Belgium

     I recently spent some time in Antwerp and Brussels, two great cities in Belgium. My stay in these cities was significantly less touristy than my visits to Paris, London, and Amsterdam and while that is due in part to sheer exhaustion, credit is really due to the fact that I stayed with family rather than booking a hotel room. My aunt, uncle and cousin showed us around Belgium and allowed us a more relaxed visit filled with sufficient down time.

{train station on our way from Paris to Brussels}

      We spent our first day in Antwerp just sitting around the house and taking a break from the constant sight-seeing. The next morning, we set out to explore Brussels, where we went to the Atomium. While the tourist attraction offered some great views of the city, it was definitely something we could have skipped. The exhibits inside the Atomium are fairly redundant and quite frankly, boring. But on the bright side, we grabbed some great food at a nearby pub and then set out to the mall for some leisurely window shopping.

 

{the Atomium}

      We went off to Amsterdam the following day (you can read all about that here), but the day after was spent exploring Antwerp. My brother and I had been craving bubble tea and we found a little café on Yelp. We're both huge fans of the drink and have tried nearly every place near our home in New Jersey, so we were fairly shocked to discover that this chain, which is both relatively small and new to Belgium, was as great as it was. Hands down, this is the best bubble tea that I have ever had. My brother grabbed a watermelon tea with popping cherry boba and I got chai milk tea with coffee jelly. If you're anything like my mother, you'll probably find the combinations we chose to be unappealing in theory. But take our word for it; these drinks were delicious. In fact, we both downed our drinks and walked back immediately for seconds.

{8tea5, the coolest bubble tea franchise, available in the Netherlands and Belgium}

{my bubble tea}

 {décor in 8tea5}

      After walking around a bit more, we stopped by the Brabo fountain and grabbed some snacks. 

 {the Brabo fountain}

 {view of Antwerp}

 {Belgian waffle}

      Admittedly, I was not as excited to visit Belgium as I was to see London, Paris and Amsterdam, but the country is truly beautiful. There is plenty to see and do and the food is great, and the overall vibes and atmospheres of the cities we visited were so different and interesting. I definitely plan on visiting again.

      Did I miss anything on my trip? Let me know in the comments below! And as always, thanks to our readers and supporters. We appreciate you more than you know!

~V