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!
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