SO GOOD TO BE BACK HOME
At first, Bella wouldn't come near us but stayed under the table for a good hour or two. Then, she couldn't resist any longer and whined. Then, she came over and was soon all over me and Zachary. She suckled on his fingers for a good 10 minutes. The next morning, she greeted me but curling up against me and just falling asleep while purring. When I was out of the bed, she kept whining and begging for more snuggle time. I couldn't bear to disappoint her, so I followed her to bed where she snuggled up into me and slept some more. Poor thing. She definitely did warm up to Renee and I know she really enjoyed Laura's company, too, but she really must have missed us. I missed her, too. It felt good to pet her and have her close to me, hearing her purr and feeling her paws.
I missed the breakfast here!! I also missed the neighborhood slut cats. Man, they're really friendly around here. Also, I had gotten desensitized to how bad the coffee is in Europe. When we had our first Stumptown in over a month, with our first Portland breakfast at Jam. The coffee really hit all the right spots. My god. We have the best coffee in the world.
Today, we had breakfast at Waffle Window, got coffee from Fresh Pot, lazed about in the house, went for a run around Laurelhurst Park and attended the neighborhood picnic. A neighborhood picnic! I love Portland.
We only got to spend one night in Brussels and did very little sightseeing. The hostel confirmation e-mail had told us to check in at another hostel that required us to get off at Brussel North station and walk a good 15 minutes. We had to wait several hours to check in, though, so we locked up our luggage there and tried to stroll around town and find a place to eat and pass the time. We managed to find a cheap chinese restaurant about 20 minutes away. After lunch, we stepped out in the pouring rain and treaded our way back to the check-in hostel. There, we were informed where our actual hostel would be (wtf). We had to drag our luggage back out and walk all the way back to where we had lunch, then take a left and drag our shit another 10 minutes to the hostel... which was only 2 minutes away from Brussel Central station. We later found out we could have checked in there and now where the stupid e-mail had told us. We could have gotten off Brussel Central and conveniently kept our luggage there and eaten in the same area, since it's in the middle of all the touristy areas and cheap eateries.
Zachary had surprised me me with a private room on our last night. I feel bad that I was too tired and sore to do much that day because it was such a perfect spot to spend the night, especially in a cozy little vintage room. The hostel was located almost RIGHT ON Grand Place. At night, when we were enjoying the free wifi downstairs, we could hear loud music outside. When we stepped outside, we saw that he music was accompanying a light show projected on one of the richly decorated buildings, from the opposite building. There's a video of that on Zachary's flickr but you have to be a friend or family to view it.
I really liked the hostel, too. It was small, quiet and cozy, which was a nice break from the noisy, smoky Charlie Rockets (loved it there but these old bones can only handle so much noise and smoke). The man who ran the place was rather pleasant, too.
Zachary's been amazing throughout this trip. He would often have to carry both our suitcases because I'd have a hard time lifting mine on trains and trams when we were in a hurry. My feet have been aching nonstop (they still hurt a lot and I'm not sure why) and he'd patiently slow his pace to match mine. I've had a hard time getting used to different showers and he'd stand outside the shower, practically holding my hand. He's spent a lot of money and energy on this trip. He let me buy all the souvenirs and postcards I wanted, to give to our mothers and friends, and paid the postage for the postcards as well without complaining once. Thanks to him - and ALL thanks to him - I had an amazing month. Thanks to him, I was able to avoid the hottest days in Portland and enjoy the cooler, breezier parts of Europe.
My only regret is that I wasn't able to spend any time at the Wednesday market in Bruges. I was so close to buying a whole kilogram of chocolate truffles for 14 Euros. I'll never stop talking about it.
I missed the breakfast here!! I also missed the neighborhood slut cats. Man, they're really friendly around here. Also, I had gotten desensitized to how bad the coffee is in Europe. When we had our first Stumptown in over a month, with our first Portland breakfast at Jam. The coffee really hit all the right spots. My god. We have the best coffee in the world.
Today, we had breakfast at Waffle Window, got coffee from Fresh Pot, lazed about in the house, went for a run around Laurelhurst Park and attended the neighborhood picnic. A neighborhood picnic! I love Portland.
We only got to spend one night in Brussels and did very little sightseeing. The hostel confirmation e-mail had told us to check in at another hostel that required us to get off at Brussel North station and walk a good 15 minutes. We had to wait several hours to check in, though, so we locked up our luggage there and tried to stroll around town and find a place to eat and pass the time. We managed to find a cheap chinese restaurant about 20 minutes away. After lunch, we stepped out in the pouring rain and treaded our way back to the check-in hostel. There, we were informed where our actual hostel would be (wtf). We had to drag our luggage back out and walk all the way back to where we had lunch, then take a left and drag our shit another 10 minutes to the hostel... which was only 2 minutes away from Brussel Central station. We later found out we could have checked in there and now where the stupid e-mail had told us. We could have gotten off Brussel Central and conveniently kept our luggage there and eaten in the same area, since it's in the middle of all the touristy areas and cheap eateries.
Zachary had surprised me me with a private room on our last night. I feel bad that I was too tired and sore to do much that day because it was such a perfect spot to spend the night, especially in a cozy little vintage room. The hostel was located almost RIGHT ON Grand Place. At night, when we were enjoying the free wifi downstairs, we could hear loud music outside. When we stepped outside, we saw that he music was accompanying a light show projected on one of the richly decorated buildings, from the opposite building. There's a video of that on Zachary's flickr but you have to be a friend or family to view it.
I really liked the hostel, too. It was small, quiet and cozy, which was a nice break from the noisy, smoky Charlie Rockets (loved it there but these old bones can only handle so much noise and smoke). The man who ran the place was rather pleasant, too.
Zachary's been amazing throughout this trip. He would often have to carry both our suitcases because I'd have a hard time lifting mine on trains and trams when we were in a hurry. My feet have been aching nonstop (they still hurt a lot and I'm not sure why) and he'd patiently slow his pace to match mine. I've had a hard time getting used to different showers and he'd stand outside the shower, practically holding my hand. He's spent a lot of money and energy on this trip. He let me buy all the souvenirs and postcards I wanted, to give to our mothers and friends, and paid the postage for the postcards as well without complaining once. Thanks to him - and ALL thanks to him - I had an amazing month. Thanks to him, I was able to avoid the hottest days in Portland and enjoy the cooler, breezier parts of Europe.
My only regret is that I wasn't able to spend any time at the Wednesday market in Bruges. I was so close to buying a whole kilogram of chocolate truffles for 14 Euros. I'll never stop talking about it.