Day 4 - Brussels

The start of day four was an early one. We woke up early in case the underground line near us was being worked on over the weekend which it indeed was. This meant we needed to take a bus to the nearest station that was working and the buses take forever. We got to the St. Pancras train station and sat next to a booth with 3D TVs. We hopped on the bullet train and headed for Brussels. What they dont tell you is when you are traveling at such high speeds and enter and leave tunnels there is a huge pressure difference which can be a little uncomfortable on the inner ear. We were able to catch up on a little sleep on the train before we got there.

Brussels is an entirely different city. It is very dirty. There is graffiti everywere even on old medieval and political buildings. It seems like there is very little respect for the town by the people. A bit of a letdown. Still walking the streets was interesting and beautiful in some areas. We could see a huge church off in the distance. When we arrived we saw that there was a skate park built right up against the church with a double decker bus parked to the side where a DJ was putting on a loud concert. It is almost as if it was the church that was inconveiently placed there hundreds of years ago. The town kinda remindes me of Santa Cruz, it is a much more laid back town, there are bikes everywhere as well as hippies. The streets seems more for people to hang out in rather then for transportation. We did however arrive on sunday, things will be more hectic in the morning. We found a metro line and hopped on back to the hotel where we had seen some nice places to eat. We ate outside and enjoyed a variety of fantastic beers. Our waiter was funny and charming and made us feel very welcomed.