Brussels to Antwerp Despite sleeping away half the day in Brussels; I've actually had a very busy day.

I headed down to the station to find a schedule and found out that trains left to Antwerp at least once an hour; giving me flexibility. From there I decided to walk and find the city center. After wandering for a bit, I found myself in front of the palace of Justice where an elevator lifted me up to the center of the old city. Explored for a couple of hours and I ended up visiting the Royal Museum of Fine Art and looking at some awesome Rubens. After that I went to the Royal Park for a bit and read.



Royal Park

One general thought that kept running through my mind was how nice the Belgian innocence must be. And by that I meant the innocence of feeling safe - both fro, terrorists and degenerates. I was able to walk right up to the door of the palace without passing a single guard. The Palace of Justice didn't have a single guard and it's windows were made of glass without any bars - just didn't seem safe enough to ,e as an American.

After that, I returned to the train station and got on board a train to Antwerp, where ,y French is now useless - but most people speak English.

As a side note : if there are inexplicable commas and qs in my writings, it is because the q and a are flipped as are the m and comma on these keyboards. You also can't type a number without using the shift key. Go figure!  ¶ 5:31 PM 1 comments

  Sitting in a internet lounge in Brussels Next to a pair of young twins who keep leaning over my shoulder to read what I'm doing.

Got in on the Eurostar from London around 8pm last night and took a room. I had a quick dinner and went to bed for 12 hours. Can not remember the last time that happened.

Probably headed to Antwerp later today. Crossing my fingers for better weather.

One funny story about the importance of changing currency before entering a country:
The bathroom on the Eurostar was clogged so I was counting on using the bathroom the minute I got off the train. However, once I arrived at the bathroom, I found out that the bathroom cost 30 cents. Long story short, took me 15 minutes to find the only ATM in the stationand barely avert an emergency.  ¶ 10:02 AM 0 comments

  Anyone ever been to Gander, New Foundland? Well, I have.


Screen on the plane in Gander

The trip is off to an inauspicious start.

After taking a sleeping pill and trying to fall asleep in Continental's absurdly uncomfortable seats, I began to settle in. About 3 hours into the flight my dreams were disturbed by: "Is there a doctor on board?" over the PA.

Some time later I was woken again by: "Folks, this is your captain speaking. Please buckle up as we're going to be making an emergency evacuation of a sick passenger."

Apparently some woman thought she was having a heart attack and so they evacuated her in Gander. Can you imagine what sort of medical care they have there?

Anyway, I arrived in London 3 hours late. Sara was graciously waiting for me. We just grabbed a quick lunch and soon I'm off.

Due to the delay, I have already altered my schedule. I will be taking the Eurostar in an hour to Brussels... More later  ¶ 2:37 PM 3 comments

  Getting Ready Well I haven't left yet - but I'm itching to go...

My schedule is tentatively:

Friday
-Arrive in London at 8:30 AM Friday, August 27th
-Go to the Singers' for a quick shower and to drop my bags off
-Catch a train to Dover where I can take a Ferry across the Channel to Calais (I'm not taking the Chunnel because it's boring and I want to see the English Channel)
-Spend Friday night in Calais

Saturday
-Saturday will be spent somewhere on the coast in Northern France, possibly exploring WWII relics

Sunday
-Sunday morning taking a train to Brugge in Beligum - staying there for a day

Monday
-tentatively, going to Luxembourg for the day

Tuesday
-Go to Brussels for the day

Wednesday
-return to London where I'll be staying with the Singers for 3 nights - returning home on August 4th.

While in London, my priorities are to offend the British with my American boorishness. I also hope to visit Ari and Hiran, see my school from when I lived there, visit my old pub - The Elbow Room, and that's about all I know for right now.

Let me know if there's anything that I'd be a fool to miss  ¶ 2:27 PM 1 comments