Brussels And Bruges

(Photo in Bruges)

High point: waffles?

Low point: where he hell are we?

There really isn't much to say about Brussels, as we didn't spend much time there. We got in late afternoon and we're both pretty exhausted from bouncing around from place to place so fast and lack of sleep. Travel can be exhausting.  We had decided on an Airbnb apartment close to city center. From the point we arrived to the apartment we had about a 45 minute walk. In which our Airbnb host called us multiple times to find out where we were. So we just tried to get there as quickly as possible. Brussels had a very different vibe to it and definitely didn't feel as safe to me. And was a lot more dirty then other places we had been. We did make time to stop at a market to get bread, salami and cheese. Our apartment was a nice loft style place with a huge deck and incredible view. We ate our makeshift dinner and decided that a bath sounded nice. We took turns using a lush bubble bar and relaxing in the tub. Afterwards we passed out really quickly. In the morning we decided to take the recommendation of the Australians from Milan and not spend much time in Brussels itself but to head out to Bruges instead. We took the time to look at the center square in Brussels which was very nice.

At the train station a man helped us buy our tickets and told us where to go. I asked him how many stops it would take and he told me to calm down. We went tot the platform he told us and jumped on the train. After about 2 hours we started to wonder if we had missed our stop. We started to wander around the train looking for a map. As we did the train pulled to a stop. It was the end of the line, and there was nothing around. It was pretty obvious at this point something was wrong. Our location on google maps showed we were no where close to Bruges. We wandered up the platform looking for the ticketstation to try to figure out where to go. There were no tickets to Bruges so we figured it was best to just jump on a train going back to Brussels central where we had come from. 2 hours back we couldn't figure out which station was the one we started on and ended up going one too far. It was a much bigger station and one we weren't familiar with. We talked to an attendant who told us we had a little bit of time before the next train left. We got coffee and found a phone charger because we were both out of juice. We went back to see if it was time for our train and...we missed it. The attendant told us when the next train would be and we went down to the platform. But the words above the platform did not look like the one for our train. We asked someone else waitin if it was for Bruges and she said NO. We ran back upstairs to check with the attendant who told us it was correct and we ran back down.....missed it. Back up the stairs and back down to barely miss another train. We asked the attendant to give us a train that wasn't leaving as soon and finally got one where we would have plenty of time. We didn't leave the platform until it came. And then we jumped on. Finally we were on our way to Bruges. After a little over an hour we pulled into the right station and headed off to explore! Bruges is like a little story book town. 

Looks wise it was one of my favorite places. Small cobblestone streets lined with rows of cottages and unique architecture. Of course we wanted to have two things while we were here. Frites and waffles. We started with frites in a little shop that it was all they sold. The man who helped us also seemed like he was out of a story book with big eyes and a super excitable personality. We sat down and plugged in our phones. The frites were pretty amazing. But it could have partly been because we hadn't eaten all day. After we wandered around the square at night to look at all the lights. We set our sites on waffles and tried to find a place that was still open. It was a very posh place and we looked pretty homeless and we could tell that they weren't very excited to help us. 2 Belgian waffles with ice cream. Oh..my....gosh. The best waffle I have ever had. We devoured them. 

We had two options at this point. Try to find a place to stay in Bruges but it was already late and there didn't look like many options, plus we had an early flight and would barely be able to sleep if we did stay there. Next option, go back to Brussels and try to find a place to stay there, closer to the airport. We chose neither and ended up deciding to stay at the airport so we didn't have to pay for a place at all. At the train station we got help getting the right ticket that would get us back to Charleroi airport, and they told us we would have to get off and get onto another train. Back to where we first started. We saw a bus that was the same one we had taken from the airport and battled if we wanted to t to take that or take the train they told us to. We opted to once again trust the locals. Supposedly once we got to the next stop there would be a bus that would take us right to the airport. This second train ended up taking us further away from the airport and when we arrived to the bus station we were told no busses would be coming for about 6 hours. Well....we made the wrong choice. 

Wait in the freezing cold, get a taxi or walk for at least 1 hour at 1am through. We thought taxi was our best bet. 

Our taxi deprived was crazy! Blaring French rap music and cruzing through lanes. He gave us a French lesson and told us about his family. We got there very quickly. We walked in and there were people laying everywhere. Security was closed. The only area we had was the arrival waiting area and there was about 60 people competing for space and plugs. We settled in next the girls bathroom where there was a plug inside that we could plug into and watch from outside. We had at least 5 hours before we would be the airport would open. It was going to be a long night. Between cold hard floors and the fear of our stuff being stolen. Sleep didn't go to well. However as the time for the airport to open got closer I did finally pass out out. Sprawled out across the floor, drool all over my face I was woke up by Someone kicking my foot. In a sleep drunk haze I look up and see four gaurds all in uniform carrying ak47s. That woke me up very quick. They told me I had to get up and get off the floor then moved on to wake up others. Needless to say I wouldn't be sleeping anymore. Finally when the airport opened we hurried in and grabbed food just after security and bought gifts from the store. After relaxing in the cafeteria area for another couple of hours it was finally time for us to leave Belgium.