Friday, June 18:
I finished up a busy school day, conquering 3 tests, and jetted to the computer lab to make some maps of our rough itinerary. Back at the dorm, I packed my bag and said bon voyage to Jeff as I set out to catch my 8:00 train to Brussels. I met Gleber at the train station; we boarded the regional line to Luxembourg, making our connection just in time and arrived in Brussels at around 10:30. We wandered the station for a bit, trying to make sense of which public transport to use. My brief research had indicated that we could take the metro or a tram line. Once we found an automated ticket kiosk, we bought a round trip ticket (a one way trip for each of us), and slid down the escalator into the under bellies of the city. We hopped on a line 2 subway and cruised for a few minutes until we arrived at our stop on the North side of town. Thanks to Google Street View, we were easily able to find Belmont Hotel, where we planned to set up camp for the weekend. As we walked in the door, we found it to be much nicer than the other discount hostels we had been staying in. Especially since it was a private two person room for the same price we paid in Barcelona for the eight bed dorm. Once we got our key and shuffled up the stairs, we found our room on the second floor. We opened the door to find two older men asleep in our beds. Just kidding. The room was quite nice, probably not much better than a Holiday Inn, but it felt 5 star compared to some of the places we've been. We had our own shower, air conditioning, and a TV! We folded down our beds and sat and watched some recap of that evening's Euro Cup matches, but quickly fell asleep.
Saturday, June 19:
I set my alarm for around 8:30, so that we could get up and get moving in time to catch a 10:05 a.m. train to Brugge, Belgium for the afternoon. We took a bit longer than expected and after fumbling around the Metro again, we made it to the train station at 10:07. Figuring that we had missed our train, we went to the departures board to check out what plan B was going to be. But, we were in luck! The 10:05 train was 5 minutes late, so we sprinted to platform 10 and hopped on just in time. All the seats were full so we made do standing at the front of the car for the 45 minute ride into Brugge. After we arrived, we oriented ourselves and made for the town center where we were going to do a brewery tour. We arrived at De Halve Maan Brewery, at 11:45 just in time for the noon tour. We wandered the innards of one of Belgium's oldest breweries and learned lots about the extensive process that goes into creating beer. After the tour, we exchanged our ticket for a glass of Brussel Zot, the lightest beer on the menu which happens to carry a hearty 6% alcohol. After that, we decided to try another one of the brews that we had just learned about. I ordered the tripel and Gleber got the quadrupel. Oh so tasty.
(Outside the brewery.)
(View from the top of the Brewery.)
(Looking out onto Brugge.)
(A different glass for every beer.)
(We arrive at the bar, for the grand finale.)
After polishing off the last drop of what I think was one of the best beers I've ever had, we exited the brewery and set out to find lunch. We wandered into a tiny sandwich shop, where we each got a grilled ham and cheese wrapped in wax paper to take on the go. With lunch in hand, we meandered through the streets of the picturesque European town. Lots of pictures coming...
(Gleber eating over one of the many canals that runs through the city.)
(Tiny little bed and breakfast.)
(View of the cathedral in the distance.)
(The Chocolate River.)
(Cool park we stumbled upon.)
After our legs were tired enough, we headed back in the direction of the station and hopped a train back to Brussels. Worn out from our all day self guided walking tour, we took a quick rest before heading back out into the city. We got a chance to watch some Fresh Prince in English and an episode of Fairly Odd Parents in Dutch. Once our batteries were recharged, we set out to satisfy our deep craving for Chinese food. We planned our route towards the world famous bar, Delirium. Along the way, we stopped in the first Chinese place we saw. We were surprised to be greeted by a nice looking older Belgian man, wearing a sweater vest and a glasses chain. However out of place, his service and food were wonderful. We slurped down our Lo Mein and continued our mission for the famous 3 story bar. We found it tucked in an alley way just in time as it started to rain. The legend, as told by our friends who went a couple weeks ago, was that you could get a 2 liter glass boot of beer. We grabbed a menu and sure enough you could get any beer that was on tap in a 2 liter. I flagged down a bartender and asked for 2 L of a beer called Hopus. Unfortunately you have to ask for a boot and I got a giant fish bowl glass, but I guess the novelty is still the same. Gleber ordered correctly and got the boot. It took a while to finish those guys, but once we did, we quickly turned in our glasses to get back the 40 EURO deposit you had to put down for the glass. We hung around for a little while, and then headed back to Belmont Hotel to catch up on some sleep.
(Glorious.)
(The boot.)
(So much flare.)
Sunday, June 18:
After our incredible Belgian beer tour the previous day, it was time to see some real sights. I signed us up for a bike tour of Brussels before our train left at 2:33. We checked out of the hotel and walked over to Grand Place, the most famous area of the Belgian capital. We had to run to the nearest train station to lock up our bags, with just enough time to make it back to the square to meet the tour guide at 10. His name was Tish, and he was by far the best guide we've had for any sort of tour yet. Our group was the perfect conglomeration of English speaking tourists: A know-it-all Dad, Scatterbrained Mom, and recent college graduate Daughter, a do-good middle aged couple en route to Uganda and Rwanda, and us, two college kids. I think I'm forgetting someone... Ah yes, Mr. Ching, a very curious Chinese businessman dressed both for success and a bicycle tour. Mr. Ching had a lot questions, which started to get on Tish's nerves pretty much right after we started. Gleber and I were cracking ourselves up, coming up with all sorts of shenanigans that Mr. Ching probably gets in to. He was a lead character in our adventure. Back to the tour. Tish explained all the building in Grand Place, each of which had a pretty neat story. After the brief lecture, we walked to a garage in a nearby alley and grabbed bikes to start the tour. Riding through the city was incredibly fun, not only for the biking aspect, but also for the fast paced absorption of a real European experience. We saw a ton of monuments, cruised through gorgeous parks, and learned the history of the city, which happens to be the capital of the whole European Union. We stopped for a quick lunch of Belgian Frites and a beer at noon, where we got a chance to chat with Tish and our fellow travelers. We lost track of time, entranced in conversation, and had to do some hardcore pedaling up hill to make up for lost time. The good thing about biking up hill is the downhill that follows. After we finished the main part of the tour, we cruised back to Grand Place through the streets of Brussels, the wind rushing past our faces. We deposited our bikes back in the garage and wished our new friends safe travels.
(The Guild Houses in Grand Place.)
(Hotel de Ville in Grand Place, which contains a very odd asymmetrical architecture. You can notice the offset door at the bottom.)
(The Peeing Boy statue. There are many legends to its significance. None of which really explain why this is such an important attraction.)
(Flea market in the middle of town.)
(Cruising the streets behind Mr. Ching.)
(The rest of the group as we waited at a traffic light.)
(Overlook of the city at the Courthouse.)
(European Parliament.)
(Got pretty good and taking pictures while riding.)
(Palace of Brussels.)
After a short series of trains, we were finally back in Metz. It was a great weekend with great company. Gleber and I had a blast and covered a lot of ground in only 2 days. Now it's back to school, but only for a few days. We head out on our Eastern European adventure on Wednesday night, which should be the highlight of the summer if all goes according to plan. Thanks for reading!
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