PostGrad Travels: Part 1

Hello friends, happy Monday! Well...as happy as a Monday can get. I've finally uploaded my hundreds of photos from my trip to share with y'all. I'm so excited to show you everything I saw and did on my trip!

Since I took so many photos, I'm going to break this up amongst several posts. I was there 10 days after all! Today I'm going to cover my first few days in Belgium. Specifically, my time in Brussels. Just for a little background...I stayed in Brussels my entire time in Belgium but visited Brugge and Ghent via the train for day trips. 

This post is going to be super lengthy, but a huge aspect of this blog is to scrapbook my PostGrad life so feel free to skim :)

For getting to Brussels I took the weirdest flight path. I went from Charlotte-->Toronto-->Montreal-->Brussels. It was a weird path but went smoothly. Only minor delays in leaving Montreal but I didn't sweat it because I didn't have to worry about catching another plane. I surprisingly liked this path because it meant that my longest flight was only 6.5 hours and it was a redeye so I just slept.

I was excited that I had the seat to myself. 

Had an American dinner...in Canada :) Side note, this was my first "time" in Canada and I was blown away with how kind everyone was!

By the time my final flight came around I was ready to go!

I landed there around 10 am their time. I went to my Airbnb to get settled before walking around. I took a taxi from the airport to my flat. I stayed in the St. Catherine and walked around the stands by the church.

Isn't Saint Catherines beautiful?

I love that the outside says "Amen." :)

I was pretty exhausted (more to come on that later) so I basically just visited and walked around Saint Catherine's and decided to start fresh the next day. The next morning I was up and at them. I was trying to find a yummy European breakfast and coffee. I found the perfect spot and actually went 2 more times on my trip as well.

My delicious breakfast. I love that Europeans eat so much bread. I ate so many croissants I can't even count.

I walked out of the restaurant and saw a beautiful building at the end of the street. I went up to look around and realized it was a finance exhibit/museum. How perfect for this finance nerd?? The panorama is of the art work that is supposed to show the conflicting thoughts and theories of the stock market.

For my fellow finance nerds, this museum is the former home of the Belgian stock exchange. There are 2 lions outside...one with it's head up...

...and one with it's head down. They are supposed to represent bullish and bearish markets.

I had to take a solo shot outside of the museum.

Isn't it beautiful? I love the decorated street.

The Grand Market is fabulous. I spent a lot of time going through the buildings, walking around, taking in the beauty.

Fun fact about Belgium...there are cartoons and graffiti throughout the city. They're known for it. I specifically loved this one.

I had to do my Dad proud and went to the beer museum. I'm not a beer drinker...yuck! Pass the wine.

I also ate the famous Belgian fries with mayo. Okay, I know that sounds gross but their mayo is very different than ours. More creamy and flavorful. 

Later that night I had a waffle with nutella and strawberries. Slays me.

The next day I hit it early again. I also conquered my fear of public transportation...I'll touch on that later too! My goal for the day was to explore around the Royal Palace and the Atomium. Here I am outside of the park. 

Belgium in the fall makes me smile.

The Royal Palace is stunning, of course!

I spent a lot of time around the palace and all the EU buildings but I don't want this post to go on till Wednesday. That evening I hopped on the metro and went to see the Atomium. Honestly, I'm glad I went because it's a quintessential Belgian sightseeing spot but it was kind of boring. There, I said it.

Well, I hit the highlights of my first few day in Brussels. I wish I could post them all, but that would bore you to tears :) Come back here on Wednesday for November goals! Next week, more travel recaps, promise. Love you all xoxo