Turkey. She is a very cool person as she only has a small backpack for her 5 week Europe trip!

Out of a sudden, the Turkish gal asked me if I can do her a favour, I thought it was something serious… But it turned out that she was just hungry, so I gave her an apple. She was so cute haha.

It is much cheaper to stay in a dorm room. A budget single room typically cost around €80 per night while a dorm room only cost about €30 per night.

 

Atomium

I didn’t plan to visit Atomium at first (in fact, I didn’t what it was before I came to Brussels). And then, I saw many souvenirs shop selling a cute little model, and they called it Atomium. So I decided to take the metro to Atomium. I didn’t go inside the museum (as it costs money) but just took a few pictures of it, and spent most of my time in the garden nearby.

 

Café in Brussel

I love sitting at a café and listening to the music and looking at people passing by. It is so relaxing! Sometimes, you will be entertained by the buskers.

A small story: When I was shopping at a souvenir shop, the shop owner was very enthusiastic. He hugged me a few times (politely – just courtesy). I bought a fridge magnet from him at a discounted price and he even gave me a few free pieces of stuff. Another story is that when I was walking around the train station, a guy talked to me. He was very polite and gave me his contact number and asked me to call him so he can bring me around the city. I didn’t call him. I feel that the people here are very warm.

 

Nice place but 3 days is a bit too much

I think Brussels is a little bit similar to Wellington – a relatively quiet and simple town. I like Brussels because people are friendly here, however, I think 3 nights in Brussels is a little bit too much. Well, some people love to spend a lot of time here but not me. In hindsight, I should have done a day trip from Brussels to Gent or Dinant.

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