Benelux 2025 Region Trip://Leg 4.1~ Atomic Waffles Squared

              Date:5/17/2025-5/28/2025

Destination: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg

Goal: Coasters, Culture

Distance: 4079 Miles

Means of Travel: Flight

Potential Credits: 39

Dag 4 / Jour 4 (continued)

CW: STROBE AND FLASHING LIGHTS USED IN MANY VIDEOS IN THIS ENTRY, DO NOT WATCH VIDEOS IF SENSITIVE TO FLASHING LIGHTS

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: The Atomium; a tall structure of interconnected chrome spheres and gray tubes, with a Belgian flag flying atop the top sphere.

"Let's call the 21st the Belgian Cities Day," I remember John pitching. Starting the day in Bruges, driving to Brussels midday, and eating at the Atomium that night.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A blue highway sign has arrows pointing downward, reading "Asse."

Lol Asse.

I was whooped the second we got back to the car in Bruges, maybe it was the biking, maybe it was the late night yelling at the assholes at Boost Mobile, maybe it's just because that room in Bruges wasn't cozy in the slightest, but I was pretty tired on the drive to Brussels, even falling asleep on John towards the tail end.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A Brussels residential street, with ornate houses and cars.

Our AirBNB (not the building pictured) was so nice! We had an apartment that was clean, had separate beds, a private shower, and even climate control! A total haves-have nots situation in comparison to last night. Our hostess spoke only Spanish and French, leaving me to have to do most of the communicating, but I got a little annoyed with this crusty old lady who yelled at us thinking we parked a car that was in her way ("la voiture vert sous l'arbre" is not a silver car parked in front of the garage). We chilled for a bit, charged our phones, and then realized we wouldn't have time to do both the Mennekin Pis and Atomium, so we headed to the Atomium before our reservations to properly explore it.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A large chrome atom sculpture rises over a hill with a pedestrian walkway.

After packing into a lightrail and riding it to the end of the line, I saw this enormous chrome modern art pop out of the window. I knew the size of this thing, John did not, but both were taken aback by how massive it was!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett smiles in front of the Atomium across a grassy tree lawn on the square before it.

Hello, Atomium, and hello Brussels!

The first thing we noticed was a little waffle truck, needless to say we both decided to grab a waffle.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A hand holds a waffle with chocolate and bananas in front of the Atomium.

I'm snacking on a waffle at the Atomium, this is the most Belgian thing I've ever done.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: The Atomium is made of a single sphere in the ground, six spheres and a central one at mid-level with supports holding them up on the thirds, and a final top sphere flying a black, yellow, and red Belgian flag.

So...what is this thing? And why is it important? Who just builds a big metal science project in the Belgian capital?

The Atomium, like the Eiffel Tower, was constructed for the Expo 58 World's Fair. However, this was in a much later time period, the 1950s, and it's something straight out of an atompunk sci-fi novel. It's an artistic representation of an iron crystal scaled up a billion times, with the spheres being iron atoms. It's about 300' tall, holds a restaurant, viewing deck, an art display, a museum, and a gift shop at the base. It's like the Eiffel Tower: Cold War Edition. And it's cool as hell.

With us now having time to kill, we decided to take the trippy light up elevator to the top!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An overview of a main road up to a brutalist-styled pavilion, with a chrome sphere in the foreground.

The top sphere of the Atomium is basically Brussels's very own knockoff Eiffel Tower. There's an observation deck, and a restaurant atop said deck. You can walk around and see all of Brussels, all of Mini-Europe, and all of the old World's Fair infrastructure.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A small park contains paths through various miniature reconstructions of European landmarks.

Mini Europe is another attraction that's right next to the Atomium, which is exactly what it sounds like. Little models of European landmarks, we had a hell of a time trying to see what they all were from up there, particularly ones we'd been to.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A large neighborhood with a visible church steeple is in front of a metropolis of modern skyscrapers.

You can see all of Brussels up here! I was expecting a newer, bigger Bruges from this city, but when you see how big it is from up here, it's clearly not the same thing in the slightest. We'd had a thirty minute lightrail ride through all business and residential to get here, and amid all this are Mennekin Pis square and a few royal/government buildings and that's kind of it. This city may be the Belgian capital, but it is not their cultural hub. This is where money moves and rules get made, so it's important in a very different respect.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A park with various sporting courts at the edge of a neighborhood, with a tall domed church in the background.

There's a bit to see up here, but it's not the only point of the structure. We knew there was more, but saw chained off escalators and stairs to the lower spheres, so we just sort of chilled out until we got bored and went down.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A chrome sphere rises high over some woods, with buildings on the other side. The photo is black and white, with a single red rope running down and coiling atop the sphere.

"If you want to check out the other spheres, head up the stairs," we were told on the way back down. Nice to know they're open when we only have one more hour after killing way to much time on that stupid skydeck!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A small 24-inch model of the Atomium of metal sits on a black square pedestal, with museum exhibits in the background against the curved wall of the sphere.

This sphere houses a museum to the Atomium, bearing artifacts from the World's Fair and models of the exhibitions alike. John said it best, this was "At the height of US vs. Soviet Russia, let's get the whole world together right in between both nations and have a big fucking party because humanity rocks!"

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Behind a glass cates sits three pieces of paper, with engineering drawings of the Atomium on them. They all show the spheres, the central drawing shows a section view showing one of the outer spheres with multiple floors inside.

The engineering tech in me totally geeked out over these prints for the structure that they had on display!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Various pamphlets for the Atomium alongside coins, tokens, a small model, and a drink coaster behind a glass display case.

Literature on the Atomium in Flemish, couldn't read any of it but I love how retro this stuff is.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A glass display case of the World's Fair Expo, showing a few fair rides and roller coasters on the same grounds as the Atomium and other pavilions.

There were apparently coasters at the World's Fair too!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A model of a white building has a large silver needle-shaped structure rising from it at an angle, with cables suspending a footbridge over a water feature.

This structure no longer stands, but I'd seen it in photos of Expo 58.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett stands smiling into the camera, before a downward escalator adorned with colorful lights.

Alright, here's the fun part! A few of the spheres form this big awesome walkthrough light up European art thing! Those trendy art installations you see in Berlin and stuff? Some madman decided that this thing needed one!

The elevator ride into this thing to begin with is a cross between Space Mountain and an acid trip.

So each little chamber has a different thing going on with the lights and music. This was one of the first ones, and features red lights with little white ones chasing each other around.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A domed chamber has pink lights on the curved ceiling amid a lattice of steel girders.

You can clearly tell you're inside a sphere at each little station on this exhibit. And they took full advantage of that when rigging the lights up, the contours of the chambers are half the fun!

This one had a major planetarium vibe, turning the upper hemisphere of that particular atom into a dome of twinkling stars and lights.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A dark circular room has a single colum through it, with colorful rings of light circling the room and column.

At the center of the walkthrough, and the center of the Atomium, the central sphere has these color changing neon lights and relaxing music. It's like a chill, tranquil, meditative space amid all the flashing and acid tripping you see around the rest of this walkthrough.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett gazes at the ceiling in a circular, colorful room of blue and yellow lights.

When you've taken one of those sketchy Sunoco Station edibles and are patiently waiting for Spongebob to appear with the secrets to enlightenment.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wall sign describes the Echoes of Distant Lights art installation as "an immersive journey and a poetic meditation on light, space, and time."

Echoes of Distant Lights, this was called, was a new light installation in one of the Atomium spheres that incorporated lasers.

I was standing there like an idiot for ten solid minutes watching this shit on the ceiling.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A row of red, orange, and yellow windows with a city and chromatic sphere outside, with metal structural framing in the foreground.

And down below, they had another skydeck, though this one was more artistic and allowed you to see Brussels through colored gels forming a rainbow in the panoramic window.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A long red staircase down a silver tube.

The only negative thing I had to say about this was that it's an accessibility nightmare. Between the flashing lights and stairs, I have a lot of disabled friends that couldn't do this for various reasons.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett smiles in a restaurant of steel shapes and colorful ceiling art.

Afterwards, we went to our dinner reservation at the top sphere. Can now say I've eaten at both the Eiffel Tower and the Atomium! Our server was awesome and even gave us one of the tables with the best views.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A table with glasses, some flowers and a menu booklet reading "Atomium RESTAURANT" sits next to a window, showing a panoramic view of Brussels from high up.

Anyone who goes to Hooters for the view has clearly never been to the Atomium, this is a much better view than a parking lot with some creep getting handcuffed.

That is the view they go to Hooters for, right? Or am I missing something?

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: The menu for the Atomium is split up by Entree, Plat, and Dessert.

The Atomium follows the same menu format as a classical French restaurant. It's one fee and you get to pick an entree (not a US entree, an entree as like a cold salad course thing), a main, and a dessert. And it's all Belgian food! That being said, I was annoyed I couldn't get moules-frites here, as I'd seen the menu online had it, and that dish is iconic to Belgium. Maybe it's seasonal, I'm not sure, but neither Plopsaland or Bruges had it either.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A plate holds a green crema, red pepper sauce, and a patty of chopped salmon and onions topped with arugula. In the background is an Old Fashioned glass with a straw, mint, lime and cloudy liquid. The Brussels skyline can be seen out the window from high up.

I went with the Scottish salmon tartare for my entree, and it was delicious! Kind of a Belgian poke bowl in a sense. Wouldn't have been complete without a caipirinha, the national cocktail of Brazil whose type of rum is hard to find in the US but not France.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: On the same table as before sits plate with two fillets of whitefish topped with green herbs, with endives, carrots, and potatoes as garnish.

My main dish was this Dover Sole, which I stupidly did not know came with bones. Luckily, our server cleaned the fillets for me, removing the bones in one piece, saying "See? It's easy! It's easy!" like the perfect snobby French-speaking garcon would if an American had presented this "problem."

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: On a slate board, two pieces of waffle sit with ice cream, a bowl of Belgian chocolate, whipped cream, and powdered sugar in the shape of the Atomium. Wine sits on the table as well.

And for dessert? How could I not get another waffle? It was between this and the chocolate mousse, but I wanted the waffle in the nice restaurant, so I did two waffles today! They even put a little Atomium powdered sugar art garnish!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A restaurant surrounds the kitchen in a steel, hemispherical chamber, with abstract colorful 50s art on the ceiling.

Honestly? I enjoyed the setting and the food. However, John thought we were paying for the location, and wasn't a fan of the steak thing he got. But it's still something both of us recommend if you come here to Brussels for any reason, it's an easy ride to the end of the line on the train, the museum is amazing, the skydeck has some great views of the city, and of course that light display is incredible.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett stands in front of the Atomium in a hoodie, smiling from the ground floor.

With me stuffed as hell and never wanting to eat again, we headed out to a chilly Brussels and caught the lightrail back to our place.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A Brussels lightrail station around a neighborhood.

After a short sunset ride back to our place, we both kind of crashed to our private rooms for the night. We had a big day tomorrow, finishing out our time in Belgium at Walibi and driving to country number ten for me!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A black and white image of the Atomium taken from below.

"The only things Belgium has of interest are Ride to Happiness, Kondaa, beer and waffles," John had said about the culture stuff I had planned us to do in Belgium. And he was eating his words a bit as we explored Bruges via bicycle and sat there chilling in an endless display of lights into another dimension. Yes, we missed Mennekin Pis, and my dad said it was a good spot for street food and people watching, but we'd had those experiences in Bruges as well as today. But Brussels, I noticed just felt residential and vanilla in comparison to the other cities. It wasn't even "cool local spot tourists don't know about," I've seen that in other places. This just seemed like a city that was all about moving money and making laws, not showing off a beautiful culture like you can feel in Stockholm or Paris or Bruges. So we were both right, but he was right about Brussels.

Honestly, if I wasn't into coasters, I might've skipped this city knowing what it was like. But I didn't, and we did something that was absolutely incredible that I'm very happy we did. I maybe wouldn't make a whole leg out of just this, but if you have any legitimate reason to go to Brussels (other than just sightseeing, go to Bruges for that), do not miss this because it's incredible.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tall steel roller coaster with black supports and track lifts a green train to the top, with jungle plants in the foreground.

UP NEXT: We hit up Belgium's other park, where a fun day riding Kondaa turns into a frozen gauntlet through coaster after horrible ride! We come face to face with the tallest coaster in the Benelux in Kondaa, a frozen gauntlet run through bad coasters for credits, the funniest dark ride ever, and we run into a friend from low places!

Benelux 2025 Region Trip://Leg 3.2~ In Bruges Without Data

             Date:5/17/2025-5/28/2025

Destination: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg

Goal: Coasters, Culture

Distance: 4079 Miles

Means of Travel: Flight

Potential Credits: 39

Dag 3/Jour 3 (continued)

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Across some water is the medieval quarter of an old European town. Old brick towers and French and Flemish architecture dot the cluster of buildings.

The drive to Bruges was the longest hour of the trip. Belgium is just not an interesting country to drive in (at least Flanders isn’t), I’m sweaty, I’m waiting on these cold tablets to kick in, and by the time we get into Bruges we had to sit in traffic for a bit in a city that predates cars.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A garage staircase is flimsy, white and made of wood, going up at a 60 degree angle over some bikes.

Eventually we find our AirBnB, but the keypad says to look at the message I was sent on Booking. I pull up Booking…and with no working mobile data, Booking can’t load the message! I had to wander around this little canal street looking for a public WiFi signal, once I found one I got the code, opened the lockbox, and opened the garage like it was some kind of escape room. First thing we noticed was that the staircase belonged in this Death Stairs group I'm part of on Facebook. Two grown men can't reasonably climb this thing, you feel it flex under your feet, and it's hella steep and basically a ladder.

WTF did we get ourselves into with this place? I found what looked like a beautiful and authentic canal house on Booking, and that's what we got, but I didn't realize how...preserved everything here is. It isn't unusual for European apartments to be 400 years old, but here, the rafters in the ceiling and floor of the bedroom were original and medieval. The toilet was outside and you had to throw your toilet paper in the trash (this was disgusting), that being said, the packet said that all of this was normal for an old Brugge home. So we got the experience, staying anywhere else would've been the same, but it wasn't nearly as comfortable as it was authentic.

But hey, this place had WiFi. I had to laugh.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A medieval town street along a cobblestone road against a canal.

After settling in, we hopped on the bikes after I aired up the tires, and got to exploring this perfectly preserved European medieval quarter!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett stands against some buildings on a canal, one with a tower, the other flies a Belgian flag. Jarrett wears a blue bicycle helmet.

Like anywhere in the Dutch-speaking lowlands, the bike is king in Bruges. People bike all over this medieval city, often on cobblestone roads, as their own vehicle for getting around and living life. I wasn't fearless enough to forego the helmet like the locals do (I was in a bike accident in college and it might've saved my life), but the bike has always been a part of my life and part of who I am, so it was cool to get to cycle here in beautiful Bruges.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: On a cobblestone square rises a tall medieval belltower, with a clock atop the octagonal spire.

John and I biked to the main town square first, he had wanted to check out this belfry, but it was sadly closed at the moment.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Three ornate buildings, a gray one, a white one, and a brick one, all have ornate towers, spires, and dormers coming from them rising over a square. Many of the buildings have flags, a blue tour van is seen in the foreground.

This square is kind of the beating heart of Bruges. Everyone comes here, everything worth doing can be accessed fairly easily from here, and there are plenty of tours that leave from here.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Across some water can be seen an array of medieval buildings, with a willow tree on the left.

We stopped by this spot, definitely the famous photo spot in Bruges and possibly the most famous photo spot in all of Belgium, to take some photos. The lighting was sadly garbage, with the sun pointing right at us, so I told John I wanted to come back here later.

I also left behind a small green heart-shaped stone for Keely, in tribute for her favorite artist Lil Peep, who passed away on the way to Belgium. Symbolically helping him finish the journey on her behalf.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A row of narrow brick canal houses serves as a few businesses, one of which is Mr. Waffle & Sandwich, another is Casa Patata.

Bruges is the perfect city to just kind of hop on a bike and explore, see what pops out at you, rather than having a hard set destination.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A beautiful medieval building dotted with towers and turrets, made of brick. 

Seriously, where else can you just hop on a bike and run into this??? I think this was a museum or something.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A black and white still of a street in Bruges, with a banner hanging for "PROCESSION DU SAINT-SANG."

Some festival was going on, though we couldn't find any festivities beyond these banners.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tall tower rises from the trees, made of brick and with turrets and a steeple atop.

Another odd church, we couldn't go in, but it was pretty to look at! Not sure the era of this one but it felt more modern, despite definitely being medieval. This could easily be a brutalist-styled Catholic church in Ohio.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tarnished bronze statue sits atop an ornate marble base, with narrow red homes and a yellow flag in the background. Two men are depicted in the statue, one with a sword, the other with a flag.

Both of us were hungry, having only eaten at Plopsaland, so we found dinner back at the square.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square with a statue and gray ornate Gothic building, with a few flags reading "BRUGGE."

When my father went to Brussels, he talked about how fun it was to get a beer, frites, and street cart sausage near Mennekin Pis, and just sit there and people watch. That's kind of the point of these restaurants, you sit on the square and people watch. It was getting cold, but I toughed it out because it's Bruges and when else do you get to do this?

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A square with several narrow canal-styled houses, and the statues and buildings from earlier are surrounded by flags. John takes a photo of several bikes near a concrete planter wall.

We sit down, I ask (in French, same language I was using at Plopsaland) if we may be seated, and we find a spot by a little fire lantern. Then, when asked by nobody their opinion, this crusty old Belgian lady pops in with, "we do not speak French here, it's Flemish! Just use English, it's easier!"

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A wooden paddle contains a bowl of fried balls and three cups of dipping sauces.

We got some Bitterballen for the table. These are an iconic Dutch food, but Dutch food is present in Belgium, Belgian food exists in Nederland, it's three closely connected countries. But these were delicious, despite John biting right into one while they were the surface temperature of the sun!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A plate holds a big glob of mashed potatoes and greens, with a piece of sausage sticking out of it.

Again with the cross cultural shit, this is Stamppot, the Dutch dish I learned to make before coming here! Mashed potatoes with greens and root vegetables are served with pork fat and sausage, a bit different from mine but it was delicious!

After whoofing down a big plate of mashed potatoes, sausage, and a huge slab of pork belly, I had to get on a bike in the cold and bike back to our house! So we did that, it was brutal, but we made it work. Once I was there, we had to kick one another out of the room to shower, as the shower was a glass box in full view of the beds, so that's how we did it. I called Keely, and then called Boost about the lack of roaming data, which ended up with me on the phone for over an hour trying everything to get my damn data to work. After MacGyvering a bike lock key into a SIM card pin only to have no success, I left it to them to fix, and they said they'd get back to me, as it was 10:30 at night. So I called Keely and we hit the hay, ready for the next day.

Dag 4/Jour 4

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A mirror-like canal reflects a city street of colorful, narrow houses leading back to a bridge and church.

We woke up somewhat early, and I prepped for the cold this time. We both wanted to bike around the city a little more before heading to Brussels, giving us nice morning biking conditions with quiet canals and empty streets. It was gorgeous!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A row of canal houses reflects into the water below.

THIS, my friends, is how you get those sexy Bruges Travel Channel shots! The morning bike ride around Bruges is one I'll never forget!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tarnished copper statue of a man with renaissance clothing and a tome says "JAN VAN EYCK" on the base, at the edge of a canal with colorful narrow buildings in the background.

Among the things we did this morning was running into a random statue of painter Jan Van Eyck at the head of this canal.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A city street is marked entirely with narrow brick houses with stepped gable roofs, curving into a dark alley.

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The whole city kind of looks the same, but that just means all of Bruges is beautiful. This could easily rival Stockholm or Paris for most beautiful city I've been to.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An outdoor dining area of pink flowers and black umbrellas sits at the foot of a church belltower.

We found this cute little outdoor dining area, though Bruges has a lot of them.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Across water, one can see several narrow brick buildings with pointed roofs and spires, with a weeping willow over the canal. A belltower rises high in the background.

At my request, we did return to that canal corner, where I got much better pictures than the previous night.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Across water, one can see several narrow brick buildings with pointed roofs and spires, with a weeping willow over the canal.

Boom! Most iconic view in Belgium, right there!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A medieval church with spires on its steeple rises high into the sky, made of brown brick.

We continued exploring Bruges where we found ourselves at this church, which sadly wasn't open and functioned as some kind of guided tour.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Behind a brick wall and wooden gate, several houses can be seen in a gated community. A black iron lightpost is on the street outside the gate,

John had found this little fort district, which served as our final stop In Bruges.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A boat crosses a canal in front of several small brick buildings, with a church in the background.

These boats kept going under this bridge, and every time they did, the tour guide would tell them to duck so they didn't hit their heads!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: On a medieval town street marked with road signs, one brick building has an archway over the road, leading to a small round tower overgrown with ivy.

Not fully sure what this was, but the architecture was kind of fun to shoot.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A rippling canal runs between rows of medieval brick buildings, with a white swan swimming in it.

The whole city is somewhat touristy, but John found us as far off the beaten path as we were gonna get.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: On a grassy riverbank sit several large white swans with orange beaks and black eyes. Across some water, two medieval brick buildings sit atop a retaining wall.

Around here, we found this little park thing that was home to Bruges's iconic swans! These things are huge, they're mean, they're a national treasure to the Belgian people, and they want to be left alone.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A large swan twists its neck back up and then down, standing on grass covered in white feathers.

They're big fellas. Now I see why that goose at Efteling was so afraid of the one that was chasing him. These are obviously accustomed to coexisting with thousands of stupid tourists, but nobody in their right mind would ever touch one of these. Pictures don't do it justice, they're absolutely massive.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A bridge stretches across a heavily planted canal to a cute two-story home.

From there, we decided to bike back so we could get on the road to Brussels, and were treated to some nice views from the bike path back around the city!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Atop a hill with steps is a wooden windmill with blades bearing red accents.

Another stereotypically Dutch thing that's shared amongst the whole of the Benelux, Bruges has windmills around the perimeter of the old quarter. And when we saw the one near our Booking, we new we were close!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A medieval street alley stretches back around some tall, narrow houses, with bikes on the cobblestone street propped against their walls.

"How can a fucking fairytale town not be someone's fucking thing!?" was the quote from the film In Bruges that both of us beat to death over the past 24 hours. This town is kind of sleepy, not much to do short of walk around, but that's kind of the charm. There are surprises hidden around every corner of this ageless centuries-old city, and I'm so glad we managed to work it in!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A sweaty Jarrett stands in front of the willow tree on Bruges's famous canal corner.

I was so gross, I was exhausted from biking, I just wanted to get out of there, so as much as I loved Bruges, hopping in the car and heading out was welcomed. But this Belgian city is drop dead gorgeous and definitely worth checking out! It's so easy to base your Ride to Happiness run out of Bruges, that's my advice for any prospective travelers that want to ride it. This is where you stop to smell the roses, taste the beer, and pet the swans!

(Wait, no. Don't pet the swans. Not if you want to live to tell about your trip.)

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A large geodesic sculpture is made of gray tubes connecting large chrome spheres in a formation, with the Belgian flag flown from the top sphere.

UP NEXT: We go from medieval times to the Atomic Age, heading to the important European capital of Brussels for the second Belgium-based leg of the trip! We've got knockoff Paris, my French is put to the test, and a delicious meal and trippy light show 300 feet over the Belgian capital!