Day 5: Back to Brussels

Spent the second day [half day] in Bruges, and took a tour of WWI battle and grave sites, including the medical station when John McCrae worked and wrote “In Flanders Field.” The tour was inevitably depressing, but our tour guide Philip was exceptional. Very knowledgeable, and he covered a lot of ground during the nine and a half hour tour.

D. wasn’t so pleased; his heart was set on the “Medieval Bruges” tour, which takes you to a chocolate factory, a brewery, a country estate and you get Belgium waffles for lunch. So that didn’t happen. Instead of getting the Fellini train, he had to take the Bergman train. But I would have been bored on the “Medieval Bruges” tour, so I was happy. Circumstance has it that the chocolate-brewery-waffle tour because the microphone on the second bus was broken.

So last night, we took the train from Bruges to Brussels, which was in full Friday night mode. This time, we checked into the fabulous Welcome Hotel, and caught the Thailand Room. Which had cool skylights that gave us extra atmosphere in the amplifying the sound of the light rain that fell last night and this morning [I have been getting up at between 5:00 and 5:30 each day. Far earlier than most Europeans I can assure you.]

I have to go into some detail on the Welcome Hotel here, as it is exceptional. From the great brunch every morning [crepes, bacon, eggs, croissants, croissants with chocolate, Cocoa Pebbles, three types of juice, yogurt, what more could you ask for!], to the exceptional service provided by Stephanie and Vincent [they found all the stuff that D., the absent-minded traveler, left behind, they did laundry on short notice, they disposed of a suitcase that I no longer needed], the Welcome Hotel is fantastic. Not to mention the out-of-control rooms, each themed in a style that would make Elvis proud [each represents a different exotic country.]

Brussels is a big modern exciting city. It retains the cultural flavor such as the churches and 18th and 19th century shops and houses that define so much of Europe. But it is very alive with clubs, restaurants and people in the street at all hours. Young men were drunkenly singing pop songs in the metro station at midnight. A couple was passionately [a little too …] in the train station. People outside smoking, talking, just living and being with each other. All the things that we don’t do in America.

So now I’m on the train to Paris, arriving at the Paris Nord station in a couple of hours. My first time to Paris, and I can tell you that my French is abysmal. So, donc, it will be zut alors this and zut alors that.