Brussels excursion 2024: Elsa-Marella’s experience

Hi there to everyone reading! My name is Elsa-Marella and I had the great joy of joining this year’s Brussels excursion. This year a few members of EYP Finland got to join for a three night stay in Brussels to learn about the European parliament. We had a wholesome time and enjoyed the company of each other during our stay there.

On wednesday we landed in Brussels, got to know each other if we didn’t from before and had a great meal together. After a good night’s rest the activity began. 

Thursday we did our first visit to the European parliament and we got to meet a few members of the European parliament. Hearing about the work they get to do and how they feel about it was honestly inspiring. Talking with the few members that we met and hearing their and their assistants’ origin stories got many people, including myself, interested about working in the parliament. 

On Thursday we also visited the House of European History and the Permanent Representation of Finland to the European Union. The House of European History was one of the greatest ways I have seen history presented. You could spend hours there. It was super interesting and really informative. We spent the evening going for a walk around the city and enjoyed each other’s company. 

We had a great group traveling where we all got along well. We played cards together in the evenings and had a great time. 

Friday we went back to parliament and met another member of the parliament. We also got to meet some of the non-political staff at the European parliament. I think that was one of my favorite parts from the trip. I found it super interesting to hear about all the other ways you could work in European decision making even without the political background. 

We spent the afternoon doing cultural activities like sightseeing and the Royal museum of fine arts. The museum was absolutely beautiful not only by its art inside but also by the architecture. After the cultural activities we had quite a bit of free time. It was fun walking around Brussels and trying nice food and new things. 

Saturday we had to head back to Finland but it was awesome meeting all the new people and learning more about people you had already met before. We all left a little bit wiser about European decision making and I think that is a pretty great achievement.

This post was written by Elsa-Marella Luoto. European Youth Parliament Finland visited Brussels 24.-27.1.2024. The excursion was partially funded by the European Parliament.