3 days in Belgium

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​Hey!!

I’m Zelie-Louise, Bridget’s 3rd daughter and I am 20 years old. I am crazy about travel, new experiences, and embracing different cultures! I moved to Europe from Virginia 4 years ago, and have been traveling around in my free time since then. Recently, over my fall break, I went and visited Belgium, (my 22nd country so far by the way!!) and here’s what I loved and want to share with you!

First of all, waffles. I’ll get back to you on that 😉

Let me try this again…

 I spent a mere three days there, but crammed those in with as much as I could see! I went to Bruges, Ghent, as well as Brussels — they each had so much character about them, and were different and complementary to each other. The one thing I did in each place which was the same was … eat a waffle! (really should get back to you about these!)

quick & fun facts:

Every store you go to, they’ll greet you in a different language! French, English, Flemish, German…it was always a fun guessing game prior to entering the shops as to which language we’d be greeted in.

You can buy delicious waffles on literally every.single.corner. — delicious.

And their hot chocolate is the bomb.com.

Now It just sounds like I’m only going to speak to you about consumables!!

A bonus was that the fall weather was PERFECT and made everything seem even more magical. Though I haven’t had the pleasure to be there in different seasons, I’d certainly recommend this time of year. Between the colored leaves overtop the cute waterways, or the opportunity to walk around with Belgian hot chocolate held in your hands while you window shop … (I promise I don’t only eat and drink while I’m traveling! But that’s a huge part…you have to embrace the culture and all. *insert wink face*) There was really no better way to see a new place.

I  was based in Ghent, and took a day trip to Bruges and visited Brussels the day I had to get to the airport. I bought a plane ticket for the evening and dropped my bags off at the train station, then walked around! It was rather simple that way. I didn’t move around three times, but instead had a place to stay the whole time in one location.

As I didn’t have much time, I just walked through the streets and tried to soak in as much as the area as possible. But here are some suggestions of “must-sees” that you should add to your list when you go!

For Bruges, I’d most definitely recommend this park which I almost actually missed!! Don’t make my mistake. The one on the side near Hendrik Pickery, the walk and view along that river is breathtaking. It’s very near the train station.

For Ghent, thanks to my friend who was with me, we got to go to this super unique shot bar, which was all local. Decent prices, a huge variety (seriously, they even had cactus flavored ones…) and a really fun atmosphere. http://www.dreupelkot.be/ I’d definitely recommend going there for a good start to the night! Right next door is a brewery, so you don’t have to walk too far for the next stop in your bar hopping.

In Brussels, a fun activity which I did around the Royal Palace of Brussels was walk down the street and try to name of all the flags that were on the embassies building fronts. Needless to say, I need a bit of studying in that department. But seriously, they’re all gathered around that area and it makes for a fun activity to learn, sight see, and think of how we can help achieve and peace in our everyday’s. But I’m not here to get political, merely to tell you how amazing Belgium is! Seriously, add it to your bucket list! Oh, and GO CHECK SOME THINGS OFF! Get out there!

Xoxo!

Follow me on instagram at zelielouise.turpin or spreadyoursmile_ for photography and fun tidbits of my life, travel, & hopefully some inspiration!