Amy Goes to Brussels | Photo Diary Part 2

Hey Guys!

If you read my previous post you will know that at the end of March I went to Brussels with the Media Society from uni and spent 4 days and 3 nights exploring Brussels ❤ 

The first two days of my trip are shown in my previous post, part one. So, if you haven't read that one yet check that out and then come back for day three and four in part two! :)

Day 3 

On the Monday we did have to get up quite early as we had a comic book museum tour booked and needed to get the metro over to the location so we grabbed breakfast and headed for the centre of Brussels. It didn't take long and it was a really nice walk to the museum so we took our time strolling and then arrived at the Belgian Comic Strip Center to meet our tour guide. I thought that we would have a tour around the museum and see different examples of comic book artists work but it turns out that our tour was around the city to see different comic strips that had been transferred on to walls around the Brussels :)

So for a couple of hours we walked all around the city of Brussels seeing various different comic strip artists work like Herge's work on 'The Adventures of Tin Tin' and a large art piece showing 'Asterix and Obelix'. Our tour guide also gave us some great information and facts on Brussels and Belgium. It was as if we were on a history tour!

Our tour guide took us down this one street where there were loads of waffle places and recommended a few different combinations to try! So after he finished the tour near the Grand Place and we said goodbye a few of us went to find the waffle shops and stopped for a mini snack before lunch❤ There were so many different shops doing different types it was hard to choose but going for the classic liege waffle and Belgian chocolate was the best option :)  

The next activity scheduled for the day was visiting the Parliamentarian so before heading over to that part of the city we went to the Grand Place to find lunch and sit in the sun before starting to walk again. When we did get to the Parliamentarian we put all our belongings into a locker and then you go round with a little head set and as you go to different parts around the centre it tells you information on how the European Union was formed and how treaties were signed and historical agreements were made. Then you hear about how the EU  has developed over the years. It was quite interesting seeing how it all came about and how all these collaborations stopped many conflicts arising again. We were suppose to go to actual Parliament but because Article 50 and Brexit was taking place that week no visitors were allowed access and therefore we had to go for the next best thing!  

 After the Parliamentarian we had nothing else scheduled for the day and instead of eating out like we had for the past couple of nights we decided to go back to our hostel and have pizza and drinks there :) A large Hawaiian pizza was 2 euros in our hostel and we were going to head back out that evening for more drinks and to visit the Irish bar again so by having dinner at the hostel it meant we had longer to get ready and head into the city  ❤ 

We headed out after everyone was ready and like the night before we visited our favourite Irish bar Celtica, the Irish singer wasn't there but there was great music and some other students from around the UK so we had a great time in there singing very loud. Then after leaving Celtica we were looking for a club but a lot of places were already closed so we ended going back to Delirium and ending the night there! 

 Day 4

After having only three or four hours sleep we packed all our things into our bags and suitcases, got breakfast and then put our luggage in the hostel's luggage room to collect later. Seeing as it was our last day and we were going to be heading to the airport a bit later to fly home we didn't want to carry all our luggage around and would come back to collect it before going to the airport :)

After all sorting our luggage we all got on the metro and headed to the Atomium, Belgium's famous monument which was built for the World Fair in 1958. When we arrived we all took photos outside, put rucksacks and coats in lockers then headed inside. The amount of stairs and escalators you have to take makes it a whole workout haha! You go up right to the top in an lift but then you have to work your way back down by stairs and escalators. The view from the top though was extraordinary! And seeing the different exhibitions they had was great! I thought the monument would just be a quick tour but they has so much information and the exhibition on the Concorde and other aeroplane companies and how they operated in the past was really good!

We relaxed in the sun for a bit while we waited for everyone to finish going around the monument and then we all headed back to central Brussels to get lunch before collecting our luggage from the hostel and heading to the airport. 

Ending up at the Grand Place again we all got something to eat for lunch, explored some local chocolate places for souvenirs and then sunbathed on the cobbles again like the past couple of afternoons  ❤ 

Most people had gone and brought chocolate for relatives and friends back home and then when we realised it was around 2pm we departed to go back to the hostel to get our luggage. Two of my friends were flying to London and not back to Manchester so we said goodbye to them and they continued to explore around the Grand Place while we got back on the metro. 

Once all bags were collected we got back on the metro again and went to the location the shuttle bus from the airport dropped us off last time. Luckily the shuttle bus that would take us back to the airport had just arrived so we all got on to the bus and like when we first arrived we all slept until we arrived back at Charleroi Brussels Airport around 5:30pm. After checking in, going through security and waiting to board our plane, which was due to take off at 9:55pm, we had food, played games and slept. A lot of us were exhausted from the trip so most people were just napping or sat talking. It was a very long wait in the airport and seemed to go so slowly but eventually we boarded our plane and headed home. Landing in Manchester at 10:20pm!

The trip to Brussels was amazing, we all bonded and got to know each other more throughout the trip. We made great friendships and memories and hopefully next year we will be able to go on another trip together! Joining the media society was a great experience for my first year at uni and being able to travel with great people was so worth it! ❤ 

See you on Sunday my lovelies! ❤ 

Amy xx