Belgium

Last weekend was wonderful! I had a blast. I was a bit nervous about leaving town so close to the start of school, but I am really glad that I did.

That Friday I caught the train to Waterloo (a trip I have made many times in the past year), then made my way to the Eurostar check-in. It reminded me of airline check-in (Easy Jet, more specifically) minus the counters. I went through security and through immigration (Yeah! Stamp for my passport!!) before boarding the train. The train was not full, so I was able to have two seats to myself. Two hours later I was in Belgium. Brussels' Gare du Midi was enormous! I had planned on hitting a cash machine as soon as I reached Belgium so that I could get Euros for my trip. Funny, the station had maps posted with EVERYTHING except cash machines. It took a little time and a lot of questions, but I found my machine and then joined the queue for a taxi. My hostel was on the other end of town, so rather than try and make my way at 10:30 in a strange town, I decided I would rather find my bed and wander the city in the morning.

The hostel was nice, very large, with all sorts of choices in rooms: twelve-bed dorms, six-bed dorms, four bed rooms with WCs, doubles with WCs, etc. Many hostels are this way, but since I am on my own and really only use the place for a place to sleep, I would rather spend my money on the thing that really count (Belgium makes more than 365 beers, that's a different one a day for a year, and then some...) so I spent the evening in a twelve-bed female dorm. No problems except that the door had a key-card that buzzed loudly every time someone entered the room.

The next morning I was up and out by 8:00 and ready to see the sights. I walked around the area for a bit, found a cool-looking church and found the botanical gardens. I decided, because I was limited on time in Brussels (meeting my aunt and uncle in Brugge around 2) I would take one of the Bus tours. The tour was cool, I saw a lot of Brussels that I wouldn't have seen otherwise, but we got about half-way around the city and I started noticing these beautiful little buildings. I was in the older part of town and I wanted to explore, so I hopped off the bus and wandered through the Lower Town. I found the famous Manneken Pis (statue of the little boy peeing) and the Palace. I would have liked to stay longer and see more of Brussels, but it was time for me to make my way to Brugge. So, I navigated my way through the Metro to The Gare du Midi and caught the train to Brugge.

In Brugge, I made my way to my hostel - such a cute place just in the center of town - and checked in. Then I caught up with my aunt and uncle at their hotel. Of course, it took a little longer than I expected (I got a little lost and had to buy a map). We set off to explore the town and eventually enjoyed a lovely Flemmish meal with some very nice wine. I had Chicken Waterzooii (a cross between a cream sauce and a soup) which was lovely and my aunt and uncle enjoyed a lamb stew and a beef stew, both were quite nice. We sat on the back patio and had a really nice visit. Afterwards, we continued the conversation at their hotel bar. I left around 10:30 and we made arrangements to meet up with them in the morning.

The next morning, it was breakfast, then more exploring before I had to catch the train back to Brussels (to catch my Eurostar train back to London). I really enjoyed the weekend. My aunt and uncle do not live in TN, so I don't get to spend much time with them, plus Brugge is a wonderful place... I still include Brugge as one of my Top Five cities - it is small enough to really enjoy and the architecture is fabulous!!