bruxelles.

the next event in my study abroad saga? a trip to brussels to meet up with my dear friend c-ray!

c-ray has been in france since fall of 2011 teaching english. when i found out i was officially studying abroad, we decided to meet up in belgium because:
1. it is in between denmark and france.
2. neither of us had been there before.
3. they have waffles.
so a few weeks before our agreed upon weekend, i purchased a eurorail pass that would allow me 6 days of unlimited travel in germany, denmark, belgium, luxemburg, and the netherlands. by taking the night train, i could save myself money on a hostel and technically get two days of travel for the price of one since the pass only counts the morning after the night train as a travel day. so take the night train i did.
there's something romantic about traveling by train. however, since it was a night train, i missed out on all that gazing out the window at the european countryside. on the other hand, i was able to befriend a dutch man moving back to the netherlands from denmark. he was a computer programmer who had been working in spain and then denmark for a cumulative total of 10 years. he was finally returning home and was excited to leave denmark. apparently the danes are little too private/not sociable enough for him.
we ended up chatting for about five hours until we decided it was about time to go to sleep. unfortunately, i got off the train while he was sleeping and we never exchanged names, so he'll be forever preserved in my mind as the nameless stranger who helped me pass the time on the train in a very enjoyable manner. something romantic about that, too.
when i arrived in brussels, i went immediately to the ticket counter to try to purchase a return ticket. i got my ticket to brussels in copenhagen but they were unable to sell me a return ticket on the night train because it appeared to be sold out. the woman at the counter advised me to wait and try to purchase it in brussels instead since they sometimes limit the number of tickets that can be purchased at other stations leaving some available for domestic purchase.

unfortunately, the train was still sold out so i ended up having to buy a ticket for travel home all day sunday. unfortunate to lose a day to the train, but i was glad i just sucked it up and got the ticket. i think it ultimately made the weekend less stressful and caused me to take full advantage of saturday since it was the only day i'd have in the city.
and take advantage we did. we had such a refreshing and enjoyable time together but we certainly packed a lot into it. by the time we found each other and dropped our luggage at the hostel, we were both pretty hungry so we grabbed a map and headed towards kebab street. after a bit of meandering and stopping to take pictures, we eventually found a little indian restaurant. it was my first indian food in over a month. deeeeeeelicious.

after lunch we hit the museum of musical instruments, a fun and relatively extensive museum full of...pretty much just instruments. when you enter, you're handed a pair of headphones which you then plug in to the many headphone jacks throughout the museum. since the plaques were all in french, i pretty much just flitted about, listening to didgeridoos and harpsichords for about an hour and a half.

then we moved on to the royal art museum, the attraction c-ray was most interested in. it was absolutely one of the most fantastic museums i've ever been to. the art was beautiful but i was almost more impressed with the way in was arranged and presented. the whole museum was just very aesthetically pleasing. also, c-ray may have contributed quite a bit to my enjoyment of the museum. as a classics major with extensive knowledge of church history, he was able to explain what was happening in pretty much all the paintings we saw. you know how much i love learning. beautiful art + a free education from a wonderful friend = totally worth the three euro i paid to get in.

having been in brussels for about six and a half hours now, it was high time for some waffles. the extremely useful map we got from the hostel suggested a cafe in the city center for cheap waffles so we headed over to check it out. waffle with chocolate? wise decisions.
however, in case that wasn't indulgent enough, we decided to try a street waffle as well. it cost about half as much and we both actually thought they tasted better, too. so many waffles. so much love.

we spent the rest of our evening meandering about the city as the sun set. after dinner at a halal restaurant, we decided to go to the top of a parking garage to try to see the atomium, one of the major draws for me in brussels. unfortunately, the view of the atomium was lame. but the view of the rest of the city definitely wasn't.
since we couldn't see the atomium well from the garage, we decided to make the trek out to the end of the metro line to check it out. usually you have to pay to get in and see it but having gone and stood in the parking lot outside and had my fill, i'm not sure why you would. perhaps our entrance fee lets you travel to the top of the sculpture. there's a restaurant in the highest ball.

the statue is a representation of a 9-atom iron crystal. it was built for a world's fair some time ago and is adjacent to mini-europe, another big attraction in brussels which sadly didn't open until march (we were there the last weekend in february). the statue was incredible at night. the lights made it look stunning. i think i still would have thought it was cool in the daytime, but at night it was crazy cool.

and with our excursion to the atomium, we concluded our adventures in brussels. the next morning we had just enough time to enjoy breakfast at our hostel before i was off to catch the train. it was a brief trip, but so good for my soul to spend time with my dear friend.

and so concludes the record of my first european trip by myself. i don't think i could have asked for a better first experience. things i learned?
1. trust the street food.
2. the brits make delicious diet coke with cherry.
3. riding a train all day by yourself is mind numbing.

not even a week after this trip, i boarded a bus to poland for my long study tour. until i can say more about that, enjoy this long-exposure photo of brussels at night.

kærlig hilsen,
kati