 B is for Brussels |
AfricaAntarcticaAsiaCentral America CaribbeanEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth AmericaOceans and Seas
B is for Brussels
Europe » Belgium » Brussels-Capital Region » Brussels
August 28th 2006 by thisisjoy
My trip to Brussels had been planned several months in advance and was the second destination on the 'kathy-joy week in Europe' intinerary. It wasn't long before I had a few reservations that we might not actually get to Brussels and could end up anywhere! I had organised flights, while Kathy took charge of booking the hostel and wrote back to inform me all was set, the dates we wanted were avaliable and she'd put down a deposit on a lovely hostel in Berlin. It took a gentle reminder and brief geography lesson to assert the fact that Brussels and Berlin were not the same thing, even if they do both start with 'B'.
On arrival Kathy advised me that we were staying at Sleep Well Hostel (in Brussels!) She had the booking printout in hand with the name and address which proved very difficult to find. None of the locals knew it, we couldn't find it on the map and the best directions we came across was the wave of a hand that it was "over there". Over an hour passed, it was getting late and we had to pause for regular rest stops with the heavy bags. In one desperate and final attempt, Kathy approached a guy and handed him the piece of paper to see if he could decipher the code. He looked at it, thought about it, turned the paper over and laughed. "The directions are right here, " he said. On the back of the paper were detailed directions to get from the bus stop to Sleep Well. Ahhaah....
From that point on, Kathy was taken off map duty! We had a morning flight from Brussels to Glasgow which involved a metro, train and bus ride to get to Charleoi airport. We both decided to carry a copy of the map, however Kathy handed hers to the guy at the hostel for specific directions to be to be detailed as to the best way to get there. It was 5am. At 5:05 her map was missing and nowhere to be found. No one spoke English, we don't speak French. Needless to say it was a rather tense journey but we did make it on time.
The moral of this story is that B is for Brussels, M is for map and D is for don't loose it!
1 Comment - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
Add Comment
All Comments
September 14th 2006 - Rachel:
Not knowing where you are and where you're going ..... the joy of arriving. It's the agony and ecstasy of travel (and life).
All Comments
Poster from the chocolate museum
The museum was a 5 euro rip off but did have an interesting video of how the cocoa beans are grown and harvested
Lost in Brussels
Long story, long walk. But if you notice that paper Kathy is holding - that is actually the directions to the hostel that turns out she had all along!!
1 Comment - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
September 14th 2006 - Rachel:
Not knowing where you are and where you're going ..... the joy of arriving. It's the agony and ecstasy of travel (and life).
All Comments
Belgium's Flag
Map of Belgium
Copyright notice.
The text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Joy Couch). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Joy Couch). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Joy Couch.