Belgium (there are too many pictures...)

Note: This one was written 4/19. Also, this isn't related, but good luck on finals, everyone (er... I think most of you guys have finals next week or so, yeah?)!

As I mentioned in the Berlin post, I feel particularly sentimental about Belgium. However, on the first day (well, evening), I was basically like, "Wtf" because it was super sketchy and there was NO FOOD (as I mentioned before). Overall, the first evening was just an adjustment/bumming day. I basically studied the map and tried to figure out some interesting sights to see for Thursday. Oh! And at the hostel, I had actually booked a 4 person dorm (I think) but when I got there, I got a 2 person room so I roomed with some Korean girl. It was actually really, really nice. It was definitely the best hosteling experience, by far. I even managed to have 2 very good (long) showers. My only complaint was that the bed was too squishy (though that might actually be a plus for some people).

I walked down this street in Brussels in attempt to find food. I failed.

The next day (Wednesday), I headed over to Antwerp(en) to meet a friend. Antwerp is a really nice city.

Inside Antwerpen-Centraal (main train station)

Uh... outside the station? o_O

Meir (main shopping street)

Antwerp probably freaking rich because of the whole diamond industry, and because its a port city. You could tell because everything was really pretty and fancy (still not as pretty as Vienna though). Furthermore, people actually dressed well in Antwerp (for Europeans, "Brusseliers", as they are called apparently, are quite lax about this) and there were a ton of really expensive shops. And there was FOOD. Anyway, as I was waiting for my friend, some random dude who looked like a weird hippie came and asked me if I was Chinese. I told him that I was, but I'm ... American. Somehow, we started talking (in Chinese -- his Chinese was actually quite good) about Belgium and work. It turns out that he is self employed and he calls himself the "rapping professor." Basically, he does MCing and public speaking or something for a living and he travels all over the world. He also did translation work for ABC News (I think?) and then he was working for some project run by MIT for the last 6 years, in Shanghai. It turns out that he was actually a very cool person (I googled him afterwards like a true stalker, haha...). I think I might actually e-mail him because I'm curious about his work and such. But yeah, so we (my friend, not the hippie-rapper dude) spent the whole day roaming Antwerp. We checked out Rubenshuis and did a boat ride thing along the city.

To be honest, the boat ride was pretty lame, but it was a good place to have a chat. Also, I had my first taste of Belgian waffle, which as AWESOME (and super filling). I literally lived on waffles, fries, and some pizza for the duration of my stay (really healthy, I know).

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (Cathedral of our Lady)

Stadsfeestzaal: Neoclassical style, built in 1908; big shopping mall thing

Yay for hot cocoa

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal (again. It was sunnyish for a while, so yay)

But yeah, so that's Antwerp. It was good (oh, also because my friend is silly/awesome and actually printed out a bunch of info about the random places we went to and translated it from Dutch to English for me, haha). I enjoyed visiting a lot. I'm a bit sad that I didn't have enough time to check out Brugge though, since most people love it. I also passed through Liège on the way to Brussels; it also looked like an incredibly beautiful city.

Anyway, that evening, I studied the map I had some more (a seriously awesome map that actually had lots of information and sights noted on it) and sort of planned a route for the next day. I kind of failed to follow the planned route though, haha. On Thursday, I think I literally walked 9-10 hours straight but it was worth it because I basically saw the entire city. The hostel receptionist dude tried to teach me how to gyp the metro ticket system, but it failed because some of the stations are all fancy where you actually have to stick your ticket in a machine to be validated before the gates open. However, if you know which stations don't have that and only use those metro stops, then you could probably get by without buying a day ticket. Having to buy a day ticket wasn't too bad though -- it's only €4.50 as opposed to €6.30 in Berlin. However, I must say that Brussels' metro routes are really weird. The 2 main ones just go in a circle, except one of them goes a few stops more than the other one (all the other stops are the same)... why?! Also, I think lines 3 and 4 are actually trams... but they run underground like a subway. Oh, and they also go basically the same route. I don't really understand this, but okay.

So anyway, in the morning, I headed out to the west side of the city, where all the Eurocrats hang out because that's where the European Parliament and European Commission are. It is also the home to Parc du Cinquantenaire (park) and some other nice things. Bullet points now because I'm lazy:

- The European Commission is not attractive at all (actually, most places in Brussels are really unattractive). I didn't even know it was the right building until I noticed the shape of it.

European Comission

Part of the European Parliament (zomg) -- this place is massive

- The park was really nice. It's really funny to see all people in suits running around.

Parc du Cinquantenaire (this is just the tip of it)

Pretty flowers! (unedited)

- There is another park nearish to the main park, and near that park (which used to be a zoo until all the animals died in the 1800s... >_>), there is a little circle of cafes, restaurants, and a Carrefour. However, in the middle of that, there is an awesome fries place. According to my friend, the fries in Brussels aren't that good, but whatever. To my lame American tastebuds, they were good. They were like McDonald's fries but thicker cut (heartier) and the perfect saltyness. Gah. So good. Oh, and I think the fries place was pretty legit since the line was freaking long and they were mostly all "Brusseliers."

Delicious

- It's really funny to sit in the park and watch all these official Eurocrat people in their official suits eating fries out of a paper cone, haha.
- Brussels is really a dynamic and multicultural city. In each different section of the city, the feeling is really different. The poorest neighborhood with over 100 different nationalities residing there is immediately next to one of the richest neighborhoods.
- In the part where all the official governmenty stuff is, everyone looks super daunting and official with their dark suits and briefcases. Lots of languages are spoken.
- The Atomium thing is in the middle of freaking nowhere! It's like the second to last stop on the blue (I think 2 or 6) line and the metro stop is super sketchy. The Atomium thing is also huge.

- Waffles. Fries. Chocolate. I don't need to say more. However, I shall, harhar. There are 2 really awesome waffle places (super touristy, but whatever) next to Manneken Pis. One is connected to a Leonidas (chocolate) shop and the other is just stand-alone. I went to that one because it looked more popular. Delicious.

- Having people ask you stuff in languages you don't understand is awkward. There was this one suit guy that was freaking out and asking me where the tram stopped (I think... I don't understand French very well... or at all) and I was like, "I'm sorry, I don't know." Then he threw his arms up in the air and was like, "AH SACRE BLEU!" Yeah... I didn't even know people actually said that (according to Wikipedia, it is not commonly used). He must have been very angry...
- Traveling alone allows you to have random conversations and meet random people. I really like it. I mean, obviously traveling with friends is fun and all, but traveling alone is a different experience and its more what I was looking for because it gives you a chance to test your independence and coping skills. I had a lot more time to reflect and stuff because I was traveling alone. However, traveling alone also forced me to reflect more because there was no one else to really talk to. I guess its like a cycle. I did a lot of journaling during these past days, which I'm quite happy about.
- On my way back to the hostel at night, some dude asked me where some street was (in English, thankfully) but unfortunately, I didn't know. He was also trying to find a metro stop. As I mentioned before, the metro in Brussels is rather odd so the one stop at the end of the line we were on is across the street from the end stop of the same line (in the opposite direction). He basically ended up following me which was awkward because I didn't actually know where I was going, but we made it out and I pointed him to the other stop. We also talked a bit and it turns out that he's Italian but got some random job in Brussels and was looking for an apartment... but he was like 30 minutes late for the appointment because he didn't understand the metro system, haha.

Another random thing -- somehow, in basically every place I visit (except in Swedish class in Austria, I guess?), people tend to think I am a local or something. Or at least, I am assuming people do because people ask me questions and stuff in whatever the native language is (or tourists try to ask me things and I just stare at them blankly). Weird. Oh well. That works for me :D.

I can't write anymore. I'm super sleepy and I need to rearrange my bags. But yeah, that was more or less what happened in Belgium. I am definitely going to go back someday because I enjoyed my stay in that country quite a lot... even if Brussels was kind of sketchy. I think I only liked Belgium this much due to bias, haha. Most people I've talked to hated it, except for Brugge. Oh well.

The post about the Netherlands will come soon (yeah, I know, like I said, I am super behind okay?).

Actually... Maybe I'll just write it now (May 7th). My roommate snores really loudly (eurgh) and I can't sleep. I need to get up earlyish tomorrow though... argh.

Oh well. Here are the rest of the pictures:

From the first night. The orange-ish tint is due to the sunset.

Royal Palace of Brussels

Bourse-Beurs, Brussels

Why can't all cities have signs like this?!

Historic Center of Brussels/Grand Place-Grote Markt

Manneken Pis

Some street

At the Column of Congress

Random sections of the Berlin Wall? I have no idea...

Palace of Justice

Town Hall @ the Grote Markt

Some street

Why don't we have cool chip flavours?!

SPECULOOS! :D