"How many waffles can you eat in a weekend in Brussels? Challenge accepted"

After the success of Scotland and Ireland, it was time for a different kind of challenge: language. Megan and I decided that in honor of my birthday, we were going to take a trip to Brussels, the land of waffles and chocolate.

We started our journey by hopping on a train from Bath to London Paddington first thing Friday morning. Once we arrived in London, we briskly walked across town to St. Pancras station (about 2.4 miles), where we had our passports checked for our ride to Brussels. We arrived in Belgium in the early afternoon, and we immediately set off toward the center of the city.

Anyone who has ever visited Brussels will probably tell you that you need to see the Grand Place, and when that was the first stop on our journey, we could tell why. We had opted to walk from the train station, and the roads leading up to the Grand Place weren't really anything special. All of a sudden, however, the streets emptied into a large courtyard. Ornate buildings lined the sides of what was once a central market square. Small streets around the edges led to restaurants, cafes, and shops. We wandered around until we found a cafe, where we grabbed lunch, and then we looked for a good waffle shop.

Waffle 1: banana and chocolate

After we found our first waffles, we continued our quest for Belgium's other indulgence: chocolate. We found a little chocolate shop, and then we bought some chocolate ice cream before walking up to our hostel. We checked in and relaxed for a bit there, letting the day catch up with us. After a short while, we left the hostel in search of Greenwich Tavern, a traditional Belgian pub recommended by my brother's old roommate. Dinner was delicious, and I got to brush up on my French vocabulary, since the menu wasn't in English. This meant that I ordered for both myself and my roommate, which I was proud to have done successfully. Afterwards, we headed back to the Grand Place for dessert, which was of course going to be waffles again :)

Waffle 2: nutella

We walked back up to the hostel, waffles in hand, and turned in for the night. The next morning, we decided to get an early start so that we could cram everything else we wanted to do in before our train back to London. When we left the hostel, the streets were completely deserted. The city was absolutely silent. It was incredible. We made our way back to the Grand Place, where we got breakfast - waffles, of course - at a little cafe.

Waffle 3: banana and whipped cream

After breakfast, we discovered a huge chocolate shop, where we purchased our souvenir chocolate, aka my birthday present to myself. I must say, I've never had a celebration quite as sweet. Our next stop was the Museum of Musical Instruments, which was definitely one of the coolest things I've ever been to. We got audio guides at the entrance, which activated when held over symbols in front of many of the display cases. However, instead of the typical history or descriptions of the instruments in the cases, the audio files were actual pieces of music played by the instruments in question. The museum's collection included an incredible array of instruments in beautiful condition. The featured exhibit explored the history of the saxophone.

After spending a bit of time at the museum, we continued on our route to see the last few big shops. We stopped at Place Royal and the Palais Royal (royal palace). Our last big stop was the Place du Petit Sablon, an adorable little park. We walked back to the Place Royal to grab one more waffle for the day.

Waffle 4: whipped cream

After our last waffles, it was time to head back to the train station. We retraced our route through the Grand Place. We stopped for tea on the way back and then grabbed sandwiches at the station for a late lunch. We checked in for our train ride back to the UK and passed through border security. Our train to London went smoothly, and then we bolted across town to Paddington station so we would have time to grab dinner (a pair of bagels) before we hopped on the train to Bath Spa. Once we got back, we broke into our chocolate before we went to bed, ready for some well-earned rest after a successful birthday celebration :)

Birthday

It's hard to believe that today, I turned twenty years old. It's two decades, but I don't feel any older because of it. Sometimes I think that birthdays are just arbitrary ways of marking the time. There are plenty of other times that can make you feel older. Moments that you stop and think about how far you've come. For me, one of those times occurred a few months ago.

A bit of backstory: I'm a dancer, and have been for longer than I can remember. When I came to college, I joined the Ballet Performance Group. I now serve as the fundraising coordinator for the group. Through BPG, I've made some incredible friends (including many of the wonderful individuals who photograph and model my work), and I don't really know what I would do without it. Case in point:

Every semester, the executive board is required to stay after dress rehearsal to put away the costumes and clean up. Everyone takes on a different task, and it doesn't take too long. I was assigned to help Sydney, our Vice President, in the largest dressing room. My back began to bother me, so I stepped outside to sit down somewhere out of the way. Though I tried to reassure everyone that I would be fine, within minutes the pain of spasms in my lower back reduced me to tears. Although we tried to send me back to my room, eventually (at about 2:15 AM) I contacted a few of the other board members and they arrived to take me on a trip to the ER, where we remained until the spasms stopped just before 6 AM. Without the amazing friends I have, I'm not sure where I would be right now.

As with any pivotal moment in my life (as well as any moment that forces me to stay in bed for long periods of time), the experience inspired a knit pattern. Here's one of the pieces I made while recovering:

I decided that I wanted to make an infinity scarf, because the experience truly wrapped me up. It took over everything I was doing. On the other hand, I was surrounded by friends for the evening, wrapped in their protection. Embedded in this scarf are small hearts, a tribute to the love we all carry with us everywhere we go.

Modeling this piece is Stephanie, who also dances in the same group. We were supposed to share the stage in the performance I ended up missing. Emily, my wonderful photographer, serves on the same executive board and was present for the entire night. I'm truly grateful to both of them for joining me on this journey.