Evening in Brussels

Evening in Brussels
Approaching to Brussels Nord train station. Accidentally, out the window of the train, I saw some kind of “red light district” with whores. Brussels. Around 20:30. A long boulevard. No women, just men. Finally at Wouter’s dormitory. Wouter appeared. Wilson, Wouter and me are walking to the students party in one girl’s flat. About 40 Dutch and Belgian (Dutch speaking) youngsters. Disguised. Leffe beer. Talking. Dancing area in the basement. Underground style. Decorated with Dutch flags. Most of the youngsters are video makers. One guy must be a director in my opinion. I discover that he studies to be a director :). Communism is not a sensitive topic for me :). Everybody drinks Jupiler beer. Dutch speaking and French speaking youth in Brussels don’t party together. The party hostess shows us her room. XIX century style. I was told about Belgian stereotypes: “Chocolate and sexual abuse of children… probably that’s why we have so much chocolate”. Comming back to the dormitory.

Morning. +19 degrees. Town is full of youngsters. I guess they adore to seat close to the river. People are in the shorts and skirts. Girls are without tights! The famous Ghent Altarpiece. Wondering about the point of building four huge churches in front of each other. Red-haired man noticed that I would like Gent more than Antwerpen (he was right, he-he). River trip. It seems people on the embankment have never seen people who are doing a river trip. Gravensteen castle outside. Buying some stuff in secondhand shop. Took a wrong way to find one shop. Walking useless 40-50 minutes. Finally at home, goodbye to Chema. Walking to the train station (3 km). 21:00.

Evening in Brussels
First meeting with Wilson. Walking from train station to the lodging for the night. Wilson is really cool and kind :). Meeting with my first couchsurfer – smiling Dutch Wouter. Got the key. We go with Wilson to meet Brunel (haven’t seen each other almost 3 years). Delirium bar. Overcrowded. We are lucky to have a sit. Duchesse de Bourgogne – the best beer ever. They say “there are some streets in Brussels where woman is not allowed to walk alone”. Brunel and me took that street :). Accidentally met Wouter at the door of the dormitory. Good modern dormitory. Sleep, finally.

Morning. Meeting with Gauthier. Haven’t seen each other for 3 years. Moving to 4 star hotel – The Dominican. Wow! Feel like a rich person. Walking around Brussels. Grand Markt. Touching “golden” female statue for the luck. Shopping streets. Streets with restaurants. Have a look at the cool bar “Delirium” with thousands kinds of the beer. I love the atmosphere in Brussels. Royal Palace outside. Wild fox is licking itself in front of the Royal Palace. Still no rain :). Took a metro to Atomium. Climbing up. The guide accompanies us in the elevator, explaining something about Atomium in a few languages – the worst job ever. Brussels from above. Park Mini-Europe from above. It’s enough to see this park just from above. Returning to hotel. Turkish sauna, he-he. Going out. Crazy range in the shops – welcome to Western Europe. I don’t like cherry beer Kriek. Beer with a pink elephant – Delirium, the best beer for now. Trying shitty beer Jupiler. If somebody tries to sell you flower on the street, french people usually answer: “No thank you, we’ve already fucked”. In Greece Greek pita is tastier. Rock Cafe – have seen better. A lot of police cars. Trying to find a recommended bar “Le Corbeau”. A guard asked for 2 euro for the reason of safety. Aaa! People are dancing on the tables! Beer Duvel. We are dancing on the table. Funny night. 2:00. Coming back to the hotel.

Morning. A little hangover. Posh breakfast at the hotel. Famous french actor in pajamas and with a laptop – Dany Boon. Gauthier is speechless, he-he. Canceling meeting with Valerie. Walking to European Parliament (5 km). Nice museum there. Walking to Parc du Cinquantenaire with an arch (2 km). Tired but walking back to the center (4 km). A bit cold day but still no rain. I like Belgian architecture. Waffles are so tasty! I don’t like typical fried potatoes. Gauthier is leaving for home to Lille. Coming back to hostel. Alone since 19:00. No sms for me. Going out to eat something. The dirties way of making sandwich I ever seen. I bought that sandwich anyway but I couldn’t tried. Left it on the street. Walking a bit more. “Mademoiselle”. “Ca va?”. Came back to the hostel.

Shopping day. The weather is +16. It seems that the Belgians like to buy and to eat the most. One of the best shopping place ever. Lost in a store “Inno” for a while. Bought the last coat in Brussels. 60% discount. The old seller tried to arrange a date. Brussels is too multicultural and international. Evening. I’m buying ticket to Gent. A man in the ticket office said Gent with Ukrainian pronunciation. :)