Two Dorks in Belgium

 Hello there!😊

How's it all going? Time to share our Belgium trip (4 to 6 May 2024) with you all!😁

Saturday:
We took the Eurostar to Brussels at 10:01 (please arrive at least 1 - 1.5hrs before). Besides the stopover at Lille, the trip was comfortable and uneventful. K slept most of the way while I worked on the last post because I can't ever fall asleep on a train or plane. 😬

We arrived at Brussels around lunch time - my favourite time of the day - and took the metro to the city centre. We observed two things:

1. The tube is reminiscent of the Paris metro. It is cleaner than the Paris one, but not by much. 🙄
2. It is legal for humans to walk on the tracks ... 😲 Yes! They literally walked from one platform to another by crossing the tracks. Now, having live in London, we are all too familiar with the amount of times the tube stalled in the tunnels or got delayed because "someone fell on the tracks". Hence, this was mind-blowing to us!

As we were early, we decided to google for food near the hotel to fuel up. Google reviews did not disappoint. We had a delicious lunch at Ballekes which serves traditional Belgian meatballs and fries (as evident by K's face). We ordered 1) shrimp kroket 2) bacon cheese belgian fries (t'was a lil dense and soft) 3) classic beef ball in classic tomato sauce (our fave!) and 4) chicken ball with belgian cheese sauce 😋 Total was €27.50.

                

When in Belgium, waffles is a must. We managed to fit one waffle with nutella sauce in our stomachs after our lunch and checked in at Novotel Brussels City Centre. We were a little early but the staff were really nice and gave us a room! (K used to work at Accor and swears by them)

After a quick power nap, we headed to the Belgian Chocolate Workshop. I normally have a very low attention span given my ADHD but it was so much fun!! We spent 2 hrs and 30mins making praline and mendiant. Everything was delicious! It really is down to the quality of chocolate used. For the most part, I made a mess and stuffed myself with as much chocolate as I could while acting like a clown - as I always do 😝 - while K tried her best to not get distracted by my disruptive self (see how professional she is). 😂 The workshop costs €44.60 (including booking fee) per person. The accountant (i.e K) said it was very worth it as we went home with 21 pralines and 5 - 7 mendiants each. If you think about it, store bought chocolates would probably cost you the same! But without important knowledge and skills like tempering the chocolate, what is the perfect thickness of the chocolate shell, secret ingredient (it's not sugar) of ganache etc.

Sunday:

Before we went to catch our train to Brügge (or Bruges), we stopped by the Grand Place to beat the crowds and get a people-free photos as much as possible. Unfortunately, we were too early for the renowned Manneken Pis to get dressed for the day. One participant at the work shop shared that he was in a firefighter's costume the previous day. Shame.

Unlike Paris, Brussels is not an early city. We settled on a Maccies breakfast - which made me very happy! (I love maccies!) - K was very excited too because the breakfast menu had a set containing scrambled eggs, bacon and (McMuffin?) bun. Let me tell you, I have never met anyone who loves eggs more than my girlfriend 😂 Sadly, they were unable to make scrambled eggs that morning (even though they could make bacon egg McMuffin)😕 She was annoyed, and hangry, so the photo below is me trying to cheer her up! 😂

After breakfast, we went to Brussels Midi/Zuid station to catch our 09:26 train to Brügge. Boy oh boy, I will never complain about TFL again (this is a lie). I will try my best not to complain about TFL. The trains/platform in Brussels is like playing musical chairs. We missed our first train because we weren't aware that the platform had changed. Announcements were not in English! After learning our lesson the first time, as with many other non-locals, we went to another platform to catch the next train. However, the train got delayed and changed platform leading to a mad scramble. In total, we changed platforms three times! And the train kept getting delayed! A little bit mental to be honest. It took us about an hour at Brussels Midi/Zuid station before we finally managed to get on the train to Brügge. 😪

Brügge was amazing! A lovely surprise and a complete shift from Brussels. It is beautiful and magical, full of colour, music and fresh air - our best day trip by far. We were thankful the weather held its side of the bargain. It was wonderful - sunny but not too warm. The city was just incredibly picturesque and welcoming (pictures don't do it justice! We shall brush up on our photo-taking skills)

We found a lovely Italian restaurant called Amuni and treated ourselves to another round of delicious food to celebrate our break (and good news). We took a little stroll, did a little shopping (K randomly stumbled upon a toy store and found a cuckoo clock resembling the one her family had when she was a kid) and then rested in the park for a bit before heading back to Brussels.

Monday:

Atomium was planned for our last day. However, we were so focused on getting me some new clothes for my new job (good excuse for a mini shopping spree) that we completely forgot about it! Better luck next time. 😅Tax exemption for non-EU residents can be a very motivating factor. Do note that EU citizens will need to prove that you are not a resident of an EU country in order to claim VAT refund. (i.e main country of residence is not in the EU/taxpayer of non-EU country).

Unlike Paris's Eurostar immigration and customs, Brussels Eurostar tax refund process is a little more complicated.

1. Locate the customs office after passport and luggage checks (right beside the toilets)
2. Dial the number listed on the sign and let them know that you need a VAT refund
3. Prepare your completed VAT form(s), physical receipt(s) (digital receipt is rejected) and purchased products for checks
4. Custom office will stamp your completed VAT form(s)
5. Mail the stamped VAT form(s) to Global Blue processing centre in Slovakia, Europe

That's all folks. Our Belgium trip in a nutshell! Hope you enjoyed reading about it. Catch you on the next one! 👋