Kevin - CS #3 | Delirium

Today we managed to escape London only getting yelled at once more for trying to take a picture. We of course needed a photo with our CS host, Rob, so we figured we'd snap a quick one in their grocery store (Tesco). We were standing by the entrance and began configuring ourselves. This employee (who naturally does not speak English...) started yelling at us about how we couldn't take a picture in the store (even though you couldn't see a Tesco sign or any merchandise in the picture). So we were confused but like, alright, we'll put our food down, walk 10 feet so we're out of the store, and take a picture there. Well, he followed us out and kept on yelling! So we walked a few more feet and eventually just took a picture with him still yelling at us. So weird. We still don't really understand what was illegal about it....?

We made it to our bus with plenty of time to spare and soon were on our way through the English countryside (very beautiful). When we got to the Euro Tunnel, we kept hearing announcements about "boarding" and we were like...boarding what? So it turns out that cars and buses literally drive onto a train and then then train goes back and forth across the channel! So crazy! So we drive onto this train, our entire busload of people, and there is only maybe a foot on either side of the bus to the wall of the train, it was extremely narrow but our Irish bus driver was a champ. Then once the bus was in, this wall came down behind us, so we were entirely enclosed. It felt like we were in an alien time capsule! Very strange knowing you're about to be under so much water pressure. A little scary actually. The actual crossing only took about 25 minutes, and then we were in France! Amazing! It was really enjoyable to drive through that part of France since I've never seen that part of the country. Eventually we arrived in Brussels at about 730 PM so I figured there wouldn't be much to blog about. Wrong.

Belgium...where we are back in the land of driving on the right side of the road, spiral staircases, bottled water (read: they will not give you tap water for free), and being able to cross the street without fearing for your life...it's a great change of pace from London actually. There is no honking here either, it's very quiet and peaceful. It has about a million people but it's so spread out it feels quite small. Coming from a country known for terrible food to a country known for chocolate, beer, waffles, and frites (fries) was a good choice. And you want to know why it's known for all those things? It's because Brussels' streets are LITERALLY 85% lined with: chocolate shops, waffle stands, bars, and frite stands. It's crazy! It is not a mistake that they have this reputation...

As soon as we got off the metro there were a few things I noticed. There were more "beware of pick pocket signs" than there were in London. The tram stations all smelled (read: reeked) of urine. There were many more homeless people around. There is no consistent and effective way of checking who has paid for public transportation (you can just walk on and walk off...there are people who occasionally check tickets but it's pretty rare). So it seemed a little seedy at first, even though being able to smell waffles before you could see them was deliciously fun. Oh, and the escalators are automatic here, which really freaked me out at first. I was about to go on an Up escalator, and I thought it wasn't working, so I was like ok fine I will just walk up it. So I started walking and all of a sudden it started moving! Very startling. Anyway....

The plan was to meet our 3rd CS host, Kevin, at a park right next to a metro stop at 8:15 PM. We arrived at the meeting point at about 8:20 and didn't see him anywhere! We were sure we were in the right place. But, it got dark as we waited in the cold until 9 PM and finally we went back to the warm and lit metro station (we're so smart). I found a payphone and called Kevin, so said he had waited until 820 PM (I think; maybe 830?) and then left because it was cold. And we were like, yeah, we know it was cold, we were out there til 9! Haha. And randomly we met some Mormons (from Utah, naturally) who were doing their mission in Brussels. We talked with them until Kevin found us.

After meeting up with Kevin we hit the town immediately. He took us to the "tourist bar" so we could do that first and get it out of the way. This bar is called Delirium and has over 2,000 beers. Laura and I were in a smoke filled heaven (smoking is allowed and widely practiced in bars here...yuck). I think Delirium is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having so many beers! Some of Kevin's friends met us there, who brought some of their (Italian) friends, and soon the six of us were conversing in mostly English but also a little bit of French, Dutch, and Italian. I love being around so many languages and I love that Europeans all know like three to five fluently. Americans have a reputation of not knowing any other languages besides English and it's pretty embarrassing.

Kevin is maybe the only person in Brussels who doesn't like beer (!!) but he more than made up for that by being our funniest host yet :) He is another example of a multi lingual European. His father is Dutch and his mother is French, but aside from those two languages he knows English and Spanish, a little bit of Hungarian, and some of two other languages as well I think (German and Italian?). Amazing. He is also really into futbol - he plays on at least one team, coaches a team of U16 boys, and is a dedicated Manchester United fan. Coolness aside, he had to get up at 6 AM for work (as a Sports Journalist) so it was an early night for us. Outside of the bar he showed us a hidden statue of the female version of the Mannekin Pis (another thing Brussels is famous for: this statue of a little boy peeing) and then we went back to his studio apartment in our smoke drenched clothes...It was a good first night in Brussels!

Quotes:
Laura: "So, do you like chocolate?" (after learning Kevin doesn't like beer)
kevin: "Oh! Yeah..well, chocolate, even if I am full there is always room in my tummy for chocolate."

Accomplishments:
Crossing the English Channel!
Trying the Delirium Tremens beer (one of the many beers Belgium is famous for).

Travel Tip:
If you're planning on meeting up with someone, have as much contact information for them as possible! A local phone number is a very useful thing to have.

Nice People Alert:
Euro Tunnel Service Lady - I asked her where a water fountain was and she said there wasn't one. I began walking towards the bathroom to fill up my water bottle; she came after me to tell me that bathroom tap water was bad to drink and she just remembered a new water fountain they built. She walked me all the way to it (it was outside and around the corner). First genuinely nice service industry person I met in England!


I'm excited to see how cute this town is in the daylight!