WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 13-14: BRUSSELS

originally posted May 22/11
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WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 13: BRUSSELS

Just before I start the next entry, I made a mistake with one of the
previous email's journal headings...it should have said: SPEGELAERE
CHOCOLATE and JOS GETS WORSE. SPEGELAERE CHOCOLATE is the very old
chocolate store where Jos got the marzipan grapes.

And the winner of Destination Contest 4 is....David R, who
guessed in 3 mins! This one was pretty easy, wasn't it? We only had
one night left, might as well stay in Belgium and visit Brussels while
we are here.

LET IT NOT BE SAID THAT D'S ARE NOT TROOPERS

Jos was still ill in the morning and we were heading off to Brussels.
She didn't come out for breakfast and when she finally did, she only
drank some tea if I recall. I ate breakfast of various pastries and
made sandwiches with the leftovers of my meal for the train. Tine gave
Jos another pill for her stomach and called us a cab to the train
station. Our luggage is heavy and the duffel bag is full. What can we
do? Chocolate ain't light!!

We hauled our stuff onto the train heading to the next B&B.
Unfortunately, we were delayed at one of the stations for an hour or
so and eventually had to get off the train and transfer to another
one. baaaaahhhhh we've had a delay every time we've had to switch
B&Bs. When we finally got to our stop, we had to transfer to the tram.
The wait for the tram took 30 mins as well!! Jos was still feeling
quite sick and I was getting impatient... The tram came and then we
accidentally got off one stop early and not only that...our stop was
at the top of the hill. It was so hot and we had to climb a hill with
all of our luggage. I must say that the frustration of it all spurred
me forward with some annoyance adrenaline and I was almost able to get
there. Jos made it to the top of the hill...barely... I told her to
stay in the shade in the park and I would go to the B&B and come back
for her.

I was greeted by Cathy and Richard. I told Cathy that I had left Jos
in the park because she was sick and had to go back for her. Cathy was
so nice and took me in the car to pick Jos up. She also made us fresh
peppermint tea to drink. Their daughter also lives in Toronto and so
we offered to help carry something back for her. We are on the very
top floor - 4th. We asked if we could just leave our luggage on the
ground floor and take what we need upstairs, to which they kindly
agreed. It was a trek upstairs for sure.

Jos made it up the stairs, briefly rested and then said she would be
ok to check out the comic museum with me. I was still worried about
her, but she paced herself.

COMIC MUSEUM!

Yay! This was the only place I had really wanted to visit if we only
had time for one attraction. It was exciting to see TINTIN and smurf
memorabilia and other comic art history. There was even Japanese manga
contributions including a Porco Rosso and Dragon Ball statue. I'm
really glad we were able to make it there. We concluded our visit with
a picture in front of the famous red rocket. I took quite a few photos
but due to the glare in the display windows they might not turn out
that well.

ASIAN FOOD

It might have been the fatigue from travelling here and the blistering
sun...we were really hungry and suddenly I had an Asian food
craving... We ended up at a place called N. Anata and it was Chinese
run. Where are all the Japanese run Japanese restaurants (other than
in Japan)? Anyway, I ate donburi (rice with eggs and fried chicken).
It was decent, but nothing close to the ones I've had at home and even
farther from the ones in Japan. Jos had their version of ramen which
was...uneventful though she said the beef was ok and she didn't want
to risk her tummy again. Suffice to say, in our moment of desperation,
we ended up in a not-as-nice-as-the-other-meals restaurant, but it
served its purpose. I would say the only blah meal we've had on the
trip.

The street was also divided into two groups of people who had just
come back from a football match. They were singing a different song
and taunting each other across the street.

OTHER SITES, SOUNDS AND RIP-OFFS

We took pictures of the Cathedral and finally made it to the world
renowned Grand Place. It is quite beautiful and a UNESCO site. The
square is surrounded by old (and restored) architecture. The Grand
Place was full of people including two cross dressers who wanted to
grab everyone's attention. They successfully did so, by running across
a square and dancing with a random dude yelling the whole time.

The Galeries Roayale St-Hubert was beautiful. There were also a lot of
chocolate shops as well as throughout the Grand Place area. I can
honestly say Jos and I are chocolated out. I can't eat any right now.
Too much... plus our luggage is chocolate heavy. I will dedicate a
whole picture album to the sweet.

We took some photos at the Grand Central station an walked around. We
tried to find postcards and stamps. Several stores tried to rip us off
for the stamp....2,10 / 1,50 / 1,20. It was kind of ridiculous...

We walked around more and then decided to head back early to re-pack
and rest. I think I was totally exhausted and feeling a bit of sun
stroke. We ran into Cathy and Richard on their way out to dinner. We
dropped our stuff off and then ate at a bistro close by. Jos was able
to eat a really good chicken salad and I ate lasagna. The food was
delicious and well worth what we paid for, but alas, we left our
cameras at the B&B. Like I said...we were drained of energy and didn't
want to carry anything.

Also, kind of random how all the grocery store owners always ask us
where we are from...they keep asking us if we're from the Pacific and
Jos keeps insisting that we're Canadian...hahahahaha

Can you tell we are ready to head home? :) There's a lot to do in
Brussels, so I think I may come back another time. We have re-packed
and hope we make our limit! *fingers crossed again*

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WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE D2? PT 14: BRUSSELS

It is morning now. We just ate breakfast. There was a crazy storm last
night and due to the neighbour's negligence in fixing a hole in his
house, there was a big flood in the kitchen and cellar. Poor Cathy and
Richard had to deal with it. Apparently there had been a week's
drought or something, but the storm last night/early this morning
surely made up for it! We could hear the rain pounding the windows!

We are leaving soon for the airport. The travel spammage will stop.
Thanks for reading all of these massive emails. I have yet to put them
on my travel blog...probably when I get home at some point.

See you when we get back!

-Sam & Jos ^___^