Belgium, Chapter 1: My Arrival in Brussels

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Note: All events described in this entry occurred during a weekend in November 2006. For more updated trips and entries, please refer back to this site at a later date. A trip or entry that takes place in the present day will NOT contain a note like this. Thanks and enjoy!


I had always wanted to travel to Belgium, ever since I was a little girl. I had first heard about Belgium through my mom's fervent tuning in to A & E and Masterpiece Mystery episodes of the British television show based on the Hercule Poirot stories. Hearing about the character's love of chocolate and his Francophone background just made me curious. Just like I did for my trip to Poland, I purchased a guide book, Petite Fute (A French guide book brand) on Belgium. I was hoping to spend more than a weekend in Belgium, however that was all I had time and money for, especially since I had a bunch of trips planned, including a huge backpacking tour of France for Christmas vacation. I ended up finding a room at a hotel where the rooms were being offered for 60 euros a night!


I decided to take a Eurolines bus from Paris again to Brussels. The trip, round trip was about 35 euros, however my train from Dijon to Paris was more expensive (about 40 euro this time for some reason). I ended up taking my train from Dijon to Paris on Friday afternoon around 1 PM GMT, however between train travel and metro travel once in Paris, I arrived in Gallieni by 5 PM GMT, therefore I was unable to take the next bus until 8 PM. While I'm waiting on the bus, I begin a bilingual conversation in French and Spanish with a woman originally from Columbia, who was commuting from Paris back to Brussels. She and I begin to exchange stories and she tells me about her life working for a major corporation. We continue to talk to one another throughout the 3 hour trip to Brussels.

Once we arrive, she offers for me to join her and her boyfriend so that they can drop me off at their hotel. We exchange numbers in the hope of maybe meeting up later on during my trip if her schedule allowed it. Once in the car, I and her boyfriend begin to talk and I tell him a little bit about my story as to why I was in Europe and in Brussels, but also about myself in general. He seemed very interested in what I had to say, and he and his girlfriend continued to tell me a little about their lives in Brussels. I finally arrive to the hotel, and am able to check in and find my room.

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