As I went to prep this blog post, I realized that the last time I shared anything here was 3.5 years ago!! And what a lot has happened since our last time off the soil of the lower 48. The birth of our son, job changes, a whole WORLDWIDE pandemic, all our debt paid off and our first house purchased… SO MUCH! And of course lots of little trips within the states. Florida, Indiana, Ohio & Chicago to see family. New Orleans, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Seattle, Atlanta, D.C. & Louisville for work/weddings & exploration.
We had to cancel 6 different trips at the beginning of 2020 & have been ultra cautious in our travels since. I’m still sad about our cancelled trip to Cuba (a dream 8 years in the making and now not likely to happen anytime soon) but am so grateful for the many opportunities & trips that have still taken place!
We’ve been saving for a trip to Europe since we got married but then baby & pandemic kept pushing it off. I’ve had a friend (Kaelyn) in Brussels for a while and when we found out that our friend Emily was going to be living in Antwerp for several months, we knew it was time to try and make the trip happen! My brother Johann got stationed in Germany soon after we booked tickets and that further directed our itinerary for the 10 day trip. My sister Ellyn also decided to come with us!
I spent all of 2021 bouncing between self-quarantining and being really strict with who I was around (even once vaccinated) because I just could not risk getting Covid before any weddings. Even as we booked our flights for this trip, we held our plans super loosely knowing that anything could happen. Sure enough, Omicron started taking off in the weeks before we were supposed to leave which made everything incredibly stressful. Long story short, after a ton of back and forth, prayers & conversations, we still felt comfortable going forward with the trip thanks to 1/ being vaccinated and 2/ Europe having intense precautions in place.
Needless to say, we didn’t let out a sigh of relief until we walked *past* customs in Belgium— fully having anticipated the whole way that we might be turned back at some step in the journey.
Due to the insanity of life in fall of 2021, the furthest I got in our trip planning before leaving was to decide which cities we were visiting + book trains/lodging. So all of our exploration was the result of lots of googling the night before (or morning of) arriving in each city! (Plus the guidance of friends in Brussels & Antwerp). It really worked out well because we only had enough time in each place to see the main sites anyway. Not to mention, COVID dynamics were ever changing so we had to be ultra flexible. (I won’t elaborate on all the covid details since things have already changed dramatically and it won’t be helpful to anyone!)
I’m not typically one to pursue the tourist sites when traveling but have found that it’s almost always worth it when traveling in the EU because there is just so much history! So I’m a firm believer that if you only have 24-36 hours in a European city, go ahead and tackle a few of the top sites while staying in or near the city center. You can always come back at a later date and explore more!
Kaelyn & her husband Matt were so kind to host us as we got over our jet lag in Brussels! This was Ellyn and Brian’s first take on any Euro city so it was really special to get to watch them experience it!
We began our day at the Park du Cinquantenaire (Jubilee Park created by King Leopold II in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Belgian Revolution) and walked all the way down to the historic city center through the European Quarter (embassies & Belgian government buildings), past the Place of Brussels, the Mont des Arts and past the Cathedral of St. Michael & St. Gudula (completed in 1519AD). St Gudula’s was the first of many gothic cathedrals we would visit throughout our trip and was awe inspiring on so many levels. It also had a massive display of Nativities from all around the world which was amazing to see.
Brussels Grand Place was decorated for Christmas and the ornate gold on the buildings was stunning! It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the crown jewel is Brussels’ Town Hall. Technically over 600 years old (the original was burned down in 1695 but was quickly rebuilt), the gothic architecture in the city center had a very Netherland feel. There were Belgian Waffle shops everywhere you turned but Kaelyn told us to go the local route & get a simple liege waffle hot from Maison Dandoy. Bvinoy was it phenomenal! Thanks to the Christmas markets, vin chaud (hot wine) was in abundance as we walked around and we got to try that too.
The Galeries Royale is the oldest shopping arcade in Europe and was made even more beautiful by the Christmas installations at each shop! We met up with Kaelyn & Matt here at golden hour after they got off work and it was lovely! Then they took us on a little loop of some places we hadn’t seen yet (Square du Petit Sablon & Church of Our Lady of Victories at Sablon) before we tucked into their favorite neighborhood sushi spot for dinner.
Next up: Paris!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.