Belgium

Day 8: Tuesday May 20

Do you remember that wonderful day Cam and I had in Belgium?

I do. That was a really nice day. (Spoiler alert: it was actually today.)

Remember how we woke up in that youth hostel in Bruges and got free breakfast, and even though it was served in a smelly bar it was great cause hey, free food. Then we rented bikes and rode wherever we felt like going on the bumpy narrow streets. Remember those two cool cathedrals we stopped by, and one of them had this cool treasury of wonderful religious paintings from the 1500s and a relic of some saint's bone, or maybe it was a chicken thigh in a silver case. Who knows. And hey, remember how Cam rode his bike down a really steep hill from a windmill and it seemed like he was going to crash and die? Good times.

Then we stopped by the Market Square in Bruges and tried real French fries with curry ketchup that for some reason was just better than regular ketchup? And how we went into a chocolatier and got two pieces of chocolate each, which was the perfect treat.

#belfryselfie

Do you remember that conversation about how we should go see Michelangelo’s Madonna, one of the only pieces to leave Italy during his lifetime? We were kind of short on money and didn’t want to pay the 3 Euro fee, so we skipped it. I remember saying, “We’re going to tell people we went to Bruges, and they’re going to ask if we saw the Michelangelo Madonna, and we’re going to say No because we were too cheap.” Remember how that exact conversation happened with Aubrey three days later. Remember how this is the greatest regret of my life up until now.

Then we got on the next train to Brussels and noticed that the Turkish guy from the hostel was there too, maybe he was following us. 

Remember how we went the wrong way out of the train station and never really got oriented and so wandered around Brussels for almost an hour trying to find a place to stay for the night, and ended up walking in a rather large circle until by chance I saw a sign for the hostel? And then we went out for dinner and treated ourselves to some delicious Belgian waffles and an omelet. We must have been chowing down really hard on those waffles, because the Swiss lady sitting next to us at the café asked, "Do they not have those in your country?"

Then we wandered over to a cinema/museum place that was pretty neat and had cool exhibits on the evolution of film. Remember how we sat and watched a silent documentary about the migration of the Forgotten people, complete with a live pianist who could only play eerie music in minor keys even when there was a cute little puppy on screen? I remember that.

Remember how we inadvertently joined a Belgian swing band? We were walking out of the movie theater and there were some 20-something-year-olds carrying music cases and singing as they walked, so we started up a conversation and found out they were about to play a show in the building next door. They said they were going to rehearse/street perform before the show started, so we followed them and sat on the steps of the Royal Library overlooking the rest of Brussels and listened to a band perform obscure French swing music and Space Jam. Cam convinced me to go to their concert so we ended up becoming spontaneous groupies to the debut performance of The Brussels Sprouts. When they asked for suggestions Cam asked if they knew Start Wearing Purple by Gogol Bordello--and proceeded to play it with them and sing all of the words he knew. The Brussels Sprouts and most of their actual groupies joined in at the choruses and turns out we made some cool new friends. Remember the awesome bassist who, during "I Wanna Be Like You" (yes from the Jungle Book) had a really impressive scat battle--with himself? Then we became a spontaneous missionary companionship to the Spanish guitarist and who knows, maybe someday Juan will join the church. Then a nice Belgian guy with a great voice kissed me on the cheek and we walked home in the pouring rain to the fairly comfortable hostel by Le Chapelle cathedral. Cam won 2048 and almost got 4096 (so close, why don't they have an undo button?!) and finally, after a long day, we went to bed wondering if all of this had just really happened. 

Yes, I remember that day. That was a really good day.

Day 9: Wednesday May 21, Brussels

This was a really lovely day. We started off in the morning by going to the Jeu De Balle flea market, which my mother used to go to and find hidden treasures when she lived in Belgium twenty years ago. Hidden treasures are still there to be found, although I think you have to do a lot of looking. It was essentially a giant garage sale which included all of the things you find at regular garage sales, like pretty dishes you don’t need, old shoes, and a box full of individual cuff links, none of which have a pair. I bought a pretty silver ring and we moved on from wandering aimlessly through the market to wandering aimlessly through the rest of Brussels.

It’s a lovely city. We didn't have much of an agenda (hence the wandering aimlessly) and just found some cool things on a free map we got from the hostel; pretty cathedrals, a giant theater, and the famed Mannekin Pis statue of a boy peeing. The most significant thing about the statue was the people taking pictures of it, not the statue itself. Oh and there was a really delicious Belgian waffle place next door. We also went out for Chinese food and I had an embarrassing interaction with the cashier that involved French, English, and Chinese, apparently none of which I speak very well.

I have a very good impression of Brussels. It would have been nice to speak French or Dutch but we got along just fine and found that people in general were very nice and helpful. We got on the train to Cologne and left wishing we could have spent more time in Belgium.