The Science of Happy

I've never been that person to plan a holiday way in advance, never have been and never will be. My life is spontaneous, you can't always plan things and sometimes it's better not to plan things.

The flight was £2.04 each way to Brussels Charleroi in November so £4.04 in total, which ended up being less than what I paid for a waffle and little did I know, it would change my life...

I started off in Brussels and stayed at a train-themed hostel aptly named the Train Hostel in Schaerbeek which is possibly one of the best hostels I've ever stayed in. It was ridiculously clean, well-equipped and I met some lifelong friends here too on a holiday I will never forget. Schaerbeek reminded me a lot like San Francisco which its sharp and crisp architecture and hills.

I met a lovely group of people in my dorm, all girls and have kept in very close contact with three of them. One is a nut-job from Australia (the only type of Aussie), another was a sweet girl from Italy who is the least Italian Italian I have ever met and lastly, my sassy and incredibly supportive Egyptian beauty. The Aussie and Italian ended up moving to the UK and now we're taking turns to hold weekends for one another. 

We got into a lot of mischief and fun in Brussels, we went on walking tours, did a bit of shopping, watched the Christmas Market opening, visited the Atomium, the Rene Magritte museum and ate loads of waffles, frites and moules. I would definitely recommend the Atomium and the Rene Magritte museum, and a walking tour is essential.

Transport is super easy, but if you're stuck - just use Google Maps.

Considering there hadn't long been a terrorist attack, it was so special to see everybody rise above the terror.

As my well travelled father had previously lived in Belgium (get in, dad) I made a conscious effort to visit Antwerpen too to see the city he lived in. Bruxelles was very commercial but Antwerpen was much more quirky... Antwerp is just an hour on the train and well worth the visit.

And last but not least, feast your eyes on the Belgian food we had, from waffles and frites to Belgian chocolate and moules. I am very adventurous when it comes to food, I love trying new things so when I visit a new country, I always write a list of everything I want to eat, just as much as things I want to do in the city.

I would never have considered Belgium as a holiday destination and purely went because of the Ryanair sale which I'm grateful for because it's by far one of the most enjoyable holiday's I've had and I've made three new amazing friends. I see both the non-Italian Italian and the nut job Aussie every now and then, and recently went to Egypt and has a sweet little reunion with my Egyptian beaut.

Also side note, the boys in Belgium are fiiiiiiiiine.