Day four was not in fact in Amsterdam! This was a last-minute addition to my Europe trip. The night before I left for Ireland, I decided to add Brussels, Belgium to my itinerary. Once you are actually there, travelling around Europe, is reasonably cheap. I was able to book a train on the Eurostar within my student budget and decided to do it. Why not??
I woke up bright and early at 5:45 am to catch an Uber to the central station. This time I actually got on the correct train. I was anxiously waiting for the conductor to come around because at first, I thought I might be on my way to Paris. Turns out the train was bound for Paris with a stop in Brussels. All was good and I ended up in the correct country! Once I arrived in Brussels I made my way to the city center where I picked up a free walking tour. Although our guide was relatively new he did a fantastic job! A native of the city made him a great guide. Of course, my tour group was mainly American tourists...there was one Brit! After touring the most iconic points of the old town, we stopped at a bar for a midday beer. I felt myself slowly tipping over the edge of exhaustion. Getting up early and drinking a strong Belgium beer on an empty stomach most certainly contributed to my weariness. After the tour had wrapped up, I sat on the steps overlooking a beautiful garden to eat my packed lunch. Although it was a little chilly, I was able to curl up on the steps and enjoy the view.
On the tour, we passed the Museum of Music which happened to be a stop my friend had recommended to me. I was more interested in the architecture of the building and its history as an old store, which was called The Old England, rather than the music itself. Contrary to Amsterdam, I did not find English translations as often in Brussels. This museum did not offer an English audio tour and there wasn't much written for the exhibits either. So although I enjoyed looking at the instruments, which if you asked, I honestly couldn't tell you much about. As I left the museum around 2pm I thought I smelt a fire. My first instinct was to look at the building I just came out of. I couldn't see any signs of a fire and no one seemed to be in a panic so I felt a little confused. I thought I could see smoke in the sky so I walked up the hill towards it. When I was unable to find a source of the smell and the smoke, I didn't give it much more thought. Later that evening when I returned back to Amsterdam I realised that there was actually a fire in Brussels! A waffle house caught flames and caused the source of black smoke hovering over the city. I was too far away from the factory to have realized this at the time.
After leaving the museum I had planned to go back to a chocolate shop I passed on my tour and buy some very very very lavish chocolates. As I made my way there I found myself caught in a complete downpour. I should have known... the rain will follow me everywhere! While everyone else took cover, I continued to walk on. I didn't know how long it would last and I thought it would make more sense to just make my way to the destination instead of hanging around outside someone's door.
I was wrong. I was soaked.
Redemption came when I found the chocolate shop. This shop had stood out to me on our tour because of it's very renowned history. Mary Delluc founded her chocolate shop in 1919. She decided to dedicate her life to the artisan craft of creating chocolate. All of the shops today still hand make every single one of their chocolates. They have also had the honour of receiving the Certified Royal Warrant Holder of Belgium, in 1990 which has been renewed twice since then. This really hit my feminist core and I immediately knew this was where I wanted to buy my chocolate. I walked away with the most beautiful packaging of boxed chocolates which I came to understand was specifically designed for the royal family.
The afternoon brought a relaxing and much-needed latte and some peaceful reading in a cafe a few stores down. I wandered around the city exploring all of the little side streets and finally found myself a proper Belgium Waffle. I have to say, the Vermont Waffles you find on the ski slopes are actually a decent comparison! After enjoying a delicious Belgium Waffle topped with Nutella, I made my way back to the station. A train and a tram ride later I found myself back at my Amsterdam apartment by 9pm where I passed out from exhaustion. Another fantastic day on my wonderful travels.
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