My Big Fat Belgian Weekend.

Yes. I think I'm funny for that title. No. I'm not sorry about it.

Day one.

A group in Paris known as Club International des Jeunes à Paris hosted an excursion to Belgium for the weekend. The day started very early for me. We were to meet in Paris on the stairs of the Opera building at six in the morning. I was so excited for the trip that I wasn't even bothered by the lack of sleep I got. We met for the bus at six. I knew no one and I wasn't familiar with the group. I arrived to find a small group of people on the stairs. I found an American girl who was also traveling alone and we decided to travel together (i.e. sit together on the bus.) She was studying abroad and preferred to speak in French which I was happy to do.

After our two hour bus ride, we arrived in Bruges, our first stop in Belgium. We were given a guided tour of the city by a local who showed us around and told us about the history of the country and the city. After our tour, we had free time to get some food, see some sights and do whatever we liked. For "lunch" we each got a serving of Belgian fries, some Belgian beer and as much Belgian chocolate as we could carry.

We had some extra time after seeing the main sights of the city and enjoying the Square, so we went to Choco-Story-The Chocolate Museum of Belgium (Wijnzakstraat 2.) With our tickets we got a chocolate bar which was a great start! There was a lot to see in the museum including a floor that described the history of chocolate and it's uses as well as how ancient cultures used the beans. They went on the describe how the modern-day chocolate was made.

After getting lost and making it back to the bus late, we left Bruges and headed to Brussels.

We arrived and checked into our hostel. Despite being extremely tired, we decided to go out and explore the city a bit before heading to bed. We got dinner and sat under the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula (Place Sainte-Gudule) for the evening.

Day two.

Sunday morning we woke up with a free day to do whatever we liked. We wanted to go to the Musée de la Bande Dessinée (Rue des Sables 20.) Otherwise known as the Comics Art Museum. In general, I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan of Comics, but I'm a huge fan of art. This was an incredible museum. It had a thriving gift shop of famous comics, but beyond that there was a really detailed history of comics and the role they played in the media and entertainment throughout their history. I'd recommend this museum and even venture to say that I'd like to go again. We spent the remainder of the day (which wasn't much) walking around and enjoying the sights. We met up with a friend studying in the city who showed us around and took us to the highest point in the city.

I wasn't very impressed with the city ato be honest. I'd like to go again and see a bit more of the "Capitol of Europe" side of it.

Overall, I had a great time in Belgium and it has me wanting to see more.