Brussels…and Antwerp?!
Thursday June 25, 2026
We stopped in a small town called Arlon after crossing the border and picked up some paninis for lunch. My French was immediately put to the test, but it wasn’t too difficult to communicate my order and payment details. We continued to Dinant, home of a beautiful cathedral by the Meuse River backed by a large cliff hosting a citadel on top. Unbeknownst to me until arriving, Dinant is also the birthplace of Adolfe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. Several large saxophone art installations can be found around town, all painted in honour of a particular country, with most of them being found on the Charles du Galles bridge over the river.
An hour or two later, we were in Brussels. We checked out the Cinquantenaire Park, named for the 50th anniversary of Belgium’s independence, as well as the Berlaymont, the European Commision headquarters. We passed by a vegan protest and proceeded to the Leopold Quarter for some Lebanese food before retiring for the night.
On Tuesday, we went to the city center in search of waffles, chocolate, mussels and fries. Instead what we found when we got to the Grand Place was a ton of Japanese tourists. We ascertained that the Japanese Imperial Couple were due to meet with the Belgian Royals in a few hours, so we quickly covered some major sites like Mannekin Pis, the famous pissing boy statue, as well as his companion Zennekin Pis, a dog. We also saw the Tintin and Asterix & Obelix murals. We got back to the Grand Place with plenty of time to see everyone arrive and wave from the balcony of the Brussels Town Hall.
After lunch, we split up. I wanted to go to the Atomium but Andrew wasn’t keen so I headed off by myself. The building is incredible. It’s so much larger than you think it is. Each sphere is 18m in diameter, the top being the restaurant and observation deck, and three others holding light and sound art installations. It was originally constructed for the 1958 Brussels World Fair, a scale model of an iron crystal, and was never meant to be permanent, but still stands today, an icon of Brussels architecture and a nod to the steel industry. Dinner was at a Greek restaurant, possibly the best food we’d had so far on this trip. After sunset, I suggested we return to the Atomium to see it lit up at night, and so we drove back to admire the lights on the atoms.
Andrew had some loyalty points that were going to expire, and we figured there wasn’t that much to do in Brussels, so we cut short our visit by one day and instead booked in at the Sapphire House in Antwerp (part of the Marriott group!). I also managed to cancel our Airbnb in The Hague and we’ll be spending that at the Best Western instead. More than anything, I’m looking forward to having air conditioning as Europe struggles with an intense heat wave.
We left Brussels after having breakfast at IKEA and arrived in Antwerp on Wednesday morning. We covered the city center and some of the more famous buildings, and then we split up again; Andrew went to get a massage for a back injury that he sustained while trying to put on sunscreen. I was intending to head to the waterfront but I happened to pass by a cat cafe, so I went inside for a few minutes to enjoy a cold drink and the company of some adorable cats. I also went to see MAS in the north, and I got myself a Liege-style waffle. I was by myself for dinner as well, and enjoyed a relatively cheap Persian meal.
Posted by Jeremy at 7:45pm on Thursday June 25, 2026 :: 0 comments :: 
Reykjavik 1
Saturday March 30, 2024
The flight from Akureyri was straightforward, and I managed to get a taxi from Reykjavik domestic airport to my new hostel. A drive of 10 mins (which could have been walked in 30 mins) cost me $30CAD. I spent the afternoon doing laundry and wandering around the downtown area, admiring all the cats of Reykjavik as well as the big church on the hill, Hallgrimskirkja, with its distinctive silhouette. I had some very average fish and chips before heading to the bus terminal for an aurora hunt. Though the weather was perfect, the northern lights evaded us that night, so we got to rebook the following night for free.
My first day tour covered the Golden Circle - a loop of south Iceland's most famous attractions. The first stop was Thingvellir National Park, where we had actually been the night before for the aurora tour. This beautiful area has the fissure where the European and the North American tectonic plates meet, evident in the large valley forming between two rock formations. There were a lot of people around, but I opted to walk off the main path where I could get a nice view of the area. We then stopped by Efstidalur, a dairy farm selling ice cream, where I got a scoop of blueberry skyr and a scoop of orange ice cream. There was an area where you could watch the calves feeding, which was super cute.
From there, we continued to Strokkur, a geyser reaching 20 metres tall that erupts every 10 or so minutes. It's so bizzare to see this giant bulge of water forming, then suddenly shooting an incredible jet into the sky. It's not like the small ones that we see in Rotorua, but the sulfurous smell was definitely evident in the area. The furthest landmark on our tour was Gullfoss Waterfall, fed by the waters from Langjokull Glacier, Iceland's second largest and home of the man-made ice cave that I would be visiting the next day. This was my favourite, though definitely not the most beautiful waterfall I've ever seen. The cascading, multi-level falls coupled with the rich blue colour of the water made for incredibly picturesque photographs, though the wind made it difficult to stay outside for too long.
On our way home, we dropped by Friðheimar, a tomato farm that uses greenhouses to grow all its produce. The greenhouses in Iceland are powered by both geothermal energy for heat and electricity for full-spectrum light, and they grow a variety of vegetables and fruits, such as tomatoes, potatoes, salad greens, cucumbers and mushrooms. This particular greenhouse also kept its own bees to pollinate the tomatoes and flowers inside. The smell of pomodoro sauce filled the interior of the greenhouse, which housed a restaurant and bar as well, and despite the huge variety of strange tomato products - tomato beer, tomato cocktails, soups, breads, tomato espresso tonic - I only got to try their tomato ice cream, which tasted very fruity, almost like passionfruit. Our final stop was the Kerid volcanic crater, formed over 6000 years ago. The crater lake at the bottom had frozen over, giving an interesting aesthetic to the rocky, iceless basin.
Our aurora tour that night was much more successful. Even before the bus had arrived in the designated viewing area, the glowing white band of "cloud" was visible. Though it was cold, it wasn't windy so the conditions were perfect for view. There were two distinct bands of light stretching across the sky that shimmered and rolled to the awe of the hundreds of people that had gathered to watch. It was so bright and clear, and I got some amazing pictures of my phone, though I think I left the exposure on for too long. It was certainly a night to remember. The thing that surprised me the most was that the Kp index was at 1.00 that night, which really goes to show how unpredictable the aurora are.
Posted by Jeremy at 3:20pm on Saturday March 30, 2024 :: 0 comments ::
Amsterdam
Monday March 4, 2024
The last time I was in Amsterdam, I got food poisoning from a smoked salmon wrap at the Van Gogh Museum. I wanted to come back in January 2022 but the Netherlands went into lockdown because of the pandemic, so I cancelled that leg of the trip. Finally, I’m back here to visit some places I missed and try some foods I didn’t the last time.
There’s a few things I’m not a fan of in the city. The absurd number of drunk and/or stoned Brits would probably be my number one. The lack of good savoury Dutch food also comes to mind. Yes the fries are good and the cheese is very famous, but those by itself do not make a meal. There’s an abundance of baked goods, waffles, pancakes, apple pie and poffertjes, and I know I love desserts, but this was too much, even for me. It’s not that I had bad food while I was here, it’s that Dutch cuisine is just not exciting or interesting. I had an amazing steak and some very good brunches but I wouldn’t classify those as authentically Dutch.
There were a lot of cats. My hostel had a resident cat called Rocker that was very affectionate. I went to De Poezenboot, a cat adoption agency based on a boat in one of Amsterdam’s many canals. I also went to the KattenKabinet, a cat museum, and I played To Zanarkand on the piano for the furry residents.
I was lucky with the weather, with only the first two days being wet. It was a bit cold and I still had to walk around with my winter jacket, but was pleasant once the sun came out. The buildings in the city center have interesting designs, and some of the churches are quite elaborate, but in general, everything looks quite brown and boring. It doesn’t have the charm of those colourful, bright houses you find dotted around the Mediterranean. What it does have is canals and bridges, and many decorated bicycles adorning those passageways. Amsterdam has character, but it’s a particular brand that is trying to distance itself from the party going, drunken, rowdy atmosphere. There were some really nice moments walking around the city in the stillness and quietness of the mornings.
It feels like a long time before I’m back in Canada but with people visiting and places to go, March is going to breeze by.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:40am on Monday March 4, 2024 :: 0 comments ::