Back on the road and back on the blog!
After a whole year of non-lengthy travel (due to school and internships), i’m finally back on the road for my exchange programme!
After an incredible comfortable flight on Qatar airways, I arrived in London for a quick pit-stop at my aunt’s place before embarking to the first destination of my pre-exchange travels….. BELGIUM 🇧🇪
First up, Brussels. A 5am rise for a 7am train was rough after a lengthy flight and hurried re-packing but the pleasant train ride made up for it. After navigating my way to the hostel, which was fantastic btw (MEININGER Bruxelles Gare du Midi), I headed out for the first thing I generally do in new cities, a free-walking tour. While being uncharacteristically unprepared for this short trip, the walking tour more than made up for it with good coverage over a number of major sites with extensive information on the history of the city. My knowledge on Belgian history, culture, language and politics massively spiked after the tour (as I did not know much previously). The day ended with a nice spontaneous plan with my friend Rivka coming to town to show me some local Belgian meatballs 😀
While suffering from adapting to the cold and jetlag, my second day was tough but nonetheless enjoyable. Visiting the EU and getting to see the hemicycle where the members sit has always been on my list so it was an incredible morning for me. There’s something about the hemicycle that made me feel rather optimistic about international peace despite the tumultuous time we seem to be going through now. The rest of the day was filled with wolfing down Belgian treats aka waffles and frites and a trip to the history museum, a must for a history enthusiast such as myself.
A quick train ride later, i was at Rivka’s (my friend mentioned earlier) place in the beautiful city of Antwerp. As I had got in late, the evening was mostly just relaxing at her incredible apartment in a building built in the 1920s!
The next morning I finally got to meet her boyfriend Nicholas, who was just great as advertised by Rivka. While I can be alittle bit awkward sometimes, our mutual interest in travel, cultures and science fiction made things natural from the get go.
After a Belgian breakfast, which is normal breakfast with a whole lot more chocolate added in, Rivka showed me around her hometown with pride that was well-substantiated. Antwerp is a beautiful city with a quaint vibe that is not commonly seen in big cities. We ran from the rain multiple times, Rivka explained how the city’s name originated from the Roman soldier Silvius Brabo and we got a pretty good view of Antwerp from the top of MAS museum. My second day in Antwerp was much more relaxed with a visit to a weekend market (where i had the best pork sandwich i’ve ever had as well as moroccan mint tea again!) and helping pick out (and putting up) a Christmas tree with my lovely hosts. My lovely stay in Antwerp (with my incredible hosts) ended with a night at two Christmas markets with Rivka’s delightful friends that involved pretty lights and good beer 😀
On a side note I’m pretty proud of the fact that i managed to cycle around Antwerp despite my mediocre skill at it!
Batmar :) 
Leave a comment