Belgium... Just Sensational!

Soo, embarrassingly enough I have managed to go over a month without updating my blog. To those of you who are avid followers (aka my mom and about 3 others), my apologies. I will do my best to catch you up on what has been going on in my fantasy world here in Europe, and I'll start with Belgium. About three weeks ago, my three roommates and I hopped on a plane beyond excited to be heading to Brussels. The only reason we were really traveling to Belgium in the first place was because of a huge concert called Sensation White. None of us really knew much about the country, besides that fact that we were planning on stuffing our faces with waffles and chocolates. When we first arrived, we struggled with the transportation system, seeming that it was a little different than what we are used to in Prague. But by combining the brains of four college students, we eventually managed to make our way out of the metro station and up into the open air of Brussels. 

The first thing we did when we got there was check out our hostel. Considering that this was my first hostel experience, I was pleasantly surprised. It was not as bad as some of the horror stories I had heard before. Luckily for my roommates and I, we were set up with a room consisting of only four bunks, so we were able to have more privacy with just the four of us being in one room.  The hostel was filled with friendly people from around the world, most of them being about our age. It seemed as though every person ages 18-30 had the same plans and excitement as we did to go to Sensation White. This only made us that much more excited for the concert on the following night. 

After scoping out the hostel, our roommate Steph had a mutual friend who has lived in Brussels for about 12 years now. She called him up and him and his friend drove over to pick us up from the hostel and show us around Brussels. We were so lucky to have our own personal tour guides, not to mention it makes a huge difference when they are peers. The two guys showed us all the hot spots around Brussels and gave us their personal experiences on what it was like living in a country with next to no government. We immediately headed for the city where I completely fell in love. Brussels was far succeeding my expectations with every corner we turned. The streets were filled with people, vendors, the most mouth watering waffles I have ever seen, and of course... chocolate on every corner. The entire town smelled of sweets. Needless to say, we were all in heaven. The first stop we made after walking around was to Delirium Café. Here they have the Guinness Book World Record for the most amounts of beers. With 2,004 different options (yes, I said 2,004), we each managed to try some beers that we’d fall in love with. The most popular amongst all of us seemed to be the fruit flavored beers. We tried everything from mango beer to coconut. It was way too delicious and so much fun! After Delirium we visited an old train station that was eventually turned into a bar. The atmosphere was very unique and I absolutely loved being there. Later that night, our friends from Belgium took us out to all the hot spots for the night scene. Little did I know that Belgium could be even more beautiful at night. Everything was lit up with colorful lights and the nightlife was thriving. We all had such a great time socializing and meeting new people.

Neuhaus Chocolates.. so yummy!

The following day was the day we had been waiting for since we bought our tickets in December. It was finally time for SENSATION. The theme for this concert was to dress in all white so we had our outfits and accessories ready, hopped on the train and headed for Hasselt, the city where the concert took place. This night was probably one of the best times and memories I have had being in Europe so far. Thousands upon thousands of people from around the world filled the venue and the energy was beyond electrifying. The concert started at 9 pm and it didn’t stop until 6 am. We danced so much the ENTIRE night to the point where my calves were sore for the following three days. Not only was it our four roommates who went, but tons of other kids that we knew from Prague and other countries were there as well. It was so much fun getting to share this experience with so many people we love. When the concert was finally over, we made it back to our hotel to have a not so fulfilling three hours of sleep before we had to catch the train back to the airport. As soon as we made it home, we immediately crashed in an attempt to catch up on some sleep. Belgium was a complete success. I was so overjoyed with how much fun I had this weekend, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. My roommates and I spent hours laughing and looking back at all the memories we had made in those short three days. Belgium was easily one of the best weekends I have had so far!!

Sensation White!!