Ah, Belgium. Magical land from my most precious dreams. How I miss you so.

Following Paris, we took the high-speed train to Brussels, Europe’s unofficial capitol city. The official languages spoken in Brussels are both French and Dutch – and most everyone we encountered also spoke English. At times, I’ll admit – this was pretty convenient.

We stayed in a perfectly designed, modern studio apartment I found on Airbnb that included two bottles of Leffe Blonde ale in our mini-fridge left by the previous travelers (huge shoutout to those previous travelers!). I do miss that apartment. I’ve seriously considered moving in permanently.

Each day we walked through the Grand-Place (pictured), basically the to city square full of shops and touristy waffle counters. The centuries-old gilded buildings were most impressive, inciting lots of neck craning and cell phone selfies (guilty!). Even more popular, though, was Brussels’ (unofficial?) mascot – a bronze fountain only a few streets away, the beloved Manneken-Pis. Atop the fountain is a statue of a small boy (Manneken-Pis) relieving himself with such a laissez-faire attitude, you can’t help but adore him. Replicas of Manneken-Pis appear throughout the city – they even dress him up in costumes for special occasions! Seriously, he even has his own wardrobe.

(Again – anyone looking for a roommate in Brussels?)

Sidenote: squatting Jeanneke-Pis (Manneken’s little sister) was erected in the 1980s as a counterpoint to Manneken-Pis, but is not nearly as popular. Also not pictured here.

Anyway – though our time in Belgium was largely spent drinking delicious beer and eating delicious waffles (and CHOCOLATE, obviously), we enjoyed a fair amount of culture and exploration. We spent an entire afternoon at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, which included the René Magritte Museum and also a stellar exhibit by Andres Serrano. We took a day trip to Bruges, a quaint Medieval town dubbed “Venice of the North,” where we toured De Halve Maan brewery and climbed the Belfort belltower (as seen in the film In Bruges). Also pictured is Queen Astrid park where, in the film, one of the characters attempts to “off” himself. To my overwhelming surprise, the park was quite peaceful, actually.

Our last day in Belgium was spent at Atomium, a futuristic-looking structure built for the 1958 World’s Fair in Brussels. You can take the elevator up to the top and look out, and then escalators throughout the rest of the structure, stopping at each level for different city views and to read up on its history. Atomium was great. A short train ride from the city center – I highly recommend it if you’ve got the time.

I left a part of my heart in Belgium. Believe me, I will return.

Thanks for looking! Next up: Amsterdam.