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View of Brussels, Belgium from Palais de Justice
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Booked a last minute trip to Belgium: not to see Brussels but rather for an Avicii concert in Antwerp, Belgium. Here’s the shortened version of our trip to one amazing concert, including meeting some great people and traveling through two cities.
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| Avicii concert in Antwerp, Belgium |
We booked our tickets a few days before the concert and attempted to plan our whole trip in two days. Why Antwerp, Belgium of all places? Simply because it was the only place in Europe Avicii had not been sold out. Avicii, is a Swedish DJ well known for his hit 'Levels' and also his new album 'True'. Up for a new experience, especially one that included an electronic concert in Europe we made our way to Antwerp.
After successfully arriving at our hostel, and meeting fellow Americans, we managed to navigate our way to Sportpaleis for the concert. The concert was dynamic, and afterward we hopped around Antwerp with new friends until we finally returned to our hostel. Up early the next day, we grabbed a few maps and set out to find the oldest waffle house in Antwerp. Of course, we managed to get a little lost and ride the tram in circles for a bit, but we eventually found our way.
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| Pedestrian tunnel under Antwerp, Belgium |
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| Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal in Antwerp, Belgium |
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| 16th century Guild-houses, Grote Markt. Antwerp, Belgium |
In Antwerp, we walked through the pedestrian tunnel under the harbor to get a panoramic view of the city.
Made our way to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal, Cathedral of Our Lady, the tallest building in the city as well as the highest cathedral in the low countries. The church although closed was beautiful, and the bells rang songs from fairy tales throughout the day. We wandered away to Grote Markt which included city hall and the 16th century guild houses. It was pouring down rain, so we were basically on our own to take as many tourist pictures as we pleased. Famished, we found Van Hecken Waffle House, the oldest waffle house in Antwerp and had traditional Belgian waffles. Belgian waffles are taken with powdered sugar and cream, anything more is considered a tourist waffle.
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| Antwerp Central Station. Antwerp, Belgium |
Saying goodbye to the new city and new friends, we caught a train to Brussels and were on our way. Getting to Brussels completely exhausted we ended our Valentine's Day with our haul of Belgian chocolate and passed out.
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| Instagram: Grand Place. Brussels, Belgium |
The next morning we hunted down Grand Place, stumbling upon Godiva which of course established in Belgium was a sign that we needed more chocolate. After Grand Place, we found the Manneken Pis, the famous statue of a little boy peeing which is said to capture the weirdness that is Brussels. Our weekend basically consisted of food, food, and even more food. On our last day in Belgium, we went to the Gare du Midi market, the biggest market in Belgium and gorged ourselves on hot Belgian waffles before consuming even more chocolate. After we had a traditional Belgian meal, consisting of mashed potatoes filled with veggies and pumpkin soup. We grabbed some ice cream, and wandered around Grand Place one more time, before we were on our way back to Grenoble.
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| Manneken Pis. Brussels, Belgium |
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Hot waffles truck. Brussels, Belgium (Courtesy of Adrienne Fleck)
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| Grand Place. Brussels, Belgium |
Zamzam Abdulgani is the Spring 2014 CEA MOJO in the French Alps. She is currently a junior at Washington State University.
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