Brussels!

One aspect of the French lifestyle I could really get used to is the frequent vacations. Eight weeks after Christmas Break, it was time for a two week Winter Break, and I chose to spend it in Belgium and Amsterdam. I told myself I was going to post about it during break, since the details of the trips I took to London and Milan a few weeks back I've pretty much forgotten by now... but that didn't happen.

I've been going through my pictures (LOTS of pictures) and they're pretty much just of buildings and beer. That's a pretty accurate depiction of my trip - all I did was drink beer and stare at buildings. Sometimes I went inside the buildings if I was feeling particularly adventurous. It being a solo trip, I have precisely one picture with a person in it (me), so it's not the most exciting 350 picture slideshow (don't worry, I'll spare you). But here I am in Bruges, with all of my friends:

The cheese stands alone..

I decided to get to Brussels by a 9 hour train/bus combination, mostly to avoid the hassle of flying budget airlines that drop you so far from the city that you are required to take lengthy/expensive trips to the center of town. And, because flying in general is a pain and I didn't want ryanair telling me how much beer I could bring back. I got to Brussels at about 9pm on Saturday night with very vague instructions on how to find my hostel, which involved  two metro rides and a choice between a "15 minute walk along the highway" or a bus ride. When I got out of the metro station and found nobody around, I decided to wait for the bus since a 15 minute walk along the highway in the wrong direction is a situation I would definitely find myself in, and it being 1030pm by this point, I was in no mood for a classic Katie-style aimless walk along a highway. The bus never came, and I later found out that bus service stops at 10 for that route, so I found a cab. The cab driver told me it was probably a 1-2km walk, but I was certain I would mess that up so I took it anyway. It was literally a 3 min cab ride and he charged me $10. Live it learn it, I guess. I later read that Brussels cabs are notorious for being dishonest. I always forget that research is best done before leaving for a trip.

I spent the next day wandering around Brussels and eating healthy meals, consisting of chocolate, fries, waffles and beer. The Belgians REALLY know what they're doing. There's not much actual sightseeing to do in Brussels. There are some museums, but they didn't sound that appealing and Rick Steves, Travel God advised skipping over most of them. While I did like Brussels, I would probably call it my least favorite city I visited. It just doesn't compare to the others. Instead of paying for less-than-thrilling sounding museums, I walked around the streets lining the Grand Place and wandered past the EU Parliament building. I spent the afternoon doing this:

With this view... 

... enjoying the proximity of these two important shops...

.

...and discovering another level to being a kid in a candy store.

One thing I noticed immediately is how friendly the Belgians are. The first few times I accidentally bumped into someone on the street and they said "excuse me!" or "sorry!" I was lost for words. I literally stared a them with my mouth agape. Which I'm sure made a great impression on my mental state. I guess first impressions aren't everybody's thing. It's been awhile since people either a)moved out of the way for oncoming foot traffic - there's been many times I've had to flatten myself against a building to let people pass, or b) actually acknowledge the fact that they ran into me. That is just not the French way, it seems.

Customer service is also something I enjoyed getting used to again. Not that every shopkeeper in France is unfriendly - there are several who are quite nice. But it's not uncommon to walk into a store in France and be met with a "what do YOU want" look. I know it's nothing to take personally, but it's just an interesting thing to get used to after being in the US where people who work at the Olive Garden want me to join their family (DISCLAIMER:  based only on the "when you're here, you're family" commercials. I haven't set foot in an Olive Garden since I was 15 and that was "ethnic dining" to my teenage self). Apparently my random choosing of the above pictured beer, which happened to be the waiter's favorite, warranted a free beer and a free cheese plate from the excited and impressed waiter. They really get excited about their beer - an enthusiasm I can really get behind!

I only spent a day and a half in Brussels, but that was enough. I left on an afternoon train to Ghent, which was probably one of the highlights of the trip. I'll get to that later...

Happy Monday!

Amsterdamn it!

Hello everyone. I hope that your March is going splendidly.  Perhaps you are also wondering where spring is. I should be nearing Perigueux right now, but alas, I am sitting in a McDonalds (for the free wifi, that's all, I promise) in Amsterdam, while Belgium and Paris are being "crippled" by snow. I don't want to pass judgment because I am not sure exactly how bad it is there, but I'm going to judge anyway. I feel that if I acknowledge my judgement in advance, it absolves me from guilt or shame and you can't judge me for judging. Got it?

Anyway, based on my previous experience with  "snow" in Europe, I'm going to go ahead and call them wimps. Perigueux got about 3/4 inch of slush/snow in January and public transport and many schools were canceled. Later that week, I went to London where they got 2 inches of slush/snow, which caused Heathrow to essentially shut down and Kristin nearly didn't make it from Switzerland. I watched the news that evening, and the BBC devoted HOURS to snow coverage. For a couple of inches. I know Wisconsin weather is not normal, but I still can't help but wonder why mild snowfalls are catastrophic.

Last night, I was scheduled to take the overnight bus from Amsterdam to Paris, and then catch an early afternoon train from Paris to Perigueux. Past Katie was congratulating herself on saving $30 on a hostel room for the night, while present Katie was wondering why a stupid idea ever sounded appealing. $30 is about 7 beers, which is a days work, after all. That's easy to make up. I headed down to South Amsterdam where the bus "station" (read: parking lot) is located, a couple of hours early. I found a bar/restaurant and got some dinner, then headed back to the parking lot at about 11:30 to wait for my bus, which was scheduled to depart at 11:45. Fortunately, there was a kebob shop right there, so I bought a bottle of water and waited inside. 11:45 came and went, and the man who worked there tried to call the bus company to see where the bus was. But, it's a French company so no such luck. They don't answer phones past 8pm, of course. He told me that Northern France and Belgium were getting some snow, and he thought that the bus was canceled. I waited a few more minutes, and he told me that the last tram back into Amsterdam was in a few minutes, and I should probably just get back to the city and get a hotel. I went into one of the ones near the train station and it was crowded, since apparently all the high speed trains to Brussels and Paris were canceled (lucky them!). $200 later, I was set up in a hotel room. I get that if safety is an issue, cancel the bus. But let a sister know before she goes alone to an abandoned parking lot at night with no accommodations.

I went to the train station today and the trains to Paris were all full with people who had been canceled on yesterday. SO, I'll be spending an extra two nights in Amsterdam, which isn't too bad considering what I did instead:

Hopefully I'll make it back tomorrow, and hopefully SNCF will be kind to me and rebook me without too much of a hassle. But it is France, after all, and hassles are their specialty. It's mean, but it's true.

Hope you're staying warm out there!