Travel Tips: How to Pack

So today I am in Prague, Czech Republic. As I was packing for this trip there were certain things that I made sure to remember. Each trip I take I learn a little more about packing from mistakes I made on the previous trip.  I will share with you some of the wisdom that I have learned.

In Belgium I forgot two majors items, but just as I learn to pack, I also am learning how to travel and go with the flow when things like this happen. 

Item 1: My belt. 

I packed a pair of jeans to wear on Saturday, and this particular pair of jeans is old and stretched out so I have to wear a belt.  When I got dressed Saturday morning I pulled out the pair of jeans and had a complete "uh oh" panic, immediately realizing that I never packed my belt.  However, this turned out not to be as much of a problem as I initially thought. 

Traveling is all about finding alternate ways to accomplish what you need to when your plans go awry, and so what do you do when your pants are too big that they fall down? Eat so much chocolate that you no longer need a belt because your stomach holds them up. 

Item 2: My phone charger. 

Upon arriving in Belgium I pulled out my phone to give my parents the obligatory "arrived safely in ____ (insert country)" text. As I did so I realized that my battery percentage was at 70% and I had forgotten to bring my phone charger.  I then decided that I was going to have to put my phone away for the remainder of the trip to ensure that I had enough battery on Sunday night to send the only other text that I needed to, which is the "arrived home safely". 

While at first I thought that not having a phone would be very hard, it was actually really nice being forced not to use it.  I was completely reliant upon maps, and live people to get to all the places I wanted to, and allowed me to really embrace the country that I was in, and take it all in, without worrying about what was going on back home for the time being. 

Hopefully I learned my lesson and remembered everything that I need for Prague, but you'll find out when I get back on Monday! 

Belgium Day 3: Brussels and Travel Home

Our last day in Belgium we spent in Brussels again.  Our flight was not until 9:30pm so we still had a good chunk of time before we had to be back at the airport.  While that late flight time is not ideal, I am glad it gave us an additional day because two days would just not have been enough.

In the morning I had my last chocolate(s) and waffle. (Yes, I had the chocolate before the waffle, even though it was 10am)

 View from my window seat of the Grand Place

The last sight we wanted to see was the Atomium.  We specifically saved this for the last day because it is at the outskirts of the city and is not near much else.

The Atomium is to Brussels as the Eiffel Tower is to Paris except that no one else knows about it.  It was built for a World's Fair after the second world war as a symbol of peace, and as a way for Belgium to show off its advancements in metalwork.  While it was cool, it definitely is no Eiffel Tower.

The inside of each of the balls was a museum talking about the structure, and its history. 

Inside one ball looking at another

The top most ball had a panoramic view of the city, however, because it was so far removed from the city's hub you could not see much.  It was cool, but a little disappointing. 

After the Atomium, we went back to the hotel packed up and headed to the airport. It was a wonderful and delicious weekend, but after a few days my body was ready for some fruit and vegetables. 

Belgium Day 2: Brugges

Saturday morning we woke up, got ready, grabbed a waffle and hopped on the train to Brugges. Brugges is an hour outside of the city and it came highly recommended by everyone we talked to as a must see in Belgium; I definitely agree.

Brussels definitely has a bigger French influence to it, whereas Brugges is more Dutch.  The city is smaller, easily walkable, and quaint.

The main plaza in Brugges 

The Belfy tower

Almost immediately upon arriving at this plaza we looked up at the Belfry tower and jumped in line to climb it. We had an inkling about how narrow it was because they would only allow 70 people in at one time, but we just assumed they were being overly cautious. Wrong. 

Those were some of the smallest, steepest stairs I have ever climbed. There are 366 steps to the top and we almost ran all the way up because you just have to keep moving.  However, the view at the top was definitely worth it. 

Part of the reason I loved this city so much was the architecture. I loved how all the houses were of some red color variation, and had the angled edges. 

After our mid-day hike we were in search of food, water, and a place to sit. We found a cute restaurant under one of the green awnings in the main plaza. 

Me, Caitlin and Grace at lunch

 View of the Belfry from my seat

After lunch came dessert! I ate probably 50 chocolates at this point but I will narrow it down to my two favorites. 

#1

"Cookie" from Neuhaus 

It is a mix of milk and dark chocolate coating bits of crumbled up "American" cookie 

#2

Salted Caramel from The Chocolate Line

Next up: afternoon tea at a teahouse

Grace and me with our tiny tea cups

At the end of the day I was very sad to leave Brugges. Thus far, it is one my favorite cities. It would have been a perfect day, if not for one small mishap. 

It seems that my shoes cannot quite keep up with me. As we were leaving, the sole of my shoe split off from the rest of my boot.  This would not normally be a problem, except that this was the only pair of shoes I brought for the weekend. So these had to last me until early Monday morning when I got home. 

They were annoying, but manageable, for the whole weekend up until my arrival in the Dublin where I had to run from my flight to the opposite side of airport where I had to pick up my bus. While I made the bus, my shoes did not. 

But, I did not let my shoes stand in the way of more sugar. Later that night Caitlin, Grace and I all had a craving for a waffle so we got ourselves a most delicious late night snack.

My waffle: liege (with the sugar inside) topped with nutella, bananas, and more sugar

A great ending to a great day. 

Belgium Day 1: Brussels Part 2

After a quick afternoon nap, I woke up a whole new person.  I was refreshed, and ready to go see more of the city.  We decided to head in a different direction than the main plaza to Sablon, the shopping district.

Walk to Sablon

In Sablon we stopped again for more chocolate. Pierre Marcolini had a beautiful window display and we could not resist their hot chocolate and macaroons.  I have to say after this weekend I am a HUGE fan of macarons, and this place had the best ones of the many that I ate during the trip.

Macarons even look beautiful

 I choose a salted caramel, and a molten gold which has a mix of ganache and caramel for the filling

More of the city, it was slightly drizzling but that was the worst the weather ever got all weekend

For dinner we went to Cafe Leffe, which was a fun spot in the middle of Sablon. For dinner I got the Flemish stew at the request of my roommate Seton, who went to Belgium this past summer and recommended that I try it.  I was smart to listen to her, it was delicious!

An interesting fact about Belgium is that restaurants refuse to give you tap water. The only option all weekend was to buy bottled water.

My dinner

By the time we had finished dinner, it had gotten quite late. We walked back to the Grand Place to see it all lit up at night, and if it is possible, it was even more beautiful than during the day.

Afterwards, based on another tip from Seton, we headed to Delirium bar. There is a small alleyway that holds a handful of bars all owned by Delirium and it is a very popular spot. We went to the main bar because it holds a Guinness World Record for having one of the largest selections of beers, from Belgium and all over the world.

Inside Delerium the ceiling is covered in bottle caps of all the different beers they have 

I tried the Delirium beer, it was pretty good

After enjoying our drinks, we headed back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep for the next day. Overall, a great start to our time in Belgium.

Belgium Day 1: Brussels - Part 1

Thursday night Grace's parents took Grace, Caitlin and me out to dinner at a restaurant called the The Cornstore. We had a great time, and because our bus to the airport was later that night we brought all of our bags to the restaurant, and just talked until the three of us had to go.

At 11pm the girls and I said goodbye to the Hallinan's and got on the bus to leave for Belgium; I was so excited!

Itinerary: 

11pm- Bus from Cork to Dublin airport
6:20am- Flight from Dublin to Brussels Charleroi
9:00am- Arrive at Brussels Charleroi airport
10:00am- Bus from Brussels Charleroi airport to Brussels city center
11:15am- Arrive at our hotel in Brussels

Our hotel was very nice. It was located slightly outside of the main plaza in the city so it was quiet at night but less than a 10 minute walk each morning to get to the main area.  It was a private room with three incredibly comfortable beds (we were so exhausted almost anything would have worked for us, but it really was a nice room).

Caitlin and Grace in our room 

Upon arrival we could not check into our room just yet so we headed down to Brussels' main plaza to start checking things out.

 On our way we ran into our first chocolate shop, Mary's. Because we were in the land of chocolate we HAD to stop and get our first piece! Mine was a chocolate praline, which was delicious but this was only the first of many more to come.

Chocolate #1

Brussel's main plaza is called the Grand Place, and it is very clear why. When you stand in the center you are surrounded on all four sides by the some of the most beautiful, and elaborate buildings I have ever seen.

Near the plaza is an infinite number of chocolate and waffle shops. We were walking in every one just in awe of the amount of chocolate in front of us. Eventually, we made it to the Waffle factory where we got our first Belgian waffles. 

My first waffle: liege waffle topped with nutella

(clarification: the liege is a belgian waffle with sugar on the inside so it is twice as delicious) 

 The Waffle Factory

Waffles lining the streets 

Just one of the thousands of chocolate shops

Our next stop was to the Manneken Pis. This is a fountain is a landmark in Brussels that is a small naked boy peeing into the fountain. Supposedly it is supposed to depict the whimsical side of the city, however, I found it a little inappropriate.

Manneken Pis (he is dressed up because people find it funny to clothe him sometimes)

This cathedral was on our way to the Grand Place, and although we never went inside, it was beautiful to walk by every day. 

In the afternoon the girls and I went back to the hotel to check in and get some rest. At this point, with the exception of a few hours here and there on various means of transportation, we had not had any sleep since Wednesday night