Wine and Waffles

Sep 24 - Oct 7

Welcome back to the blog!

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Tuscany Wine Tour

Our friends decided to book tickets for a wine tour throughout the medieval villages of Tuscany. The eight of us got on a packed bus and visited Monteriggioni, Montepulciano, and Pienza. We found this tour through GetYourGuide, which lasted around 12 hours. Although, I'm not a wine enthusiast, I still greatly enjoyed the experience of traveling through Tuscany, exploring small towns, and taking in the beautiful scenery.

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Trip To Charleroi

On a last-second decision, a friend and I decided to book the cheapest flight out of Florence for the weekend. We found that flying into Charleroi and then back from Brussels was the cheapest and most fun option. We didn't know much about Charleroi when booking the flight, other than that it was very close to Brussels. Only after arriving did we learn that, according to numerous polls, Charleroi is considered one of Europe's most dangerous cities. However, we didn't encounter any crimes here other than their food prices.

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Trip to Brussels

After spending a day and night in Charleroi, we took a one-hour train into Brussels. We stayed in a room just outside Brussels' Pentagon, which worked well because it allowed us to explore more of the city on our way to to center. Brussels turned out to be extremely lively and crowded. On one of the days we were there, we even witnessed a graduation ceremony at the city center. The city had a thriving vintage and streetwear culture, with stores on nearly every block. Here's a fun shirt I found at one of them.

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Foods of Belgium

Belgium doesn't have much food unique to its culture, but rather it reflects the cuisine of neighboring countries like France, Germany, and the Netherlands. Brussels had a large North African population, and we enjoyed a Moroccan kebab-like wrap there. Belgium is famous for its beer, mussels, chocolate, waffles, and fries-- all of which we had plenty of. In my opinion, the picturesque waffles and fries weren't anything special to go out of your way for.