Brussels!!!

**As with the other cities, this is just a transcribed version of what I wrote on paper while on the road.

Brussels!!! Its been... an interesting day. Luckily, my cell worked long enough to wake me up this morning! So lucky. So, I got up and headed to the Pimlico tube station at 5 this morning to catch my 6'o'clock train. Only... i got there, and it was closed. Bad. And St. Pancras, the train station, is on the OTHER side of town in a location I'm not really sure of. So, in a panicked state, I headed towards the Victoria Tube station... and hailed the first cab I saw. It cost me 15 pounds (~30$) plus all of the change I got back was in coins (which you can't change to other money...) However! I did catch my train. Which was good. Two hours later... I was in Brussels! The train went through the Chunnel, and I think I spent some time in France... All announcements were in three languages... English, french, and what I'm assuming to be Dutch. Belgium is divided in half, with the south part speaking french and the north part speaking Dutch. One half is Wallonia, the other half is... Flemsburg I think? So, I arrive and locate the metro, buy a day pass... and hop on. With a little help from the metro map, I pick a random stop near the one with the word that looks like "central" and go exploring. So, I'm in this city, where it seems that everyone speaks french and don't really know where I am... But, i've found that I enjoy getting lost in cities as a way of getting a feel for it. I know the signs of a sketchy area and stay away from those and stick to the busier areas, so no worries. Anyway, I wander for about an hour and half and just as my shoulders and back are starting to hurt, I find a beautiful park with a fountain and some sort of curved building arched around a part of the park. I sit and relax for a while, then decide to press on by finding a new metro station and going to the central city. I get there and finally loacate a map... and some chocolate and belgian waffles... as well as another DIS student (who I didn't know, so I didn't talk to.) and a Cathedral! I'd made it to the touristy royal quarter. I explored for a while, but without a good map, I couldn't find much (not even the statue of the pee-ing boy!) before I had a number of needs that needed to be taken care of: shoulder, back, bladder, stomach... So I headed back to the train station, the only place I knew I'd be able to find a way to satisfy all of these needs. I'm still here at the train station, with 2 hours left until my train. I know where the atomnium is... and where mini-europe is & the EU complex, all of which I'd like to see, but I doubt that I would be able to get back on time. So, I'm going to hang out here and buy an alarm clock since the train station is like a mall... Should be a good time. People told me Brussels was lame and that I shouldn't go there, but I liked it. I would like to come back when I have more time to find the statue of the boy and see the EU complex and the atomnium... But I have a lifetime to keep traveling. This little bit that I've done has just made me want to see more. And, with this little bit of traveling, I've learned some things! For example, a list of things to remember if you want to stay in a hostel: padlock (they provide lockers, you provide lock.), flashlight (no one likes to be woken up at 4 AM as you're trying to pack up your stuff in the dark...), Alarm clock (you don't want to miss your early flight!), shower shoes (its gross in there.) AND your money belt. Yay. Now you can go hosteling!

I've also been thinking more about traveling alone. In Salsibury, I met two girls from Hong Kong who were rather concerned about the safety of traveling alone (they said, "Especially in Europe.") But I feel like, with some common sense, its generally safe. Watch your stuff, know where you are, watch your surroundings, avoid dark places, be (or atleast look) confident and know where you're going, and don't tell people you're alone. If you're lost and need to ask directions, as someone in a cafe or someone with kids and if something doesn't feel right, go find a place with lots of people and police. But, I've found that I like traveling alone- setting my own schedule and picking my own activities. I pick the pace and eat when I need to... I'm in control of the situation. I don't have to keep track of others and I don't have to argue about the day's activities. And when I'm tired- I can go sleep. I just like doing things that most other people might not want to and I'm more okay with not having a set plan than most people too... I feel like, If I really knew the person I was traveling with, it would be good, but I didn't have that option this time around, so, I feel like this option was best.