Brussels: A Winner has emerged!

Brussels, Belgium: land of beer, chocolate and waffles

This says it all. Of course I would love this place! How could anyone not love a place known for beer, chocolate and waffles? C'mon!

I just got back from a nice little weekend away in this land of sweet and savory treats! But I was pleasantly surprised by more than just the food in Brussels. The trip was organized by the Irish Permanent Mission to the United Nations and the first few days were filled with meetings and receptions that centered around a variety of work within the European Union.

A couple highlights of this more official part of the trip:

-We stayed with host families. This in theory sounds incredibly creepy. Staying in a person's home you have never met before? Yeah I'm not so into that but I got proven wrong this weekend. All of the hosts are staff from the Irish Office so with the heavy background screening required for Irish Foreign Service we knew that we were walking into a reasonably safe environment. My host was a young, cute Foreign Service officer who lived by herself in an awesome apartment in one of the cutest neighborhoods in Brussels! It sort of felt like we were sorority sisters (laugh away, I'm letting the cheesy come out). It was just so nice to be in a real house (not a dorm room).

-We learned a ton about the European Union and the complexity behind trying to create a unified policy among 27 countries who are still very much individuals. Besides the EU meetings we also got to spend some time at Google! Y'all go to work for Google (if only it were that simple). You have probably read some about this but it is just such a cool environment! We also had a reception at the Irish Ambassador to the EU's home and lunch with the US Ambassador to the EU!

-Brussels is like D.C. I spent my summer in DC and by the end was ready to come home (but this was largely because my tonsils were slowly killing the rest of my body-sorry that is gross). I know people have mixed feelings about DC, but one of the things that is really cool and that felt really similar in Brussels is the city is run by hoards of young people. Just like DC, Brussels offices end up being staffed with lots of young interns and staffers, all with an interest in politics. So you go to the bar and it is filled with 20-somethings in suits talking about policy. After life in a college town filled with teenagers dressed in short short skirts and high high heels talking about who threw up last night, the slightly older but still young crowd was refreshing.

After the "official" part of the trip was over a group of us hung around in Brussels for the weekend. Friday we experienced a classic Belgian dinner with mussels, fries and beer. Good stuff.

Saturday a few of us headed to Bruges for the day. The best way to describe Bruges-cute. It seems pretty clear that Bruges is a tourist hub. Luckily for us the weather hasn't warmed up and the sky is still grey in Belgium so the crowds are low but I get the feeling that come summertime Bruges is so crowded it might lose a bit of the "cuteness." In Bruges, like Brussels, I ate a lot of chocolate and drank some good beer.

Cathedral of the Holy Blood

So Bruges is kind of like a religious pilgrimage city. It is filled with really historic beautiful churches. This one claims to have a vile of Christ's blood, which you can pray over...for a fee, of course. 

Cute Waffles. I now have dreams about the smell of waffles that covers the entire country of Belgium

the cute streets of Bruges

just cute

I hope one day I can get back to Brussels and Bruges! I would love to make stops there on a larger trip of France!

Cheers Yall!
 chelsea