Even though we loved the hostel in Rotterdam, the first night of sleep in Brussels was an extreme shift in comfort, and we took it quite slow to start the day. Noah and I walked back to Velofixer, where I test-rode a Brompton folding bike for the first time, then got Noah some breakfast at a grocery store. If a Brompton really made more sense for my commute, I would have bought the 2k+ Euro bike to take back!
With the cool grey weather and Tammy battling a persistent cough, we decided to take the train to Leuven, a university town 20 minutes from Brussels Centraal. We walked from Leuven’s train station, stopping for pain au chocolate (which Noah ordered by himself in French) and a waffle, to Leuven’s incredibly charming and historic town center. In contrast to Leiden, what we saw of Leuven was a bit cleaner and less modernized, and the ornate town hall and intimate Oude Markt were maybe my favorite sites of the trip.
We all ate what we wanted for lunch, locked eyes with a border collie in a bike’s front cargo carrier, and caught the train back to Brussels, where we split up for an hour or so. Noah and I took a very urban bike ride from our hotel to the EU Parliament, while Tammy shopped. We regrouped and walked to the Lego store, then Tammy picked an easy-going pizza-pasta place called Pizza Pronto where we spent a couple hours. Then we checked in relatively early to rest for a long day of tourism tomorrow.
Dan – Tammy – Noah 
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