Woke up on the floor of Kim's room freezing cold. It's time for me to go. I'm leaving the country today and have to check out by 11am.
I get back to the hostel and the cleaning staff has already begun going through the rooms. I quickly pack up. I need a shower too, but I'll just have to organize my bag in Brussels. I head to the shower with all my stuff but they're cleaning them. I head to the showers on the very top floor of the hostel with my stuff so I have time before they get cleaned. After I shower and throw my stuff in my bag I head off to the train station, Gard du Nord, where I've learned I can catch a train to Brussels. At the train station I decide to buy a EuroRail Pass so that I can travel by train to different countries. Logic tells me that my cheapest option is a pass with 10 travel days over a 2 month period. Sounds good.
The next train isn't for a few hours so I walk around Paris and grab some good at a sidewalk cafe that has WiFi. I order a salad and it's incredibly good.
During lunch I check to see if I've received any messages from Mike, my roommate last year in college. He studied abroad in Belguim and he's there now visiting his girlfriend Pauline. She's from Brussels.
Mike says he and Pauline can meet for a beer in Brussels tonight, but tomorrow they're going to Paris. I write to him, then I get back to the station in time for the train. Off I go.
After an hour I get off the train and take the tram to my hostel. I'm staying at 2GO4, a hostel Pauline recommended. I only reserved one night, but I'm going to need two. When I get to the hostel, reserving a room for the next day is no problem at all. I'll have to switch rooms though tomorrow. That's okay with me.
I get a hold of Mike and tell him I can meet in a half hour. He's at Grand Place, Brussels' big historic square. The square is impressive with big, authentic buildings on each side. When you're in the square it feels like you're surrounded by walls.
Mike and Pauline arrive at Grand Place and say that they are able to have a few drinks and stay a while. I ask them if they're still going to Paris tomorrow. Apparently it was a surprise because I ruined it. Mike didn't tell me he hadn't told Pauline where it was they were going.
Oops.
After a few minutes we all head off to Delerium. It holds a spot in The Guinness Book of World Records for having the most beers commercially available in a bar. They've lost count of how many kinds of beers they offer their customers now, but when they set the record they had 2004. Their list of beers is the size of a phonebook and the bar is three stories.
Down in the basement we have a beer. Pauline orders me a Schouffe and gets different beers for her and Mike. Behind the bar the man heads off to the back and comes back with three bottles. He sets them down and opens each of the bottles in a matter of seconds. Clink clink clink as he hits the bottles with his opener.
Caps are flying everywhere.
He then starts pouring them. Big, high pours into each beer's respective goblet. It's great fun to watch.
After we get our beers we sit down on stools at one of the massive barrels they have scattered around the place to be used as tables. The beer is delicious. I'll have another later, but after this one we're heading to the Floris Bar next door to have some absinthe. After the beer and absinthe we walk to a different bar in the same building. The rum bar. Pauline orders a big mojito for us to share. The glass is so big that we have to put down a €10 deposit, just incase we break it or try to steal it.
After the mojito Mike and Pauline head home so they can wake up early to head to Paris. I head back to Delerium and order another beer. A French guy next to me asks me how it is. He's here with his friend. They leave tomorrow for Amsterdam. I leave in two days.
We talk for a while but we're interrupted when a girl gets up on a stool a few barrels behind us and starts cheering. I cheer back. Now it's a party. One of the French guys bets me she's American. I don't think so. We put a beer on it and I head off to find out.
There's a whole lot of them in the group and they're all from Brazil.
Thanks for the beer, Francois.
We hang with the Brazillian crew for a while until they leave. Then we find a different group. They're from Brussels. One of the guys seems a little stiff but the rest of there group is fun. Turns out the stiff is an accountant. Go figure.
Eventually I say I've got to get home. It's around 2am already. When I get back the door to my dorm-style room is open and there's a young American guy completely drunk sitting on the floor having a beer. It's been a long night for him he tells me. He got sick earlier. With happy thoughts in my head about switching rooms tomorrow, I fall asleep.
I get back to the hostel and the cleaning staff has already begun going through the rooms. I quickly pack up. I need a shower too, but I'll just have to organize my bag in Brussels. I head to the shower with all my stuff but they're cleaning them. I head to the showers on the very top floor of the hostel with my stuff so I have time before they get cleaned. After I shower and throw my stuff in my bag I head off to the train station, Gard du Nord, where I've learned I can catch a train to Brussels. At the train station I decide to buy a EuroRail Pass so that I can travel by train to different countries. Logic tells me that my cheapest option is a pass with 10 travel days over a 2 month period. Sounds good.
The next train isn't for a few hours so I walk around Paris and grab some good at a sidewalk cafe that has WiFi. I order a salad and it's incredibly good.
During lunch I check to see if I've received any messages from Mike, my roommate last year in college. He studied abroad in Belguim and he's there now visiting his girlfriend Pauline. She's from Brussels.
Mike says he and Pauline can meet for a beer in Brussels tonight, but tomorrow they're going to Paris. I write to him, then I get back to the station in time for the train. Off I go.
After an hour I get off the train and take the tram to my hostel. I'm staying at 2GO4, a hostel Pauline recommended. I only reserved one night, but I'm going to need two. When I get to the hostel, reserving a room for the next day is no problem at all. I'll have to switch rooms though tomorrow. That's okay with me.
I get a hold of Mike and tell him I can meet in a half hour. He's at Grand Place, Brussels' big historic square. The square is impressive with big, authentic buildings on each side. When you're in the square it feels like you're surrounded by walls.
Mike and Pauline arrive at Grand Place and say that they are able to have a few drinks and stay a while. I ask them if they're still going to Paris tomorrow. Apparently it was a surprise because I ruined it. Mike didn't tell me he hadn't told Pauline where it was they were going.
Oops.
After a few minutes we all head off to Delerium. It holds a spot in The Guinness Book of World Records for having the most beers commercially available in a bar. They've lost count of how many kinds of beers they offer their customers now, but when they set the record they had 2004. Their list of beers is the size of a phonebook and the bar is three stories.
Down in the basement we have a beer. Pauline orders me a Schouffe and gets different beers for her and Mike. Behind the bar the man heads off to the back and comes back with three bottles. He sets them down and opens each of the bottles in a matter of seconds. Clink clink clink as he hits the bottles with his opener.
Caps are flying everywhere.
He then starts pouring them. Big, high pours into each beer's respective goblet. It's great fun to watch.
After we get our beers we sit down on stools at one of the massive barrels they have scattered around the place to be used as tables. The beer is delicious. I'll have another later, but after this one we're heading to the Floris Bar next door to have some absinthe. After the beer and absinthe we walk to a different bar in the same building. The rum bar. Pauline orders a big mojito for us to share. The glass is so big that we have to put down a €10 deposit, just incase we break it or try to steal it.
After the mojito Mike and Pauline head home so they can wake up early to head to Paris. I head back to Delerium and order another beer. A French guy next to me asks me how it is. He's here with his friend. They leave tomorrow for Amsterdam. I leave in two days.
We talk for a while but we're interrupted when a girl gets up on a stool a few barrels behind us and starts cheering. I cheer back. Now it's a party. One of the French guys bets me she's American. I don't think so. We put a beer on it and I head off to find out.
There's a whole lot of them in the group and they're all from Brazil.
Thanks for the beer, Francois.
We hang with the Brazillian crew for a while until they leave. Then we find a different group. They're from Brussels. One of the guys seems a little stiff but the rest of there group is fun. Turns out the stiff is an accountant. Go figure.
Eventually I say I've got to get home. It's around 2am already. When I get back the door to my dorm-style room is open and there's a young American guy completely drunk sitting on the floor having a beer. It's been a long night for him he tells me. He got sick earlier. With happy thoughts in my head about switching rooms tomorrow, I fall asleep.
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