Brussels, in its geographical location and way of life has been a perfect stop in our journey thus far. Having spent a week in two of the busiest and liveliest cities in the world was incredible, but we needed a break. Brussels' laid back and relaxed atmosphere is wonderful. As a city, it feels like we're in Baltimore where London and Paris are like New York and Los Angeles. The city is just a little smaller and slower moving. We arrived around 10am and dropped our bags off to what was for me, my first "real" hostel. We were in a hotel in Paris and the hostel in London was crap. As we walked in to a nice lobby with computers, fooseball and a pool table, I looked to Greg for confirmation (being an experienced traveler, Greg has seen loads of hostels), "now this is a hostel," he says.
Lots of people will tell you, don't bother with Brussels, go to Bruges. I'm sure Bruges is great but Brussels has been a fantastic two day stop. In one afternoon we did everything there is to do here. Relaxed and drank awesome varieties of beer outside of the 10th best bar in the world, very happily ( bc of the beers) saw the Mannican Pis, which is a very small but famous statue/fountain of a little boy peeing and then followed it all up with a true...Belgian waffle!
We were feeling great but what came next was an aspect of traveling we hadn't yet experienced, we met a friend. After dinner at the hostel we were in the lobby drinking and playing fooseball when we struck up conversation with some girls (don't worry girlfriends, you three are the only girls for us, plus all other girls are ugly compared to you(brownie points!)). We quickly formed a circle when a man on his computer asked to join. The (ugly) girls soon left to go to a concert and we were left with our new friend, Christian, who asked to join us to the bar. Of course we would have welcomed anyone but from chatting with him for that time we could tell he was a great guy. We went back to the same bar from earlier and had a fantastic night. Christian is a big guy and from Denmark so finally someone was able to drink on Steve's level and because of it, the two of them got very close. So much so that by the end of the night, they each threw the other over their shoulders to see how many times they could lift them up. Conversation flowed from beers to politics to our education and work etc. It was great hearing the views of someone our age but from another country. It is definitely an aspect of getting to know the culture you can't get from museums and tourist attractions.
Today we woke up late and were glad to see our new friend in the lobby. The four of us got breakfast and hung out in a park, then walked around the city a bit. We were in major need of showers and naps so we headed to our new hotel for the night, of course not before we exchanged numbers with Christian in hopes to meet up with him later. Whether we do or not, meeting him was great and have officially made our first friend on our journey and hope to stay in touch with him in the future.
I sit now on the bed writing this between Steve sleeping on the floor and Greg sleeping in the bed next to me and I'm still a little in shock of this trip. We are only a week in and it seems like months have passed. So much has happened already I can't imagine what the next 7 weeks will bring. Speaking of things that have already happened, I made a big decision the other day and decided I will be going to George Mason University for grad school. After conquering Baltimore and Delaware, my eyes are now set on DC. I am relieved that this dilemma is finally over and excited for what the future holds. But for now my focus is on one thing, Europe. Hope all is well with our followers and thanks to the people who have commented, we encourage it. Next stop, Amsterdam.
Lots of people will tell you, don't bother with Brussels, go to Bruges. I'm sure Bruges is great but Brussels has been a fantastic two day stop. In one afternoon we did everything there is to do here. Relaxed and drank awesome varieties of beer outside of the 10th best bar in the world, very happily ( bc of the beers) saw the Mannican Pis, which is a very small but famous statue/fountain of a little boy peeing and then followed it all up with a true...Belgian waffle!
We were feeling great but what came next was an aspect of traveling we hadn't yet experienced, we met a friend. After dinner at the hostel we were in the lobby drinking and playing fooseball when we struck up conversation with some girls (don't worry girlfriends, you three are the only girls for us, plus all other girls are ugly compared to you(brownie points!)). We quickly formed a circle when a man on his computer asked to join. The (ugly) girls soon left to go to a concert and we were left with our new friend, Christian, who asked to join us to the bar. Of course we would have welcomed anyone but from chatting with him for that time we could tell he was a great guy. We went back to the same bar from earlier and had a fantastic night. Christian is a big guy and from Denmark so finally someone was able to drink on Steve's level and because of it, the two of them got very close. So much so that by the end of the night, they each threw the other over their shoulders to see how many times they could lift them up. Conversation flowed from beers to politics to our education and work etc. It was great hearing the views of someone our age but from another country. It is definitely an aspect of getting to know the culture you can't get from museums and tourist attractions.
Today we woke up late and were glad to see our new friend in the lobby. The four of us got breakfast and hung out in a park, then walked around the city a bit. We were in major need of showers and naps so we headed to our new hotel for the night, of course not before we exchanged numbers with Christian in hopes to meet up with him later. Whether we do or not, meeting him was great and have officially made our first friend on our journey and hope to stay in touch with him in the future.
I sit now on the bed writing this between Steve sleeping on the floor and Greg sleeping in the bed next to me and I'm still a little in shock of this trip. We are only a week in and it seems like months have passed. So much has happened already I can't imagine what the next 7 weeks will bring. Speaking of things that have already happened, I made a big decision the other day and decided I will be going to George Mason University for grad school. After conquering Baltimore and Delaware, my eyes are now set on DC. I am relieved that this dilemma is finally over and excited for what the future holds. But for now my focus is on one thing, Europe. Hope all is well with our followers and thanks to the people who have commented, we encourage it. Next stop, Amsterdam.
-dave
Dave in DC! Woot woot!
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