We hopped on a bus and rode the 2 hours north to Belgium. Because it was a Sunday, we could only go to the bus station in the north of the city instead of the more central station. So we got off the bus and found a metro, then took that to the Midi stop… which is the neighborhood where we were supposed to be staying.
While we were planning this trip, Haley brought up this idea that she had heard of called CouchSurfing. It’s an online organization which basically facilitates free accomadation and cultural exchange for travelers. We signed up about a month back and reviewed a bunch of profiles for people in the cities we were to visit and emailed them to ask if they would host us… we had a taker named Jeff in Brussels. It was essentially like a blind date… we told him facts about ourselves, and gave us interesting tidbits and an address and then we were just supposed to show up whenever we got there. Unfortunately, he told us that he was traveling to the Netherlands that weekend, and wouldn’t be home until late Sunday night. So when Haley and I got to Brussels, we had to walk around with our 20 pound backpacks all day.
Back to the story… we emerge from the metro in the middle of nowhere. Correction, in the middle of the Ghetto. I had had this really romantic image of Brussels in my head – I thought it was going to be clean and full of gardens and fountains… but it’s actually a very ugly city. Hahaha. We wandered around aimlessly for about two hours, just trying to find the center because we knew that’s where we could go to pass the most time. Eventually we were pointed in the right direction and found it, but our energy and patience were both decreasing exponentially. Andrew’s friend Jean Louise had told us to go to this street near the center informally known as Kebab Street because of all of the Greek and Middle Eastern restaurants on it… and in the middle of all of our wandering… we stumbled upon the mythical Kebab Street. It was a like beacon of hope during the weary traveler’s darkest hour. We picked one random dive and stole a seat inside… a table for four because although we were only two, our bags took up the space of two grown men. We ordered average pitas – mine was beef with cucumber sauce and corn,
Haley’s was chicken with tomatoes and cucumbers… two Coca-lights…. And we were done. Life, as I knew it had ended. SOOOOOO GOOD. Everything I had every wanted out of life was manifested in this pita. For the only time during the entire trip, Haley finished her food before me, because I was too busy lusting to my food.
We stayed there for a while after we had finished and then decided to go chocolate shop hopping, in the hopes that we could get some free samples. All of the shops were the same – all were beautiful. It’s like in Brussels, they weren’t worried about making a pretty city, because the chocolate is the art. I forgot to tell you that I left my camera charger at Haley’s friend’s house in Paris, so I had to do without for most of the trip… but I wish I could have taken a photo of the chocolate shops for you all.
After the chocolate shops, we decided to take the plunge and get some famous Belgian Waffles… what else should we have done? When in Rome! Or… Belgium? Anyways… please forget anything you ever knew about waffles. Even then best, most exquisite and fantastical waffles ever conceived. Because they would pale in comparison to the real deal. In Belgium, they don’t waste their time with that batter nonsense – the waffles are made out of dough… dough which is made out of straight up love, sex, world peace, eternal bliss and probably lots of sugar.
You can get them plain, with powdered sugar, or even get fancy with fruit and chocolate sauce and whipped cream. But in my opinion that just complicates a relationship that should be very simple. And lovely. In my relationship with the Belgian waffle, I’m not sure who wears the pants… because for 48 hours straight I was at the waffles beck and call, but in the end I OWNED those waffles! Must be one of those life riddles.
We walked around a little and decided to sit down and have a beer… another thing famous in Belgium. Haley had something pretty authentic, but I, being someone that HATES beer, could only stand to order a raspberry flavored beer which actually didn’t taste like beer at all when I got it. I think it had like -1.4% alcohol too… so I felt real good about that decision ☺ About two hours later we found ourselves back on Kebab Street trying out a different restaurant, which wasn’t as good as the first, but still delicious.
We took the metro back to the ghetto, asked a taxi driver how to reach the address Jeff had given me, and then set out to walking. Remember the story I told you about the bars and cafes and Morocco? It was the second act of the same play – Jeff lived in the only Muslim neighborhood in Brussels. We got so many stares walking down the street at 10 pm with our big back packs. We finally made it… unscathed… to Jeff’s doorstep, rang the bell and then just prayed while we waited for him to come down. He was really friendly from minute one, very hospitable and accommodating. He told us all about Brussels, we had friendly conversation and all that jazz. Then went to bed in the pretty much the most awkward and uncomfortable silence ever.
The next morning we got up and went to an antique flea market that felt more like a massively unorganized garage sale than anything else. We spent about an hour there sorting through all the vendors' piles... Haley bought some cool tins and plates that she was happy with. I was kind of sad because I hadn't found anything, and then as we were walking out of the market, Haley looked at a random pile and was like "Alli, Look!!!!!" And when I turned my head I saw this colorful book sitting on the top of a pile. I went and picked it up... and... it was an antique copy of Alice in Wonderland in Dutch!! I WAS SO EXCITED. For those of you who don't know, I have an extreme and somewhat unjustifiable draw to that book, I hold the story very close to my heart and often incorporate it's ideas into my everyday ridiculous life. The book had so much character, and it was totally meant to be - plus it was only 3 euro, so you can bet I bought it! THEN, we found this often print and poster shop which we spent another hour in... I bought two absolutely amazing vintage pin up girl posters. They are uber feminine, ultra sassy and just the epitome of fun. I can't wait to hang them up in my new apartment when I get home!
We walked around the city a little bit... grabbed some more chocolate, some more waffles, and of course another kebab. There was a ton of stuff to see in the city, but for some reason we were as happy as could be just eating and shopping. We set out to find Mannekin Piss - the famous statue of the little boy peeing - because we thought it was going to be this big expedition to find, but we wnded up walking down this little side street and almost missing it. Not because of the side street, but because it was like the most insignificant little statue EVER.
The fountain wasn't in the middle of a square or plaza, it was engaged in a small alley corner, and then peeing boy was about the size of an actual infant. I was real confused... maybe let down, but I had a belly full of belgian food so I didn't let it get to me too much.
We went home to Jeff's place and hung out with him for a while. I got online to check baggage restrictions for the new airline that we were going to fly on... and thank the LORD that I did check, because we would have gone to the wrong airport the following morning if I hadn't. We thought we were flying out of the main Brussels airport, but instead, we had to get on a bus that shuttles you to the "other" airport -an hour outside of the city! Man that would have sucked. We agreed to buy a bag and put our extra stuff in it and split the cost of checking it... so it was cheaper to do online and I felt really good about that decision.
That night we wanted to get one last kebab, so we decided to see if there was anything in Jeff's neighoorhood. We kept walking further and further down his street, until things started looking real familiar. All of a sudden we realized that we were practically a block away from the center... and it only took us abut 10 minutes to walk there! We had been spending somewhere around a half hour traveling via metro each time we went back and fourth from Jeff's to the center...
luckily we hadn't paid for any of the metro tickets, but still! We couldn't believe how small the city actually turned out to be abd how stupid we were not to have realized it sooner.
The next morning we got up at about 5:45, changed out clothes and walked back to the bus station. Thank God we left early because we had some serious problems finding the bus to shuttle us to the airport. It cost 13 euro each to get there, which kind of sucked but beggars can't be choosers in a situation like that, I suppose. We made it safely to the airport, checked in without any Madrid-like problems, and hopped on the plane to the Czech Republic... leaving our beloved waffles and kebabs behind.
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