The alarm in Paris sadly rang at 5:30, as we were catching a bus from the international bus station, which was rather far east (a couple metro stops past Pere Lachaise). We checked in at 7, when we were supposed to, grabbed a bite to eat and were saying au revoir to Paris by 7:45. The bus to Brussels was long and not as comfortable as a train but cheap and we did get some nice scenery. Once we got out of Lille and into Belgium, the terrain became green adn lush with cute little homes and ponies frolicking in pastures (no joke). Unfortunately, even though our bus left on time, we got into Brussels Nord about an hour late. Sadly, that gave us just 15 minutes, instead of an hour and 15 minutes to get to the hostel as the reception closed at a certain time and if we didn't make it before then, we would have to drag our bags around for 3 more hours. So we booked it out of the train station and made it to the hostel with 5 minutes to spare. We checked in and headed out to explore Brussels (i.e. eat). First was lunch (sandwich and cherry stuffed waffles) and then back to the train station to make sure we could get out of Brussels the next day and into Amsterdam. Luckily, because we were under 26, the tickets were cheap and trains to Amsterdam were frequent. Basically we were told we could leave any hour after 7 at the 24 minute mark. It was nice to be able to have a leisurely morning where we could just get on a train whenever we're done getting ready (although we have to check out of the hostel by 11, so sometime around then).
After we got our tickets, we walked around Brussels. There wasn't a whole lot to see in the city (it wasn't even in my Rick Steves Best of Europe book), although parts of it are very pretty. I was glad to only be there for a day. Enough to get a feel for the city and eat all the food and that's all you need. We started off going to a chocolatier by the Grand Place called "Chocopolis" (how could we not?) and bought some DELICIOUS chocolates, walked some more, stopped by this famous fountain of a little boy pissing (the Belgians are strange for having this fountain be something their known for), and, at a stand next to Mannekan Pis, had the most amazing waffles of my life. The little map we got of Brussels had insider tips, which said real Belgians just have sugar on their waffles, no chocolate. We put chocolate on because we're addicted, but we soon found out that we really didn't want the chocolate. The waffles were so good by themselves that it was completely unnecessary. Really phenomenal. After the waffles we walked around some more, went to this little bar where we tried some Framboise and Kriek (cherry) beer. It was the first time I've actually really liked beer; it was delicious and I could probably drink it all the time. And I am not a beer person. Post beer, we walked around again (notice the pattern of eat-walk-eat), went through this street full of hookers (again- 3rd country in a row. I just seem to be able to find them), to find this little stand of apparently amazing fries (they were quite incredible) and back to the hostel.
Reflection on Brussels: Probably the most unhealthy day of my life by worth it. A perfect day in Belgium.
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