On a train from Brussels to Amsterdam

And before I do my Paris post or anything else, I'd like to tell the story of our morning.
I should get this done fast before we possibly get kicked out of our seats in Antwerp.

Anyway, we are traveling to Amsterdam today. Our train was at 850 so we left the hotel at the crack of dawn to get to the Brussels MIDI train station.  We had to carry a lot of luggage over and while trying to board one of the Metro trains, Ummas backpack got caught in the door. We had to pull her out before it left the station. If you want a visual, you should think of that famous Winnie the Pooh scene. Yeah...

In any case, we got to the station and collapsed in the food court. Umma quickly announced that we were on the 950 train and consider it was just before 8, we collectively groaned and mourned the loss of one hour of sleep. It didn't occur to any of us to check our tickets. We all kicked back and relaxed in the food court.

One minute before 850, Umma runs to us having realized that our tickets actually were for an 850 train. We grabbed our bags and ran to the platform just as our train was leaving the station. This wasn't an easy feat either, considering that the food court was at platform 16/17 and our train was at platform 4 and two stories up.

By some stroke of travel luck, we managed to switch our tickets to the 950 train, but with no guarantees of a seat. We bought first class tickets though, so were currently lounging away like stoaways in first class. We get free internet and food...yay. a Paris post and a final Brussels post are to come.

In Brussels

Am in Brussels with 23 minutes of Internet and the most aggravating keyboard ever. Fun. By some strange trick of fate, we ended up at the exact same Internet cafe we were at when we backpacked through Europe three years ago. Did not intend for this at all. The computers are better than I remember. In any case, forgive me my typôs. This keyboard is catered to another language.

But anyway, we are in Brussels and have managed to find a Chris and Jimmy. Yay. We probably would have had trouble otherwise.

We had a long flight, but after running on 1 to 2 hours of sleep, the majority of us passed out for the duration of both the flight to Chicago and to Brussels. Arrived in Brussels early Sunday, checked into our hotel; freshened up, dropped off bags, and ran off to Bruges.

Bruges is what is known as the Venice of the North. Granted, Ive heard people refer to other cities such as Amsterdam by the same nickname, so I dont know how much that is worth. In any case, Bruges is a pretty city with a lot of canels, a lot of swans and, as it turns out, a lot of horseflies. Beautiful. Except the horseflies. We walked around the city for a while, did a canal tour, which offered a pretty view of the city we did not experience the last time we were there.

We tried to see the Grote Markt, which is the central square, but we didnt last long because James got attacked by horseflies. It would have been more funny had I not also been attacked by a swarm of them.

We also visited the famous nunnery for a short while and had muscles, amazing fries, and local beer from Bruges, brand name Zot...shout out to you Irvine readers. It was great btw.

I have 11 minutes of Internet and this foreign language keyboard is preventing me from typing fast, so I will go into more detail when I am writing from wireless and the comfort of my tablet or Jamess laptop.

Today we visited the Atomium, which is this giant metallic structure built for one of the world fairs of days past. It looked cool in the postcards, and was actually far more impressive in person. Next door was this big entertainment complex, Bruspark. In it was this attraction called Mini Europe. It seemed like something Halmony would like. It looked super cheesy from the top of Atomium but was actually a lot of fun. If anything, it gave a fun preview of many of the cities we were yet to visit. For some reason, however the Italy section lacked both Rome and Florence. Weird.

After the park, we wanted to eat somewhere fast and simple so we went to a Quick Burger, which is essentially your standard burger chain. It was anything but quick and simple though. We ordered simple hamburgers and Mia ordered in French but something about it freaked out cashier out and it was just your standard hectic event.

We got back to the main part of the city and I picked up Chris and Jimmy from the airport. Toured them around the main sites of Brussels like the Mannequin Pis and the Grote Markt. Got them a lot of fries and even more waffles. Tried to find this church we stumbled upon last time that was attached to a urinal, but it was under construction.

Almost out of time. If we are unable to find internet, tomorrow will be a whirlwind tour of Paris and then to Amsterdam.

Until then, we will be stuffing our faces with more of Beliums most delicious waffles and undoing any health benefit we derive from our extended walking tours;