Day 6: These people seem like they're waiting for something
11:45am
Nearing Brussels on the train. I cut my left index finger while fishing for the last €10 I owed the B&B and their walking tour book in my bag. Writing is now difficult. For some reason this trip is making me bleed a lot.
Hada nice breakfast but got a bout of turistas right as I was finishing. Glad Ipacked some Imodium tablets, but if they work as usual I won't shit for 2 days or more.
This morning it was raining in Bruges, less than ideal weatherto walk to the train station. I was trying to navigate the most direct route but ended up touring the yacht club and RV park instead. Trains from Brussels to Bruges depart twice per hour, and the train ride takes just over an hour if your Brussels stop is the south station (Zuid/Midi), so you're never really far away between the two. I'll getoff at the central station because I don't know where it is I'm going yet. I need to get a map to find Emile Jacqmainlaan.
11:54pm
After buying a map at a souvenir shop (€3.50) I wasable to find and book two nights at 2GO4. I was exhausted so I took a restin my room for a bit. Met three of my roommates on first entry: Martin from somewhere Francophonic; Nicole from New York; and Ken from San Francisco. Ken and I talked a bit about software and alternative currencies, and he showed me coins made from recycled silver that were backed by carbon credits. He had to leave shortly thereafter to meet a former banker and discuss his plans to create currency marketsthat were not backed by governments.
I decided to scope the area and find a snack. This neighborhood is an interesting mix -- there's an up;scale outdoor mall two blocksover from the hostel, butbwetween here and there is a block of strip clubs and sex shops. Every block has at least one kebab shack, and sidewalk cafes are plentiful.
After a quick rest when I returned to my hostel room, I decided to go have a beer atLe Drink, a place nextto the local cinema where Malheur is the flagship beer. I left a note for Ken to find me at the there and also askedthe cute French Canadian girl who was standing in line behind me at checkin to join me when she was done eating. He showed up; she didn't. It became apparent when I went to orer the beer that I was really out of Anglophoneland. Any words of French I know now aregoing to be very helpful.
Ken and I decided to foragefor dinner. afterbeer and some conversation, and that's when we came across a nice Italian place not far from Grand Place where the waitress spoke no English at all. With belabored french we got what we expected; for me ut was osso buco Marseillaise. (€15) I had one moment of awesome when Ken's gesture of shaking a bottle over his pizzafailed to effect recognition but I knew to ask for "sauce piquant."
Attthis time we met up with Matt and Cam, the remaining twoof my roommates. Matt and Cam are Canadian, both originally from Vancouver, though Cam lives in Calgary now. The four of us headed to Grand Place when our dinner wasover, andfound it to be unexpectedly busy for 10:45 at night. As soon as 11pm hit, though, we discovered the reason for the crowds: a light show and music draped the state house for 10 minutes, and I captured a video of it.
We parted company and I attempted to find Sherlock's, a place that was reported on theInternet to be a karaoke bar near grand place. It was gone; only the sign and a graffiti-covered, boarded-up storefront remained. Headed to bed, citing the lateness.
Nearing Brussels on the train. I cut my left index finger while fishing for the last €10 I owed the B&B and their walking tour book in my bag. Writing is now difficult. For some reason this trip is making me bleed a lot.
Hada nice breakfast but got a bout of turistas right as I was finishing. Glad Ipacked some Imodium tablets, but if they work as usual I won't shit for 2 days or more.
This morning it was raining in Bruges, less than ideal weatherto walk to the train station. I was trying to navigate the most direct route but ended up touring the yacht club and RV park instead. Trains from Brussels to Bruges depart twice per hour, and the train ride takes just over an hour if your Brussels stop is the south station (Zuid/Midi), so you're never really far away between the two. I'll getoff at the central station because I don't know where it is I'm going yet. I need to get a map to find Emile Jacqmainlaan.
11:54pm
After buying a map at a souvenir shop (€3.50) I wasable to find and book two nights at 2GO4. I was exhausted so I took a restin my room for a bit. Met three of my roommates on first entry: Martin from somewhere Francophonic; Nicole from New York; and Ken from San Francisco. Ken and I talked a bit about software and alternative currencies, and he showed me coins made from recycled silver that were backed by carbon credits. He had to leave shortly thereafter to meet a former banker and discuss his plans to create currency marketsthat were not backed by governments.
I decided to scope the area and find a snack. This neighborhood is an interesting mix -- there's an up;scale outdoor mall two blocksover from the hostel, butbwetween here and there is a block of strip clubs and sex shops. Every block has at least one kebab shack, and sidewalk cafes are plentiful.
After a quick rest when I returned to my hostel room, I decided to go have a beer atLe Drink, a place nextto the local cinema where Malheur is the flagship beer. I left a note for Ken to find me at the there and also askedthe cute French Canadian girl who was standing in line behind me at checkin to join me when she was done eating. He showed up; she didn't. It became apparent when I went to orer the beer that I was really out of Anglophoneland. Any words of French I know now aregoing to be very helpful.
Ken and I decided to foragefor dinner. afterbeer and some conversation, and that's when we came across a nice Italian place not far from Grand Place where the waitress spoke no English at all. With belabored french we got what we expected; for me ut was osso buco Marseillaise. (€15) I had one moment of awesome when Ken's gesture of shaking a bottle over his pizzafailed to effect recognition but I knew to ask for "sauce piquant."
Attthis time we met up with Matt and Cam, the remaining twoof my roommates. Matt and Cam are Canadian, both originally from Vancouver, though Cam lives in Calgary now. The four of us headed to Grand Place when our dinner wasover, andfound it to be unexpectedly busy for 10:45 at night. As soon as 11pm hit, though, we discovered the reason for the crowds: a light show and music draped the state house for 10 minutes, and I captured a video of it.
We parted company and I attempted to find Sherlock's, a place that was reported on theInternet to be a karaoke bar near grand place. It was gone; only the sign and a graffiti-covered, boarded-up storefront remained. Headed to bed, citing the lateness.