Stormy Travels: Brussels, Belgium

After deplaning and clearing customs, we took a train to Brussels Midi station. It was about 40 minutes faster than the bus and definitely worth paying a few more euros for. I have realized from our travels and use of public transit, paying for the faster transportation options from airports to city centers is so worth it. Just pay a little more and enjoy more time and less hassle at your destination. When we got to the station, we then bought two 24 hour transit cards for 15 euros each and took a tram to the hotel we booked. We arrived very early to the hotel and were able to leave our luggage in storage as they didn't have a room available that early.

On our way to the hotel

The buildings here are very pretty

After dropping off our bags we headed to Train World. It was a 36 minute tram ride back as we had already passed it on our way to the hotel. The entrance fee was 12 euros each. Hunter and I didn't really know what to expect, but it was really cool. We saw a whole bunch of trains from throughout Belgium's history. Belgium had the first railroad in continental Europe back in 1834 and a long history of developing pioneering trains. We stood in the cabs of some that could go over 150km/hr which is pretty impressive for a steam train! We also saw one of the boxcars used for shipping Jews to Auschwitz which was a far more sobering experience. Overall, it was a really cool window into the transportation history of the region. A fun side note, my phone finally has a better camera than Hunter's! The night mode on the Pixel 3a is amazing and beats his iPhone X in low light settings. It was perfect for this museum, as they kept many of the artifacts in the dark to preserve them better.

A few pictures from the tram ride to train world

A tiny little Fiat car

Our Delta Plane leaving, it was a 767-400, our first time on this airplane type

Rail expansion in Europe

A model train

This is the ticket building

There was a special exhibit with paintings we also got to see, but pictures were not allowed inside

Around 1:30 pm we were getting quite sleepy so we decided to leave and go back to the hotel to check in. Hunter and I both drifted in and out of sleep, and thankfully didn't miss our stop.

When we finally got to our hotel room, it was really cool and not what we were expecting for a European hotel.

The hotel room

Hunter and I both decided to take a nap and I set an alarm for 3 hours. We got back up around 6pm and the decided where we should have dinner. We decided to pick a fish and chips place called Bia Mara that had good reviews. We were not disappointed.