When I say there are too many churches in Colorado Springs, I say it because 95% of them are architecturally gross. When I say there are too many churches in Europe, I say it with a smile and a feeling of serenity. I'm writing this little note about my weekend on a train out of Brussels, right in the heart of Belgium.
It's nice that I can add the country of Belgium to my list -- I can't say I would have ever gone otherwise. I really liked it. It had a great deal to do with the fact that I was able to speak with people in their native tongue (French), and THEY UNDERSTOOD ME! :-) How relieving not to feel awkward when trying to communicate with a fellow human being.
This particular travel group included: Me, Lauren, Mere Jones, John Roth, David, Sam, Chris, Scott, and Jessica Naimy. Also along for the ride at some point (if not more so than the travel group) were Michelle, Caroline, Lily, and Jessa. That's 13 Emerson kids in Belgium. Woah... We arrived in Belgium in the late morning and had to ask many people where our hotel was located because the directions were bad. As we're walking, the buildings start getting uglier and uglier, and the sketch level became increasingly high, but I was in such a good mood it didn't matter. Our hotel (not hostel... hotel) was located in the Arab ghetto of Brussels, about 15 minutes walk from the Grand Centre (main point of interest in Brussels.)
Most of the trip was spent exploring, looking at all the amazing architecture, eating free samples of Belgian chocolate, eating Belgian waffles, etc. The highlights include:
- Getting yelled at in a Swarovski store for trying to pet the owner's dog
- Free chocolate
- The architecture in and around Grand Centre (amazing!!!)
- a veggie sandwich I scarfed down
- the flea/antique/craft markets
- the random, open palace overlooking the city of Brussels
- lighting a candle in one of the cathedrals for someone
- Harry Potter perfume at one of the markets
- going to see a comedy at the Royal Theatre about plastic surgery and trying to keep up with what was going on
- the nighttime lazer light show in Grand Centre
- Mannekin Pis (Brussels' famous statue of a little boy peeing)
- the final night and the restaurant and the awesome waiter
- Delirium (a very popular nightclub with a killer live Samba band)
- drunk men peeing in public
- the train conductor to Belgium and his weird sense of humor ("Boys, look out the window... girls, avert your eyes") -- telling us to look at all the porn shops from the train window
- WWI/II monument next to the Palais Royale
- hot chocolate in this cute little cafe
- fake Notre Dame
- the shopping district of Brussels
- Frites
- the music museum we couldn't go in because it was closing
- Edmont Palace and the gardens
- our photoshoot on the rooftops of Brussles (so illegal...)
All in all, a killer experience. London in three days... this is all happening so fast.
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1 comment:
I can't believe I found your blog either!!!! I am just enjoying your writing so much, and hearing of your travels in Europe (nice to see you still have that sharp wit). :)
Dude, when I was in Brussels, my gilfriends and I got lost at 11:00 at night....eesh. But what can you say? The chocolate can't be beat!! Looking forward to the next posting....
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