Bruxelles

Considering its reputation as one of the beer capitals of the world, Belgium was a must on this trip for me. I arrived Sunday evening, and after checking into my hostel immediately went to the laundromat which was a must. Finished that fairly quickly and made my way to a recommended restaurant (Chez Leon) for the local special: mussles and fries. Add in a beer to that and it was a great meal. Right by the restaurant was the Delerium bar, home to over 2000 beers. The bar itself is just a collection of taps and hoses, quite the site. Started off with a Delerium tremens, a beer which I rarely get in the states cause it's so expensive, and talked with a some guys from Dallas who were in their 30's and just getting out of the country for the first time. They were quite blown away by the travel thing, even moreso that us youngfolk do this solo via trains, buses, hostels, etc. Eventually met up with some kids from the hostel and had some good conversation. Towards the end of the night, began to realize that 10% alcohol by volume Belgian beer is much stronger than 5% American beer and had a wonderful night sleep.

Next day, woke up to walk around a bit, going to the Grand Palace area and seeing Mannekin Pis, a statue of a cherubish boy peeing into a fountain. Tried to go to the comic museum but it was closed on Mondays. Ended up walking around the shopping district for a while seeing the locals at work before heading back to the hostel to book my flight to Morocco. Ended up being quite more expensive than I thought. But, Morocco's cost pays for itself in the end.

That night for dinner, made myself salmon with a mango, tomato, onion, cilantro salsa on top. Had been a while since I cooked a nice meal so jumped at the opportunity to use my hostel's kitchen. Had a few beers and then went out with a bunch of other kids in the hostel to various bars and whatnot.

Next day, woke up plenty early and was out the door with more than enough time to arrive at Brussels cental station. In Belgium, and especially Brussels, everything is displayed in French and Flemish. Thinking that Central and Midi were more or less the same thing, I arrived at what I thought to be the right train station. I was wrong. Had plenty of time so tried to catch a train to Midi, but that was delayed. Arrived right at 9:13 right as my train was leaving, but no signs to direct me where to go. Ended up missing my train, but talked with the Thalys (French) rail people and after a good natured joking around on their part, ended up hopping on the train. A short while later, arrived in Paris.