After Paris, I took three trains to Brussels, Belgium. I legitimately thought I was going to pass out on the trains because of overcrowding and the heat. This was a spontaneous choice, so I didn’t make any plans besides reserving a place to lay my head.
I don’t have much to say about Brussels honestly. I got food poisoning here and arrived on a Sunday afternoon, so most places were closed. My Hostel 2GO4 was centrally located right off the Grand Place, but it was a little janky as the reception/ check-in is based at the other location 10 minutes away. I spent most of my time walking around to the Manneken Pis, the Royal Palace, and various street art murals.
I was bummed that I arrived after the Hergé Museum closed as I grew up reading Tintin comics and was very interested in seeing this. I also learned the Smurfs are from Brussels! All in all, one night in Brussels was more than enough. I probably won’t be back unless I visit Ghent or Brugge.
I realized in Brussels my French SIM card was not an EU roaming SIM, so I had a lovely time figuring out how to make my phone work. For anyone planning to travel around Europe, I’d recommend the Orange Holiday E-SIM which works throughout the EU for either 14 or 30 days.
I purchased the E-SIM as I already had an international number with Lyca Mobile; however, if you do not have an international number you need to purchase the physical Orange SIM card. You can also order them on Amazon which would have been useful upon arrival to France. Setting up the E-SIM was a breeze and only took a few minutes to connect to cell service.
From Brussels, I am off to Amsterdam!
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