Dinner & a Movie

[Followers in the double digits, holler! So excited by that :) ]

Our day started off by meeting the gang (Sophie, Hannah, Lila) at the tram stop, where coincidentally we saw the Mormons from our first day in Brussels. They were on their way to Easter church, we were telling them about how much beer we drank yesterday. Awesome! Haha.

First stop of the day was courtesy of our lovely host Estelle; we went to one of her favorite flea markets! It was very cool and there was bargaining allowed but I didn't see anything I really wanted. There was this one Van Gogh-esque painting that was large and colorful and it was a European cafe dusk scene, really cool. But if my French is correct he was starting his bid at 80 Euros.

Something weird that happened today was that while we were at breakfast (which I didn't eat because I was holding out for street waffles) Hannah told us a lot about her Israeli Birthright trip. That is the program where Jewish kids get to go to Israel for free to learn about...Israel. I asked her a lot of questions and by the end of breakfast, Lila, Sophie and I were all ready to sign up. I need to do more research, but it's free if you're under 26, you have to write a ~200 word essay about what Judaism means to you, and then you get to pick which program you want to go on. Hannah did the outdoorsy "Quest" program and raves about it. So now I am considering doing that...maybe next winter. I didn't realize it was only 10 days, I thought it was a longer time commitment. And Hannah said the main focus was to teach about Israel, not confirm or reaffirm people's Judaism. And they pay for literally everything! Could be a cool way to see that part of the world. I am definitely way more interested after talking to Hannah than I ever have been about the program, and I've heard about this program for years. So good job, Hannah! Haha.

After the flea market we went to the city center area of Brussels. we walked past the Mannekin Pis again and then Estelle took us to what she considers to be the best Belgian chocolate, a shop called Neuhaus! We are so lucky to have her! I got an assortment of maybe 10 or 11 little chocolates. They look amazing. I've contained myself and only eaten two. They taste incredible! Yum yum and yum!

Then we got street waffles on our way to Beer Planet, where we got more unique beers that I can't wait to try. After that we stopped at a grocery store. I think Estelle had food she was going to cook for Laura and I, but I feel badly eating my hosts' food + I love cooking + the other three girls wanted to join us = so I had everybody chip in for groceries and we got: pasta, pesto, a baguette (used the bread slicer, obviously), cheese, peppers, mushrooms (I didn't eat those), and broccoli and we made a BOMB dinner for the 6 of us ladies!!!! We all split a huge bottle of beer from the Beer Planet, and Estelle had some chicken and fresh tomato sauce into the list of options as well, so we had like a pasta-vegetable-sauce-buffet. It was SO GOOD to cook, and to have fresh vegetables, and to have it cost like 2 euros!!!!! The six of us just sat around in awe of what a solid, delicious, healthy, fun meal in it was. This couldn't have happened without CouchSurfing. I love CouchSurfing. It is pure awesome. You will get sick of me continuing to write that! :) I just can't get over it!!! Ah. Okay. Calming down. I just love our little CS group so much. We all get it, we're all obsessed, and quite frankly we're all just so cool :)

After dinner we watched a movie (ladies' night CS date, basically). We watched In Bruges, which was a great movie, and super cool because we will BE in Bruges tomorrow! Also cool because Colin Farrell is in it...Need I say more? After the other girls left, I did something new....

Tried SEWING! I have sewn before...but not really out of necessity. My jeans were REALLY looking like they were about to rip, and I love them, and it hasn't even been two weeks! So I sewed over some of that to hopefully strengthen the fabric. Also I sewed a button on one of my shirts that had popped off. Very proud of myself! Hannah had the amazing idea to get a patch of the country I'm in and put that on my jeans if they really seem like they're going to rip. That would be super funny. Hopefully my jeans will last but if not I will probably do that and had some character to my trusty pants!

Quotes:
"I can't decide what I love more, waffles or CouchSurfing!" - Hannah

"Lila, don't blow away!" - Hannah (Lila is stiiiiiick skinny; there was a big gust of wind)

Accomplishments:
Laura and I both wore mascara. While traveling, that is a big deal.
Found my Belgium plate.
Tried Belgian chocolate.
Made dinner with our CS host.
Sewed.

Nice People Alert:
Woman at Neuhaus Chocolate Store - After I bought my chocolate she asked if she could ask me a question...of course I said yes. She wanted to know what my lipstick was, because she loved it and was looking for something just like it!!! Luckily I had it with me so I showed it to her and she wrote the brand and name down. Totally made my day that somebody other than me loved my lipstick!! Haha I'm so obsessed.

Travel Tip:
When traveling in the spring, always have a rain jacket.


After watching that movie, I can't wait to go to Bruges tomorrow with our new friends!