Three weeks down

My third week in Brussels wasn't too exciting. I'm pretty deep into the routine of taking the train to work every day and trying to find somewhere to go for dinner. I ran 5k on the treadmill on Wednesday because I'm definitely losing my fitness without exercise in this cold weather. I met my Romanian friends for the EU happy hour on Thursday. All of the Romanians seem to travel together and know each other. An older guy came into the pub and I was introduced. "Ahhhh! You are American! I love America!"

He owned a restaurant (Food & Wine, Rue Belliard 181, Etterbeek 1040 - it's a small place so there is no website) and insisted that I come by. He introduced me to his two beautiful waitresses, who were from Peru of all places. I think he said that it was French style cuisine... so let me get this straight. A Romanian opens a French restaurant in Belgium and has two Peruvian waitresses. Got it. I practiced a little Spanish with the Peruvians (Shera and Seha) and then bowed out so I could get some sleep. I had plans to stay in Belgium for the weekend and either go to Antwerp (if a Dutch friend contacted me as promised) or Ghent/Bruges to explore by myself. I wanted to make sure to get some rest.

On Friday, my friend Dana gave me a heads up on a cycling race that was going down in Ghent. That solidified my itenerary. The Omloop Het Niewswblad is the kickoff to the international cycling season and the first of the "Classics". Famous names like Tom Boonen, George Hincapie, Thor Hushovd, Tyler Farrar and Kim Kirchen were just some of the names I recognized from the Tour de France. I knew there was a chance that I would see my ex (one of those people you never care to think about, see or hear from again, you know?). That gave me pause initially, but I thought the chances that she would be there multiplied by all of the people watching the race would keep the odds in my favor. Plus, I don't think Dana would've suggested it to me if there was a chance... at least I hope not, Dana! It was too good to pass up, so I'll ignore the drama.

I hadn't heard any details for Antwerp so I decided for Ghent and Bruges - I could've gone to Antwerp by myself (and will eventually on this trip), but the race was a once in a lifetime type deal. Ghent is a college town, so I figured it would be a good place to spend the night. There is a Marriott there, but they didn't have any rooms available (what good are the points!). I'm guessing that the bike race was raising hotel prices, so I started researching other options. I thought about staying up all night, but that would demand that I find people to hang out with that were staying up that late as well - this wasn't South America, I don't know if everyone stays out that late. There was a train back to Brussels at 5 am, but that would rule out getting to see Bruges, which wasn't that far away from Ghent (and a place that everyone says you need to see if you're in Belgium).

I finally decided upon Couch Surfing. The whole idea is that people offer their couches to travelers for free. The hosts sometimes take you around the city and give pointers on things to do. I had a friend that was involved with it, so I thought I would give it a shot. I was kind of apprehensive about sleeping at a stranger's house, but I figured it would be a good story. Late in the afternoon I started messaging potential hosts. I knew it might be a longshot since I was inquiring on short notice. At first I was trying to be picky based on people's profile and living situation description. As afternoon turned into evening, I still didn't have any responses so I widened my search (I'm impatient, I know - so American). Finally I got an email from a guy named Wouter, and I planned to meet him in the afternoon in Ghent. This should be interesting...

Utrecht

After my day in Brussels, I hopped on a train to Utrecht for Carolien's party. Her boyfriend, Pieter, met me at the station (we had met previously in Mendoza) and we walked straight to Carolien's fraternity house.

Fraternities are a little different in Europe - first off, guys and girls are all together. The house wasn't really a house, but more of a building they used for functions and not living. We went up to the second floor of this building that had obviously seen better days. It had two bars, which was nice, totally run by students. Carolien said that the Nazis had occupied part of the building as an office during WWII.

She had rented out the bar for the party, and her parents brought some light snacks to munch on. I was one of the first few guests, but people started to filter in after a while. Some of her aunts, uncles and cousins that I met during Carnaval also joined us. I got to meet a lot of her college friends, and they were all pretty cool. (They all encouraged me to visit Holland more than Belgium, of course). The highlight of the night was when everyone from the fraternity sang a bunch of their songs, but they changed the words to roast Carolien. A lot of it centered around her past boyfriends, which was a bit awkward with her current boyfriend and parents there. Her friend Evy belted out an Aretha Franklin song, which I thought was American Idol worthy... or Holland Idol maybe? We stayed until about 3 am and then crashed back at Carolien's apartment.

Despite the cold weather, Carolien's hangover and my nagging cough/cold, we walked around Utrecht on Sunday. It was a really nice city with brick paved streets and all kinds of cafes lining the canals that wound through downtown. Everyone was on bicycles, of course, ignoring the drizzle and harsh wind.


The Dom Tower is the most striking feature of the city. We took a guided tour to the top of the tower and got some good views. It was completed in 1382 and the church collapsed a few times because of poor construction. The tower survived and now the cathedral and tower aren't connected. It would've been a lot nicer to be at the top with better weather, so we didn't stay long.

There wasn't a whole lot else to see... we went to a cafe to warm up for a while. Then we went to the supermarket to make some dinner. They had a very cool section which I think they should bring to The States. An entire refrigerated case was devoted to one brand. You choose 4 items, one from each row, throw them all together and cook. #1 is pasta, rice, potatoes. #2 is beef, chicken, fish. #3 is assorted vegetables of different kinds. #4 is sauce (teriaki, alfredo, etc.). They had suggestions that were coded with colors - so Red 1-4 might be chicken, rice, Asian vegi's and teriaki. Blue 1-4 might be noodles, shrimp, broccoli and alfredo. You could mix and match the colors depending on what you wanted, but those were the suggestions. I'll try to find more details and a better explanation, but it's a really good idea for cooking a good meal without having to think too much or use a recipe.

Yet again I found myself saying goodbye to Carolien. I am hoping to go to Amersterdam for a weekend soon, so maybe she will able to join me there? All in all, I think I enjoy my time in Holland more than Belgium. Maybe it's the friends I've made there, maybe it's the general attitude of the people, I'm not sure. For anyone traveling to The Netherlands, I suggest you get a Lonely Planet Guide or at least research the culture.

Second week in Belgium

Early in the week I decided to change my flight by a week so I can travel through Europe. I'm here, I might as well do it. It cost me $285 to change my flight, a small price to pay I think. I was planning to hit Amsterdam and maybe London or Paris, I wasn't sure. Then I got the news... my time working had been extended until mid-March. This is great for my weekend trips, but I'll hope that I can still have a week to get further from Brussels in March. There is a chance, according to our deployment team, that the next part of the project will take me to Canada. Oh, joy.

I came down with some kind of sinus/cough/congestion thing early in the week - thank you, Carnaval. The week was pretty miserable until I got the news on Friday that the deployment team was trying to put me on the Australia leg of the project. Now THAT is what I'm talking about. If you remember, they were teasing me about a project in New Zealand that didn't end up coming through. The NZ wave is finished and they are starting up on Australia now. Fingers crossed on that.

With this extra time to see the sights, I didn't have any pressure to try to rush anything. I spent Friday night in Brussels, so I thought I would try to make some friends and go out to the bars to experience nightlife in the city. I went to dinner at a restaurant around the corner from my apartment and heard an American accent at the table next to mine. It was a group of 3 girls, so I figured my odds were pretty good. I'm getting more comfortable talking to girls here, but I still feel weird walking up to random guys. Maybe I'm a homophobe, I don't know where the awkwardness comes from. I went over and talked to them and it turned out that one was from the US, one from Greece and one from Brussels. They were in an MBA program, so we had a lot in common.

They invited me out to a few bars, and I was surprisingly more familiar with the Luxembourg Square area than they were. We headed downtown after a while, where I had never been, and waited in line at a club until we were too cold (after about 2 minutes). Then we went to an Irish pub and hung out as late as we could until the buses stopped running. It was a good time, though I'm not impressed with the nightlife (that I've seen - maybe there is more?).

Carolien was having a graduation party on Saturday night in Utrecht. I just KNEW we would end up meeting up again on this trip. I had a day to waste before the train ride, so I strolled around Brussels to see the city. I ate a Belgian waffle which was... ok. I wasn't that impressed and I prefer Liege waffles (which are still Belgian, but a little different). Get educated on your waffle varieties! I also stopped by Neuhaus Chocolatier and got Carolien a little graduation gift. I'm not that into chocolate, but this place was GOOD (and expensive). The praline was invented here, and they have been in business since 1857.

Mannekin Pis is the most famous statue in Brussels. The problem is, it's only 13 inches tall and a let down when you actually see it:


Mannekin's sister, Jeanekin Pis (and I thought the Dutch were weird):



St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral - the most impressive I've been to so far (including South America):


Again at night:


Royal Palace - residence of the Belgian king:


Another church and square in the city:



I'll split my trip back into Holland into a separate post...

Train crash in Brussels

Yesterday there was a train accident in Brussels at ~8:30 am local time near Halle, just south of the city center. I was on another train at that time on the same line, but north of the city. Yes, I am ok for those that have inquired. I didn't even find out about the accident until I got to work... a friend that works for CNN was traveling from London to Brussels to cover the story and told me.

I get on about 3 stops from where it happened (from a connection at Noord Station) and get off at Vilvoorde. Apparently the local train and an international train met head on, causing 18 deaths. There's no word on why it happened yet, but the trains were running tonight on my way home from work.

I'll be on the train again tomorrow as long as they are running. I guess things like this happen every day, but should it affect you?

Carnaval

My first experience in Holland was pretty memorable. I successfully navigated the trains to Venlo, a little town near the German border where Carolien's family was from. The first thing I noticed was the bicycles - there are something like 10 per person in the country. Everywhere we would go during the weekend, most people were cruising around on two wheels despite the bad weather. Carolien met me at the station with one of her friends and we walked through the snow to get to her grandmother's house. Like a typical grandmother, the first thing she did was feed us (or me, at least - the girls had already eaten). 'Uma' as Carolien called her, kept talking to me in Dutch. When Carolien explained that I didn't understand, she didn't seem to mind. She would speak to me and point to my bowl. I got the message and nodded, so she would bring me another bowl of soup.

We went out that night to downtown Venlo, which was gearing up for Carnaval. It's similar to the celebrations in Brazil and New Orleans, except the cold weather doesn't tend itself to the kind of outfits you see in those warmer places. The southern part of Holland celebrates the holiday (really 5 or 6 days of partying) because it is traditionally Catholic, while the rest of the country and most places in neighboring countries do nothing. So we met up with Carolien's cousin and made our way to the packed pubs. It was a good time, minus the smoke and the fact that every bar was jam packed full of people. We didn't stay out too late because we knew we had a big day ahead of us.

Surprisingly, Uma was awake when we got home and had a glass of wine with us before bed. She told me (through Carolien) about the German occupation during WWII. The US Army came and liberated the town of Venlo. William Knowlton, I think he was a lieutenant at that time, stayed in their house. He eventually became a general. They kept in touch through letters ever since then, and his daughter ended up marrying David Patraeus (whose father was Dutch, she was quick to point out). She had pictures and notes from their wedding, with updates about the Patraeus kids (his grandkids) and everything until he died a few years ago. If you don't know, General Patraeus is now a 4 star general with major duties in America's conflicts. It's interesting how people cross paths.

The next morning Carolien's mom, dad and brother met us at Uma's house. We got dressed up in our outfits and got bundled up since it was hovering around the freezing mark and not expected to warm up. My "costume" was just a hodgepodge of things they had used before... I was originally going to go as an Arab with a cloak-shirt thing and turban, but the cloak was too small. I wore a farmer's shirt which was pointless since I had a jacket on, a green wig, and a sign that said 'Will you buy me a beer, please?' in Dutch. Carolien wore scrubs, her brother had a funky hairdo, her dad had white coveralls and a funny hat, and her mom just had some odd clothes on from what I could tell.

We got there at 11 am and spent the entire day freezing out in the cold with the Hogenhuis family plus a few of Carolien's friends, cousins, aunts and uncles. Bands played traditional songs and everyone was dressed up a lot more than us. Every now and then we would go into a bar, but for the most part we stayed outside. I made a random friend from the US named 'Mo', who was traveling through Europe and happened upon Venlo by chance. He was a veteran and now worked as a comedian - interesting guy. We hung out for most of the afternoon and I could tell he would be a good asset as a wingman. He would go up to any girl and start a conversation.

Mo and I got separated, so we didn't see him that evening when we left the festival. The party was still going strong but we were cold, tired and hungry so we headed back to Uma's house. We stayed for a bit to eat and I took a family photo before we left to go to Oosterhout, just outside of Breda (Carolien's hometown).

We changed into new costumes when we got to Carolien's house and went out again. This time I wore an orange toga and blue turban - I didn't ask questions, I just put it on. We met up with a bunch of Carolien's friends from high school and had a great night out. It was a bit weird to see teenagers out at the bar - 16 is the legal drinking age. There are pubs where younger and older people hang out, but every now and then I would do a double take when I saw an obvious kid walking around with a beer. It was definitely something to get used to. Also, I must say... Dutch girls are way hotter than Belgian girls. Everyone has been really nice and willing to talk to me if I walk up and start a conversation, but the Dutch are better in my book. That's just one man's opinion.

Anyway, a few of Carolien's friends were participating in the next day's Carnaval parade and needed an extra person (so they said). I couldn't tell if they were serious, but I said to call Carolien in the morning if they needed me. Old and young people alike were out until 2 or 3 am. Martin, one of Carolien's friends, invited us all back to his parents' house for a little after-party (his parents were with us at the pub). They fixed us these deep fried meat-paste sticks called croquettes that weren't all that good, but it was late and they were deep fried.

We slept late and were thankful that I wasn't summoned at an early hour for the parade. We made our way downtown and got there in time to see the first of about 40 floats go by. We walked opposite of the parade direction so that we could see everything and still stay warm - it was still freezing. Another oddity about the Dutch is the political incorrectness. There were white people with their faces painted to be black, Mexican, Asian... you would never get away with that in a US parade.

Finally, I bid Carolien and her parents goodbye and headed back on the train to Brussels. I only have one weekend left in Europe, so I probably won't get to see Carolien for a long time. We've already had more than one goodbye like that, and it seems to work out that we meet back up sooner than expected. Here's to that!

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This might be one of the greatest experiences I can hope to have in another country... a lot of people can say they've been to Holland which really means they've partied in Amsterdam. How many can say they spent an entire weekend with a Dutch family, having traditional food, celebrating their festivals, and REALLY experiencing the Dutch culture? If I can top this in the next few weeks, I will be surprised.

First week Euro-working

I just finished my first week of work in Brussels, but before I talk about that, let me back up a bit.

My week at home was relaxing – of course it is great to sleep in your own bed. I was less than happy with the weather, because who wouldn’t like to stay in a place where it’s 85 and sunny every day? I got a prescription for Ambien since I found out that I would be making frequent flights to Belgium (more on that in a second), got a new pair of glasses (for the first time in 15 years or so), but spent most of my time catching up on Heroes and 24 episodes on the DVR (what would I do without it?).

After I was all prepared for a life over the Atlantic for most of the next 7 months, my company’s legal department threw a wrench in the plan. They insisted that I was going to need a work visa to make frequent trips through customs into Belgium. If I stayed for 3-4 months at a time it would probably have been ok, but European customs officials frown upon it when you visit every 3 weeks. I fought for a while, but could do nothing but give in. My European summer had been cut short before it began, and I am only going to be here for 3 weeks. That gives me 2 weekends to explore Europe on my first trip here.

For this 9 hour overnight plane ride I was prepared with the Ambien and popped it about 2 hours into the flight. I woke up a few times, but everything was in slow motion and swirly… trippy, man. I woke up with about an hour left and felt relatively rested enough to start the day at work.

When I touched down in Brussels, I got a very different feeling from Santiago. Maybe it was the after-effects of the Ambien, but I think it was more because I don’t speak French or Dutch and IT WAS FLIPPING COLD. Luckily for me, everyone here seems to speak English so getting around isn’t difficult at all. Of course, throughout this week people have told me ‘This has been the coldest winter in a long time’ and ‘We never get snow like this’. It was great to see some snow since we don’t get much in Atlanta… well, at least we didn’t until I left. I was prepared with warm clothes, but I ended up wearing two pairs of pants to work for a few days. Yes, it was that cold.


I’m staying at an extension of the Renaissance Marriott Hotel, which is called Marriott Executive Apartments. Fancy, I know. It’s a glorified hotel suite, with 1.5 bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room and bedroom. There is room service and a full gym and indoor pool in the connected hotel. Not too shabby. At ~100 Euros a night, it better not be (thank you, client!).

I have to take trains to work every day, which includes a connection. Then there is a 10 minute walk from the train station to work, making my overall commute from apartment to work about 50 minutes. Brr. Going to the train station every day is almost like a trip back in time… except the trains are electric so they make almost no noise, all of the sign boards are digital, and there are people talking on mobile phones here and there. But other than that, riding the train feels like I’m in a 1950s movie. Everyone is bundled up in scarves, gloves and hats, speaking French when spoken to. You know the movie where the boyfriend leaves the girlfriend to move away, she hands him her hankerchief as he waves goodbye while the train whistle blows and chugs away? That’s the one.

I live in the ‘EU Quarter’ which is near the Luxemburg train station. The EU Parliament is right behind that, so there is a good selection of restaurants and bars within walking distance. I tried out L’Atome (link) my first night out, and it was decent (although steaks in Belgium are undercooked. Well done = medium rare).

Last night (Thursday) I went into Luxemburg Square, where there were lots of bars, restaurants, and people buzzing around. My apartment is just around the corner so it’s close enough to be convenient, but not close enough to be bothered with all of the traffic. I ate at a restaurant called Coco and planned to go for a walk through the city since I hadn’t seen any of it yet. I know it was dark, cold and late, but I was tired of waiting. I took my guidebook to find sights that were close by, doing my best to hide the cover of the book so that people didn’t think I was a tourist. Despite my best efforts, a group of girls kept looking over at me and laughing. Great, I thought. I have tourist written on my forhead.

As I finished dinner, that group of girls were leaving and told me (in English, without asking if I spoke it) that I should join them for a drink at The Pullman, a bar next door. I paid my bill and walked over there – I’m in Brussels, I’m alone, why not? I felt a bit foolish because I had a guidebook in my pocket, I was wearing jeans in a bar where everyone was just getting off work and dressed up, and of course my Asics shoes (after all, I had planned to go for a walk).

I found the group, who were surprised that I accepted their invitation. Come to find out, they were all Romanian and work for the EU. A lot of the assistants and underlings of the EU congressmen go out in this area on Thursday nights since it is so close to their work. I ended up meeting a few other nationalities, all of whom spoke English. I had a few drinks, exchanged contact information with a few of them, and turned in for the night.

On Friday I left work early because our network was down for the first 5 hours I was there. I wanted to tour Brussels a bit before I left for Holland since I hadn't been in the city during daylight hours. I made my way from my apartment down to Grand Place, the center of the city. It is a very old square, with the city hall and old guild houses dating back to the 11th century. Here's a panorama that I took to give you an idea what it's like:




So that was my first week. This weekend I am going to Holland to hang out with Carolien for Carnaval. She says it’s a really great party all weekend, so we’ll see. I just hope I can figure out the trains and get there without getting lost!