If you missed day four of our Christmas trip to the Netherlands and Belgium, go here.

On day five, we trekked back to Amsterdam Centraal around 8 am to board a train to Brussels, set to arrive around 11:30 am. It was the first time I'd ever taken a train to another country and not had to go through passport control—it felt very illegal! All in all, it was a very easy and pleasant trip for only $60 total for the two of us.

ACCOMMODATIONS/Transportation: Brussels

In Brussels, we stayed at the Hôtel La Grande Cloche, which was located centrally to most of the touristy destinations in Brussels, though not on an overly touristy street itself. It was more of a modern vibe, with that unfinished/industrial feel. I did find it comfortable (which was a very good thing, as I ended up spending much more time there than planned—more on that later).

As far as transportation, we just walked everywhere. It wasn’t difficult to get around, and the furthest we ever walked was maybe 20 to 30 minutes.

Christmas Markets & Grand Place

There were several Christmas markets centrally located in Brussels: La Bourse de Bruxelles Market, Place de Brouckère, and Marché aux Poissons Market. We visited these markets, ate some raclette, and despite me being fluent (or at least being fluent at one time) in French, I made Ryan order everything because ~ anxiety ~. This did hilariously result in Ryan convincing some stall-owners he did actually speak French (I would tell him what to say), but when they asked a follow-up question, he’d look so confused that they’d figure out he was American. We also spent awhile watching the chaos of ice-skating, enthralled by the two guys who were evidently in competition to show off their skills and kept almost making a lot of newbies wipe out (and actually did cause a few falls).

Among the other items on the itinerary were seeing the Grand Place, a huge city square surrounded by gorgeous 14th century historic buildings, picking up some chocolates from Neuhaus, and getting a cone of fries from the famous Friterie Tabora.

That evening, we were very basic (at my request) and ate at Wagamama (one of my favorite chain restaurants while studying abroad in Oxford). We did find something new on the Brussels menu: these fried eggplant bao buns pictured below, which were randomly EXQUISITE.

The final market we visited that day was at Place Sainte-Catherine. This market was notable for the church, which lights up every half-hour at night.

La Monnaie de Munt

Our last excursion for the night was to the opera house, where I’d booked us tickets to see a winter concert called Schuberts Winterreise, with Ian Bostridge and Sir Antonio Pappano. The opera house was absolutely gorgeous, and even if this was another situation in which I felt too uncultured/not rich enough to be there, I quite enjoyed our cozy balcony seats. However, it was about one-third of the way through the concert that I realized my throat was feeling. . .funny, and as much as I love listening to an orchestra/people singing in a language I can’t understand, I was finding it difficult to concentrate. I chalked it up to being tired from traveling and the cigarette smoke in Brussels. I figured with a good night’s sleep, I’d be ready to take on the next day. (Dear reader, I was not ready to take on the next day [or three]).

Thanks for reading!

Up Next: Notre Dame de Sablon & Musée des Beaux Arts