Brussels, BelGEM

Having to get from Copenhagen to Brussels in one hit was no easy ride so we stopped in Cologne after an overnight train for a few hours.

Cologne was beautiful, and we managed to find a market place whilst walking past Cologne Cathedral where there was a cheap sushi bowl restaurant.

After a bit of time to relax at the Starbucks at the train station, we headed off for Brussels.

We got into our Airbnb in the late afternoon, welcomed by our airbnb host Dries, he let us settle in and then directed us to a Moroccan Restaurant Restaurant L'Emir. Brilliant food for a great price! Could not highlight going here more if you are in the Sint-Pieters-Leeuw area of Brussels.

We had a relatively slow morning highlighted by our Airbnb host - Dries - waking us up to a cup of coffee/tea and a freshly squeezed orange juice.

Dries recommended all the nice (and free) places to visit in the city. There was so much to see!

Dries recommended dropping into the Moroccan markets on our way to the city, which was PACKED. Not that I have been to Morocco, but it genuinely felt like we were there. Clothes, food, people EVERYWHERE. It was a little overwhelming to be honest, so when it began to rain we squeezed our way out and walked our way to the city.

The city is wonderous. We took some funny photos with the Manneken Pis, enjoyed the awe of Grand Place, and made our way down to the Royal Palace of Brussels.

I even managed to convince Skye to try some Belgian Fries as we sat on the steps of the Brussels Stock Exchange, and later we shared a Belgian Waffle - this is a must!

We finished the day walking through Brussels Red Light District - which I could not recommend less! It might have been the scariest place I've ever seen. So that was our cue to head home.

Another slow morning getting out of bed, and this time Dries was out so we had to make our own coffee/tea. Dries did return late in the morning though and recommended to take some of his bikes and discover the surrounding areas of Sint-Pieters-Leeuw.

A long-term cycling enthusiast, Dries knew all the routes and directed us along a 2 hour bike ride that would lead us to Kasteel van Gaasbeek. We realised that it was a 2 hour round trip for Dries, and not for us as it took us about 2 hours just to get to the castle - the half way point.

We dropped our bikes at one of the entrances and took the castle's park through the trees to see the castle. A beautiful castle to visit, and because it is so far from the city there was barely a sole there aside from the locals who were floating about.

We had a problem though, we hadn't eaten all day and it was nearing 2:00pm. The only place that was open near by was the Gaasbeek Ice Cream Bar - the ice cream that would save our life. Ice cream has never tasted so good, and whether it was the fact that we hadn't eaten all day or whether it actually was that good, I would still recommend it.

We arrived home late in the afternoon and after a rest we headed into town to see the annual Beer and Jazz Festival held in Brussels' Grand Place and the surrounding areas.

This might have been one of our favourite nights in all of Europe. And, we were even surprised by our friend Kristian once again who stumbled into Brussels on his way to Amsterdam.

Late May seems like the time to be in Brussels!