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sabineSept 17 - Get up, get kids ready for school. Start to panic about not seeing them again for 10 days.
Drive to Madison airport. Get there in PLENTY of time for flight. Downwood's foot is still hurting, so drop him and our bags off at the terminal before going to find parking in the economy lot.
Our flight from Madison to Chicago gets delayed and then delayed again. Apparently ALL of American Airlines' computers went down at once. Sheesh. We eventually got on a plane and got to Chicago, where we met up with Sis and Brother in Law. We then sat in Chicago and waited and waited.
Our flight from Chicago to London got delayed due to weather. First we couldn't board, then we ended up just sitting and sitting on the tarmac. Eventually we took off. I think I got a couple hours' sleep on the plane. Not sure. It wasn't restful sleep, in any case.
Sept 18 - Arrive in London. Our flight from Chicago was delayed enough and the terminals and security at Heathrow are far apart and slow. So we missed our flight to Brussels. The agents eventually got us on a new flight, so we got to hang out in Heathrow for four hours waiting for it. Ugh.
We eventually made it to Brussels. From the airport, we figured out how to get a train to the city. Luckily for all concerned, our hotel was across the street from the train station.
We went out that night for an early-ish dinner, mostly to try to stay awake long enough to make it to a reasonable bed time to prevent too much jet lag. First, we ended up in a Spanish soccer bar and drank some beers. Then we went to a Greek restaurant where the staff spoke Greek and French but not much in the way of English. I, of course, couldn't remember please/thank you in Greek until 2 days later. Naturally. The food was amazing and we went back to the hotel to pass out.
Sept 19 - Our first "real" day abroad! We breakfasted at the hotel and were initially confused by some of the offerings. Sliced meats and cheeses and baked beans. There was good coffee and lots of other choices, so we were able to load up and head out for the day!
First item on agenda: Figure out subway system. This done, we hopped a couple trains into the center of town and proceeded to walk ALL OVER IT! We saw palaces and the grand plaza. It was Cultural Fest weekend, so we saw cultural things that were...odd. I'm sure it would make sense if I'd lived there my whole life, but...odd. We found chocolates and fancy sandwiches. We found more coffee. We found a street vendor with the best waffles in the history of the world. We also discovered just how much the people in Belgium love french fries and that the ketchup is really weird.
We walked and walked with very little in the way of sitting still. By the end of the day, Downwood was about to kill all of us, his foot was hurting so badly.
That evening, I'd booked a Belgian Beer Tasting Tour for the four of us. Our guide was Mick from Ireland. He knows a LOT about the history of beer in Belgium and can talk about all the kinds of beer and what to look for in really good beer. We ended up walking quite a bit between the pubs for the tour, but we had good beer and it was nice.
At the end of the tour, we were all buzzed and starving. On our way back to the subway, we found a food truck selling burgers. We immediately ordered cheeseburgers. They were the BEST cheeseburgers. They would have been the best anyone's EVER EATEN, but the cheese wasn't perfect. It was melty, but forgettable. Everything else about the burgers was wonderful. It was the perfect ending to the day.
Sept 20 - At breakfast, we discussed options for the day. We could go to Antwerp, Bruges, or Ghent. Or we could walk around Brussels some more. We eventually decided to continue exploring Brussels, since our beer guide had pointed out the one place in Brussels that serves Trappist Westvleteren - widely considered to be the Best Beer in the World.
We wandered the streets of the lower city and eventually found the place. From the street, all you see is a door in a wall. Go through the door and you're in an alley. There's a fairly non-descript door in the alley. Go through the door and you're in a pub straight out of a D&D novel. It's all dark, polished wood and stained glass. I fully expected to see a hooded figure in the corner who would give us our Plot. It was super neat.
We ordered the beer and...yeah. Not quite a religious experience, but close. It's an INCREDIBLY complicated beer. Lots of layers of flavor, very interesting. Lots going on there. We're not wine people, so we don't have the full vocabulary to describe this beer. Let's just leave it at "This beer is very good. If you like beer and you get the chance, you should try it. It's interesting and complicated and good."
We continued wandering. There was chocolate, waffles, and lunch. In the afternoon, we decided we should have a goal. The goal? The natural history museum.
It was a trek to get there. It has no nearby train stations, so we had to walk and walk and walk and walk. It was hot, sunny, and up and down many hills. Downwood's foot was killing him by the time we made it to the museum. We went in and found DINOSAURS! They have many dinosaur skeletons, including a flock/murder/congress/something of EIGHT full-grown iguanodons. Super cool. I squee'd. We went through a couple of their other exhibits before heading out.
I asked the ladies at the front desk of the museum how to easily get to a metro station. It turned out that our map didn't show a short cut tunnel under one of the big government buildings, so it was MUCH easier to get to the station than we'd thought.
Back at the hotel, Downwood collapsed and I watched some Belgian TV. It was interesting, though I don't really know what was going on. Game shows are weird when you understand neither the rules nor the language.
For dinner, Sis, BiL, and I went out in search of take-away. Downwood still couldn't walk. We checked out some kebab places and a deli-ish place, but settled on BFC - Brussels Fried Chicken. It was cheap, plentiful, and really tasty. The cole slaw was very weird and the fries were excellent. We grabbed a couple cans of Jupilier - what seems to be the Belgian equivalent of Coors: generic but still way better than generic beer in USA - and some sodas. One of the sodas was Mojito 7up. It was mostly terrible, though Downwood drank it.
All in all, much exploring, much walking, and a pretty good day.
Sept 21 - We took the train back to the airport and flew from Brussels to Copenhagen and then to Munich. More about this day in the next post.
Drive to Madison airport. Get there in PLENTY of time for flight. Downwood's foot is still hurting, so drop him and our bags off at the terminal before going to find parking in the economy lot.
Our flight from Madison to Chicago gets delayed and then delayed again. Apparently ALL of American Airlines' computers went down at once. Sheesh. We eventually got on a plane and got to Chicago, where we met up with Sis and Brother in Law. We then sat in Chicago and waited and waited.
Our flight from Chicago to London got delayed due to weather. First we couldn't board, then we ended up just sitting and sitting on the tarmac. Eventually we took off. I think I got a couple hours' sleep on the plane. Not sure. It wasn't restful sleep, in any case.
Sept 18 - Arrive in London. Our flight from Chicago was delayed enough and the terminals and security at Heathrow are far apart and slow. So we missed our flight to Brussels. The agents eventually got us on a new flight, so we got to hang out in Heathrow for four hours waiting for it. Ugh.
We eventually made it to Brussels. From the airport, we figured out how to get a train to the city. Luckily for all concerned, our hotel was across the street from the train station.
We went out that night for an early-ish dinner, mostly to try to stay awake long enough to make it to a reasonable bed time to prevent too much jet lag. First, we ended up in a Spanish soccer bar and drank some beers. Then we went to a Greek restaurant where the staff spoke Greek and French but not much in the way of English. I, of course, couldn't remember please/thank you in Greek until 2 days later. Naturally. The food was amazing and we went back to the hotel to pass out.
Sept 19 - Our first "real" day abroad! We breakfasted at the hotel and were initially confused by some of the offerings. Sliced meats and cheeses and baked beans. There was good coffee and lots of other choices, so we were able to load up and head out for the day!
First item on agenda: Figure out subway system. This done, we hopped a couple trains into the center of town and proceeded to walk ALL OVER IT! We saw palaces and the grand plaza. It was Cultural Fest weekend, so we saw cultural things that were...odd. I'm sure it would make sense if I'd lived there my whole life, but...odd. We found chocolates and fancy sandwiches. We found more coffee. We found a street vendor with the best waffles in the history of the world. We also discovered just how much the people in Belgium love french fries and that the ketchup is really weird.
We walked and walked with very little in the way of sitting still. By the end of the day, Downwood was about to kill all of us, his foot was hurting so badly.
That evening, I'd booked a Belgian Beer Tasting Tour for the four of us. Our guide was Mick from Ireland. He knows a LOT about the history of beer in Belgium and can talk about all the kinds of beer and what to look for in really good beer. We ended up walking quite a bit between the pubs for the tour, but we had good beer and it was nice.
At the end of the tour, we were all buzzed and starving. On our way back to the subway, we found a food truck selling burgers. We immediately ordered cheeseburgers. They were the BEST cheeseburgers. They would have been the best anyone's EVER EATEN, but the cheese wasn't perfect. It was melty, but forgettable. Everything else about the burgers was wonderful. It was the perfect ending to the day.
Sept 20 - At breakfast, we discussed options for the day. We could go to Antwerp, Bruges, or Ghent. Or we could walk around Brussels some more. We eventually decided to continue exploring Brussels, since our beer guide had pointed out the one place in Brussels that serves Trappist Westvleteren - widely considered to be the Best Beer in the World.
We wandered the streets of the lower city and eventually found the place. From the street, all you see is a door in a wall. Go through the door and you're in an alley. There's a fairly non-descript door in the alley. Go through the door and you're in a pub straight out of a D&D novel. It's all dark, polished wood and stained glass. I fully expected to see a hooded figure in the corner who would give us our Plot. It was super neat.
We ordered the beer and...yeah. Not quite a religious experience, but close. It's an INCREDIBLY complicated beer. Lots of layers of flavor, very interesting. Lots going on there. We're not wine people, so we don't have the full vocabulary to describe this beer. Let's just leave it at "This beer is very good. If you like beer and you get the chance, you should try it. It's interesting and complicated and good."
We continued wandering. There was chocolate, waffles, and lunch. In the afternoon, we decided we should have a goal. The goal? The natural history museum.
It was a trek to get there. It has no nearby train stations, so we had to walk and walk and walk and walk. It was hot, sunny, and up and down many hills. Downwood's foot was killing him by the time we made it to the museum. We went in and found DINOSAURS! They have many dinosaur skeletons, including a flock/murder/congress/something of EIGHT full-grown iguanodons. Super cool. I squee'd. We went through a couple of their other exhibits before heading out.
I asked the ladies at the front desk of the museum how to easily get to a metro station. It turned out that our map didn't show a short cut tunnel under one of the big government buildings, so it was MUCH easier to get to the station than we'd thought.
Back at the hotel, Downwood collapsed and I watched some Belgian TV. It was interesting, though I don't really know what was going on. Game shows are weird when you understand neither the rules nor the language.
For dinner, Sis, BiL, and I went out in search of take-away. Downwood still couldn't walk. We checked out some kebab places and a deli-ish place, but settled on BFC - Brussels Fried Chicken. It was cheap, plentiful, and really tasty. The cole slaw was very weird and the fries were excellent. We grabbed a couple cans of Jupilier - what seems to be the Belgian equivalent of Coors: generic but still way better than generic beer in USA - and some sodas. One of the sodas was Mojito 7up. It was mostly terrible, though Downwood drank it.
All in all, much exploring, much walking, and a pretty good day.
Sept 21 - We took the train back to the airport and flew from Brussels to Copenhagen and then to Munich. More about this day in the next post.
