Muscles from Brussels

So that I wouldn't be alone on the holidays, Caroline saved up all of her money and flew across the pond to see me! We decided to make the most of her trip and visit three different countries. Our first stop, Belgium. We planned to meet in the train station in Brussels and walk to our apartment together from there. Neither of us realized how big the station was and we didn't have any form of communication. But, somehow it worked, we found each other! Thankfully, Caroline had our route all mapped out and we found our apartment without any problems. Originally, we were only looking to rent a private room in this apartment, but ironically the owner went to the States for holiday so we have her entire apartment to ourselves.

We got settled in and decided that we both needed a pre-dinner siesta. I researched some good places to eat and we found this Italian restaurant off the beaten path. I got directions and we headed out into the city. We ended up getting lost (I later found out that I was looking at the wrong pinpoint on the map), but we discovered a lot of the city that we might not have seen otherwise. We witnessed a late night marathon and several Christmas markets. We found a busy street with several Thai places and decided to eat there instead. 

The next day we went to the Belgium Comic Book museum. It shows the history of famous French, Dutch and Belgian comics. Neither of us knew what to expect so we were pleased with our decision to go there. That night we were determined to find that Italian restaurant. I figured out the rest way to go this time and we were off. We walked about 30 minutes to a neighborhood outside of town only to realize that it was closed, just our luck. We walked back into town and ate at an authentic Italian restaurant. It got the job done for two famished girls. 

Yesterday was another proactive day and we went to the Museum of Natural Sciences. It was a thirty minute walk to a neighborhood called Ixelles, where Audrey Hepburn grew up. We ventured through a new part of town and came across some more beautiful sites. The museum was a success. Later that night we had plans to meet up with a native who knows some friends of Caroline's from the States. He showed us the spots were all of the locals go and gave us some good inside tips! So far Brussels has been a success and I am looking forward to venturing to the other famous Belgian cities!