Brussels

Saturday morning found me on a train headed out of Amsterdam towards Brussels, Belgium. We arrived about 2 in the afternoon and started trying to find the hotel. We had directions...but not from the station we were at. So we started trying to figure out where to go. The general direction was found and we decided to walk since the weather was beautiful. On the way we found a skate park where weecho and michael skated abit while I rechecked the maps. I found we were heading alittle too far south because I found the street with the hotel on the map finally. Off we went in the right direction and as we rounded a corner...we found a parade! not a small parade but a massive parade with floats and balloon characters...after watching a while( and being handed a events list) we figured out it was the Brussels Comic Festival! Comics are very big in Belgium so the festival attracted quite a crowd...after watching several bands and balloons go by we kept on to the hotel.

At the hotel we checked in and sat down for a minute before heading back into the center. The parade was still going and people were everywhere. It was kinda crazy considering we were not expecting it. so then some people got some waffles and we walked around. The main plaza had some pretty cool buildings with good lighting at night. We ate at a little restaurant and had the local beer which good...

We then went to a famous bar with thousands of kinds of beer and met a local who talked to us for a long while about everything he could think up to talk about...the bar was ok but crowded and look a lot like most bars in Texas...

Leaving there I headed to the place where the hotel complimitary bus picks up...the directions of where to meet it are vague so I guessed and was standing waiting when 4 students from Hong Kong came up and and asked if I knew where the bus picked up. We proceeded to stand and wonder together where we were suppose to be and were joined by a group from the Netherlands doing the same thing. 15 minutes late the bus showed up across the street so we all went over but it wouldnt fit everyone because it was actually just a van. The Hong Kong students, one girl from the Netherlands, and I stayed behind and waited for it to come back. While waiting we chatted about school and travel and home and generally had a good time. Finally the bus came back and I went back to the hotel and slept.

The next morning we checked out and put our stuff in the lockers at the train station we didnt arrive at and started to try to find the city center again...while searching we came across a massive flea market that was filled with people and random things like jackets and fruit...eventually we got to the city center and went to the Brussels art musem...it was decent but the modern art section was closed for renovation and that is the area it is known for...we got more waffles and went to the music museum which was in a cool building and had thousands of instruments and wearing headsets you could hear a song from each one as you read about it...it was cool...after that we grabbed some more food and went to the train station to head back to bonn...

so my Brussels review...it was a decent city...not always clean and very confusing to navigate at points...had great waffles and architecture...I had a good time and the beautiful weather helped...would go back if given the chance...especially if in the area...