brussels: hits & misses

You probably already guessed from my last post: Brussels wasn’t our favorite. We had braced ourselves for this! When you plan a multi-city vacation, there’s always the chance that at least one place will disappoint. Luckily, we had a few places we loved, too. SO naturally, I thought it necessary to combine all of the above for a lil round-up of our Brussels hits & misses.

Hits

 Aroma Cafe (now closed) // This place was right on Grand Place so I’m assuming it was overpriced and touristy, but we were in a daze. All we wanted was our Belgian waffle and some pretty views, and it hit the spot.

Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert // We didn’t even really shop, mostly just wandered through, but this was a nice, relaxing break.

The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula // Oddly enough, I’m a sucker for a pretty cathedral. The chapel here was one of the most gorgeous I’ve ever seen.

Delirium Cafe // This was one of our highlights of Brussels. The atmosphere was so much fun, the bartenders were helpful, and its location on a tiny side street meant a fun walk there.

Wittamer // This chocolatier was on Place du Grand Sablon, which we were told was the must-stop place for Belgian chocolates. We agree.

Misses

Hotel Welcome // Honestly, we picked Hotel Welcome based solely on Tripadvisor reviews. We got what we deserved for doing that. Our room was Bali themed, and though I have yet to go, I have a feeling it wasn’t much like Bali. Most bizarrely, they were overly insistent that you can NEVER eat in your rooms. Though you can drink wine.

From their vending machine.

Manneken Pis // Hey, Brussels: I need to know more about why, exactly, this is such a huge tourist attraction??

The Museum of Musical Instruments // On day 2, when we were scraping for things to do, we turned to Google. One of the top recommendations with overwhelmingly good reviews was this museum. People literally wrote that they spent 3-4 hours in this museum. Three to four hours. You know what these people spent 3-4 hours doing? Walking around with headphones, plugging them into different displays to listen to how the instrument sounds. You know when that’s the worst idea for a museum ever? When you hire a staff who doesn’t change out the batteries, the sounds don’t match the instruments, and every other instrument is a harpsichord.

Mini Europe // After we exhausted the Museum of Musical Instruments (so like, 20 minutes later), we went onto the next thing people apparently do when in Brussels. Mini Europe. You know what Mini Europe really is? The world’s most intricate mini golf course, without the mini golf.

Atomium // When you travel this far to see Mini Europe, you don’t skip the Atomium. I honestly felt like we were in a UFO, and it made me anxious.

(yes, that is Mini Europe from above. i.e. the Mini-est Europe you can imagine)

If you have time…

Galerie des Minimes // This was such a random find, but we had so much fun exploring this warehouse-type antique shop. They had everything from antique furniture to a somewhat creepy taxidermy collection of moose heads, tigers, and bears. It was cool, we swear.

La Villette // The ambiance was cute, the staff was nice, the food was fine. Not a bad stop if you’re in the neighborhood (right near St. Catherine’s Church).

I Latini // Also near St. Catherine’s (our hotel neighborhood), this was similar to La Villette in that it was close and everything was perfectly pleasant.

Up next: LONDON!

xo!

the romantic