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Geo: 50.8371, 4.36761
My hopes that night three wouldn't be so bad were dashed around 2:45 a.m. I woke up and could not get back to sleep. Really, the traffic noise was unbelievable. I even had two windows: the one that probably is original to the building and then a storm-type window on the inside, both of which were closed. I tried breathing deeply, which just makes me too conscious of my breathing, and I tried counting slowly backward from 100, which I guess only works if there's an anesthesiologist nearby. It's awful to wake up feeling exhausted.
I decided to forgo the egg this morning. But I was entertained by a woman trying to eat a soft-boiled egg. Her egg cup kept tipping over.
I left the hotel (where I will likely never stay again, even though it was perfectly fine in many ways) at 9:15 and took the Tube (the hot, hot Tube) to St. Pancras, where I caught a Eurostar train to Brussels. The two-hour ride was thoroughly unmemorable and, even though my carriage had plenty of people in it, no one sat next to me, across from me, in front or behind me. I read my book most of the
Le Chat Noir restaurant
We didn't eat here, I just like the sign.time and had a chocolate HobNob flapjack for a snack.
When the train arrived in Brussels, I had to transfer to a local train to get to Central Station one stop away. The directions for how to get from the station to the hotel were very clear: look for the signs inside the station that say "Marché aux Herbes/Grasmarkt" and follow them. Well, it's the first of May, which means it's a holiday in most of Europe, including Belgium. The signs pointing me in the right direction led to a section of the station that was completely closed off due to the holiday. Fortunately, I had looked at the route several times on Google Maps and managed to get to the hotel after a short walk.
We are staying at the Hotel Aris Grand Place and, mercifully, the lift is working. I'm only on the first floor, so even if I'd had to walk it would've been a doddle compared to the Number 63. (I counted this morning: 87 stairs from the breakfast room to my room, and 69 stairs from the lobby.) My room has two single beds pushed together but, perhaps because this room is currently being sold as a
Town Hall
Not a great photo, as it was twilight. This is in the Grand Place. single, only one of them has a pillow. There is a desk, a wardrobe, and a good-sized bathroom, and the bedcovers are a really unpleasant shade of orange. I neglected to ask about wi-fi when I checked in so will have to figure that out. I suspect there will be a fee and that it won't work in the room. Perhaps lack of sleep is making me pessimistic (more than usual, anyway). I'm waiting right now for the tour get-together at 4:00.
LATER: There are 24 of us on the tour, plus the guide and the assistant guide. When I got the tour roster a month ago and saw that the guide would be Rolinka and the assistant guide would be Heidi, I quite literally squealed with joy. Heidi was my very first Rick Steves tour guide on the Best of Rome tour back in 2004. She set the bar very, very high. She's assisting on this tour in a research capacity. Because she also works in the Europe Through the Back Door tour office, she needs to have first-hand experience of tours other than the ones she leads. So if someone calls and asks about this tour, she will be able to provide answers based on her own trip. She is also on hand to assist the main guide with logistics, etc. The main guide is Rolinka, who was the guide on my first "moving around" tour in 2009 (that is, the first Rick Steves tour I took that didn't spend the entire time concentrating on a single city). Rolinka very easily reached the bar set by Heidi. I am really excited to be traveling with both of them again. They both remembered me, or at least had done enough research to make me think they remembered me. Anyway, they are both completely awesome.
We started off with a beer (tasted of apples) in a room in the upper level of a 19th-century cafe. Rolinka gave us the rundown for the tour and, after we all introduced ourselves, assigned us buddies. On most tours, you pick a buddy based on whoever's closest to you when the guide tells you to choose a buddy. Rolinka likes to assign buddies, and we have to figure out what compelled her to make the connections she did. On the Paris and the Heart of France tour, it was based on our star signs. I'll have to ask my buddy, Ivery Toussant, tomorrow if he's a Virgo.
We then had a quick orientation tour, during which we saw a little bit of our neighborhood, some recommended restaurants, a little bit of the Grand Place, and the Galeries Royales St. Hubert (one of the oldest enclosed, arcaded shopping galleries in Europe), and went to dinner at Aux Armes de Bruxelles. We had a cheese croquette starter (melted, cheesy heaven), a choice of salmon or chicken waterzooi (a creamy chicken soup with boiled potatoes and a chicken leg and thigh), and chocolate mousse, plus wine. It was all very, very good, and it made quite a change from the frugal dinners I've been having. I sat across from Heidi, who still lives in Lake City (her husband is also a guide, and they have two small children; they barely see each other at all during the summer), and next to Ralph, a distinguished-looking gentleman from Detroit. Think David Niven's American cousin.
The group is mostly middle-aged, with some retirees, a woman who is 42 though looks like a 17-year-old boy, and one teeny woman who I might be inclined to describe as elderly. I think there are only two of us from Seattle, and the other Seattleite has taken 10 RS tours. There are two couples traveling together from Raleigh, and they've got that drawl. I couldn't tell if one of the men was saying "friends" or "France" and, later, "lion" or "line."
I did find out that wi-fi can be bought for 24 hours, or else it's free in the lobby. I'll try out the lobby and see if it works okay.
Praying for a generous sandman tonight!
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SANDY
non-member comment
Hey -- you're now on your way to great sleeps, good eating, interesting places and people. Have a great tour -- I'll catch up with your posts when I get back from D.C. next week.