EuroTank, Pt I

Friday, 11.2.2007
Brussels, Belgium

Ok, so its my first time to Europe, and I’m learning all the little stuff for the first time- try not to laugh at all my euroVirgin thoughts.

For starters, I knew most of what to expect here before I came. I’ve heard from others who have been here, as well as tv, the internet, and random other sources. Still, experiencing it firsthand is another story. It’s just weird to a country boy from Pennsylvania…

The flight took off from Newark at 6:30pm, fed us dinner (a disgusting excuse for lasagna), and landed in Brussels at about 2:00am. Only it wasn’t 2:00am it was 7:00am. I was tired getting off the plane, and we had the whole day ahead of us. And poor tank had NO idea what was going on. He slept for a while on the plane, but it was noisy and uncomfortable, (he had to sleep on our laps) so he didn’t get much rest either.

As we came out of the jetway into the airport, I knew immediately this was not going to be like any other US trip I had been on. For starters, the first thing I saw was a backlit advertisement prominently featuring a naked woman. I think I’m going to like it here. The rest of the terminal was deserted. Literally. Shops were not yet opened for the day, and the only people I saw were the ones who got off our flight. And in the emptiness of it, they piped in this weird easy listening version of techno music, which echoed around the terminal off the marble floors giving you that kind of lonely feeling. Really bizarre.

There are two official languages in Belgium, dutch & French. The country is sort of divided, and they don’t always get along. Many people here speak English, and many signs are in English, so it’s not too hard to get around.

We found our bags and got out of the airport in a 10 mile cab ride that cost us €40 (about $60!) youch! The hotel room is nice, and while a little smaller than we’re used to, it isn’t bad. And the view is awesome- a nice park with the cityscape beyond. Outside the lobby is a miniature re-creation of the glass pyramid they have at the lourve. Pretty nice, and a nice marker for finding our way back.

Otherwise, Brussels is just a city. A really old city. The center square of the city is called grand place, and its surrounded by the most magnificent old gothic architecture you can imagine. beautiful carvings & spires. A few blocks away is the famous mannekin pis, a statue of a boy peeing. Interesting all by itself, but what really makes it funny is all the chocolate stores which sell chocolate in the shape of a boy peeing. Outstanding. One awesome thing- they have street vendors here who sell waffles. Kinda like a hotdog vendor in NYC, only these waffles are finger food, and are waaay better. Sweet & warm. Oh, got they’re friggin fantastic. Jamie, you were right man.

We had lunch at a Danish pub, and then meandered along the old cobblestone streets nibbling on the waffles and bemoaning our sleepy state for as long as we could, and about 7:00 when it was finally getting dark and we could take it no longer, we went back to the hotel and crashed. After a brief stop at the bar…