In London, I jumped on the EuroStar and after a 2.5 hour train ride, arrived in Brussels. Between the arriving station, I had to connect to another train -- what a cluster f$ck train map!! I've dealt successfully with Chicago, NYC, Philly, Portland, Bangkok, and London, and I had absolutely no idea what the hell the maps in Brussels meant. It wasn't the French -- I felt like I understood about 76% of the signage here -- the train maps are ridiculously complicated.
Once I finally figured out the way to proceed (minus a ticket -- I sorta skipped that part; unintentionally), I was off...I got off at my stop and was instantly impressed by how shitty the area around me was. I felt like I didn't arrive in Beligum; instead, I felt like I was in Turkey or Iran. Signs around me screamed some language I couldn't even begin to understand. As I walked with my backpack -- I shit you not -- I saw a fight break out between two Arab looking dudes in the middle of the street. Mainly, it was one dude pleading with the other not to kick his ass. I thought a minute about taking a picture until I realized that I was only cracker in the general vicinity, and I didn't really want to draw attention to myself. Interestingly enough, none of the onlookers (of which there were about 12) decided to help in anyway -- reminded me of Sydney; guess people are apathetic everywhere...
I ain't gonna lie -- for a minute, I thought, "Get me the hell outta here!! What am I doing here??!" I stepped to my place, and the disappointment only increased. Granted, I paid a whopping 25 Euros for my place per night, but I didn't quite expect SUCH a shit hole...
Ok -- I'm here for a few days; time to make the best of it. At least I had a decent view. This was taken while cramming my head through the bathroom window...
Ok -- time to explore. Let's get it on! Intially, I walked the wrong direction and unintentionally moved towards an area where any Greek solider would drool -- it was filled with Turks chattering in a completely foreign language. I studied French for a number of years, and though I'm medicore at speaking it, I can read and write it fairly well -- this was definitely NOT French...Where the hell am I?
I causally walked the other way -- so imagine me in a world filled with Turks looking at me sideways -- an American carrying my "man-chel," wearing fake Ray-Ban's bought in Thailand, and having sexy hair whereas most of 'em were wearing the Aggie mullet cut without the mullet; no sunglasses; and no man-purses. So, long story short, I stood out.
I made a very amazing turnaround move (might've been included in "You Got Served") and headed the opposite way. What a difference that made!! I was actually in Europe! For the first time on this trip, I really, really felt like I was in Europe. Unlike London, the women were beautiful, the weather was perfect, and I really dug the French feel.
The streets used French names, French chatter engulfed me, and it was good. I found the square, which had some amazing buildings.
Everywhere I stepped, more alleyways beckoned me. Some had shops; some had bars; some had restaurants. At one point, I walked through this halway that looked like an old train station. It was pretty amazing...
Of course, no visit to Brussels would be complete without the obligatory truffles purchase. Holy Crap! These were the most amazing chocolates I've ever devoured. I ate the 1.5 grams within an hour or so. Nothing like a Chimay (which EVERY place here carries; YEAH!!) + chocolates. I'm in heaven!!
More on the nightlife later...For now, though, let it be known that I ordered as much as possible in French. I was surprised by how much people could understand me; it's been over 10 years since I took a French class, but like a wave hitting a surfer, all of sudden, certain aspects of the language started rushing back to me. There was something fullfilling about being able to get by with my French...Good times!!
No comments:
Post a Comment