My time in Belgium and Switzerland

---

Feb. 03, 2008

BONJOUR A TOUS!!

Well, January is done!! I don't think I've ever had a month as busy as this...and I still have five more months to go!!!

Anyway, this week's excursions were Belgium and Switzerland...land of the chocolates!! This past Tuesday, I decided to tag along with the other American students for a mini trip to Brussels, Belgium (I swore I would never hang out with American students for the pure purpose of immersing myself in France and forbidding myself to speak English...obviously, that's down the drain). I think it was a good decision...not only did we have fun but I got to know them better. It is rather depressing when I found out that I am the oldest one of all the American exchange students...it's times like these that makes me cringe and wish I was done with school already. Regardless, I tried not to feel like a chaperon and had fun. We stayed 2 days/1 night in Brussels...and though it was rather short, we still ended up doing and seeing some amazing sights. The morning we got there, we rushed to the European parliament the moment after we check-ed in in our hostel. I have to say that I was rather apprehensive about going to the European parliament since I knew nothing about it. But I have to say, I was glad that it was included in the itinerary because I would have never thought of witnessing a meeting between European nations discussing humanitarian issues in their continent (pictures are available in the album section).

Afterwards, we went off and explored the center of Brussels. I don't think I've ever seen a place with chocolate shops one after the other.... it really felt like being in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie! Later that night, we went to dinner in a tourist trap area of the center of Brussels. We were just walking around and passed this walkway with restaurants one after another with colorful presentations of shellfish and other sea food in front of their door. Each restaurant would have a waiter standing outside vying for every person passing by....so it was really funny how all these waiters are so competitive with each other so we can eat in their restaurant. The first thing they would say is "Do you speak English??" and they will try to insist to look at the menu and go inside. So finally we gave in to one of the restaurants....only to find out later on that most of the people eating inside are all English speakers...and no natives. That pretty much meant that we fell for a restaurant that caters to tourists since we don't know any better than to eat there (since the natives know better than to eat in there). Somehow, we felt like idiots for falling for a tourist trap.

Very next day, it was raining and there were pretty much nothing else we could think of to do. We ended up splitting up since I wasn't taking the same train as the other group (I purchased my ticker later than them...and the ones that were only available from Brussels to Lille were earlier on the day). AND MAN, that was a trip going back. The whole train ride from Brussels to Lille to Amiens should have really been only 3 hours max....but mine took 6 hours!! For some unknown reason, my train apparently changed tracks and lead me in an unknown territory of France!! That was such a hassle because I didn't know if I was going to make it back...because we were stopping on random train stations that had no lights and signs of civilization. It seemed people were just stepping out of the train and disappearing into the dark. I was thinking to myself that I wouldn't be even able to call it a night and stay at a hotel because there were virtually no signs of of life outside!! Eventually, I was able to navigate myself around and made it back to my dorm safe and sound. Just the thought of what if this thing happened to me in a country where I did not speak the language nor hardly anyone speaking English (ie Portugal!!), I would've been s.c.r.e.w.e.d. big time. Thankfully...everything worked out well!!

Two days later after arriving from Brussels, off I went to Geneva! This time, I went with a friend I've known back home in Geneva, Illinois!! HAHA :P But this time, we went to the other Geneva...in Switzerland 😊 It was a great trip, but it would've been so much better if Geneva didn't cost an arm and a leg to visit!! There weren't even that many hostels that we could find...they were mainly hotels and we were forced to forked out some dough to pay for even the cheapest hotel offered in the city. Just by entering the city, you know that there's money flowing around in the city. The shops around are all high end i.e. Rolex, Mont Blanc, Louis Vuitton, Cavalli, Gucci, Escada, Harry Winston, etc. and no pedestrian shops that you would find in a mall ala Gap/Banana Republic, etc. Needless to say, it was intimidating. Not only that, we were hard-pressed to find a meal for under 25 francs. So be wary about budgeting your days in Switzerland because it will definitely be a burden in your wallet. But I gotta say that Geneva has some picturesque sceneries that would just make your jaw drop. When and if you make it there, go climb Mount Saleve and the scenery will just take your breath away. It was magic!

By the way, I had some trouble with Swiss customs. They have a more strict border patrol compared to the rest of western Europe because Switzerland is not part of the European union. Since I still carry my Philippine passport, I have to carry extra documents to enter the country. The moment we got off the train, they were cherry picking people to step aside to check documents. And lo and behold, per luck, I was selected! They told me to step aside, and it was funny to notice that all they have hand picked were non white europeans (ie arabs, other asians, black europeans... etc). At this point, I was a bit nervous since I don't have all my proper documents to show that I can legally enter the country (left it in my room!!). The police took my passport and went in the back to check the status of my legal entrance to Switzerland. At this point I was about to piss my pants considering the fact that I knew i didn't have the right documents. But for some reason, he let me pass by without problems. HOWEVER, this bit me in the ass later on when leaving Switzerland. Prior to boarding the train back to Paris, the custom Police retained me because I didn't have proper documents!!! I seriously was about to drop a deuce right there and then because I thought they were going to confiscate my passport and deport me back home. That debacle took like half hour until they finally decided to let me go. And I can tell you that I would not want to mess around with them, at all. Unfortunately, I couldn't play the role of the innocent tourist since they could tell that I could speak/understand French. Nonetheless, I learned my lessons next time I enter Switzerland. Either bring my proper documents or just become a white person for that weekend. Hmm.


Well, that's for now. I'm gearing up for Morocco in a couple of weeks!!! CAMEL TREKKING ACROSS THE SAHARA DESERT!!!!!!!!! WHOOO!!!!!


Miss you all. And free public toilets.

---