Day 16: Heidelburg and Driving Back to Brussels

Today was mostly driving through Germany and Luxembourg to our hotel at the Brussels Airport. Though this morning we did go explore Heidelburg's old town, including the famous bridge and Heidelburg Universität, the oldest university in Germany. There we saw the fancy old hall (where Dr. Bunsen of the Bunsen burner is immortalized on the wall along with all the other professors) and looked at the student prison, where students were incarcerated for drunkenness, impoliteness, or dueling until the early 1900s. There was some very interesting and elaborate old graffiti on the walls, which you can see below.

The only other thing we did today was try (and fail) to go to the brand-new Musée Hergé (basically the Tin Tin Museum) in Louvain-la-Neuve outside of Brussels, but we got there just half an hour after it closed, which mostly sucks because I wanted to buy Tin Tin stuff. :( Oh well!

So that's pretty much it. Tomorrow back to London on the train, then I'm off to Stratford. I am a leeeeeetle nervous - mostly because I don't want to spend too much money, get horribly lost, or not speak to another human for a week, which knowing me (and my general awkwardness) might happen if I'm not brave. Oh and also getting raped/murdered/mugged/creeped on/conned/kidnapped. You know. The whole range of stuff that women are supposed to be afraid of. But whatevs.

We will see how this goes.

Oh, and here are the crappy pictures I took today:

Day 3: Brussels, City of Good Gastronomy and Big Physics

Belgium is, as my grandfather has put it, a "gastronomical city," meaning, of course, that there is good food here. Besides the chocolate and the waffles and the frites, there is a legitimately tasteful (haha) food scene. My meals today are definitely worth mentioning.

Breakfast: (at the hotel) chocolate croissant, pineapple, and fresh French sourdough bread with strawberry jam. Also, some damn good scrambled eggs.

Lunch: French bread straight out of a local patisserie and fresh homemade Brie (which would definitely have been illegal in the US) out of the cheese shop next door. Then, best waffle ever - even better than the one I had yesterday!

Dinner: (restaurant called Ricotta & Parmesan) Super-fancy salade folle (crazy salade) with baked chèvre cheese, olives, smoked ham, grilled zucchini, and many more surprising vegetables. Then just a little spinach and ricotta cannelloni followed by chocolates from that same little shop.

Other than stuffing ourselves, today we visited the Atomium, which is a bajillion-times-life-size model of an iron atom or something that was built for the World's Fair in the 50s and never taken down. You can go up to the top, and like the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, or Seattle Space Needle, look out on a panorama of the city below. Very lovely to go there again. The place is so weird, sometimes I think I just made it up in my head, but it's really there. :)

After that we returned to the Grand Place to eat (see above), took a rest at the hotel for a few hours, then went to dinner (yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a fattie) and came home.

But WAIT! What did I find when I got to my room? The sweet concierge who helped me with the hot water problem yesterday bearing two boxes of Neuhaus chocolate truffles for the inconvenience. Uh, yeah. I will take a shower in the room across the hall any day if it means free Fancypants chocolate. Thanks, Monsieur le Consierge. Talk about excellent service!

Oh, I also bought the sixth Harry Potter book in Dutch to add to my collection (I already had the seventh one in French - I'm working backwards). The Dutch covers are really simple and pretty. I approve! :)

The Old Apartment in Evere

I am making a separate post for this because 1) there are a lot of pictures, and 2) most people will not know what I am taking about. But here it is:

We went by tram/bus/metro to our old apartment this afternoon. At first I was confused and disoriented - the trees had grown tall and six stories wasn't quite as talk as it used to be. Also, the buildings were shabbier than I remembered, but the neighborhood was nice and very green. But when I finally saw the apartment building, it was obviously the one of my memory. The same red brick, same dark glass balconies where my brother and I made tiny snowmen in the winter, same rooms in the roof where Austin and I once climbed out of our sixth story windows onto the ledge for fun. The same steps where my mother once left the two of us in time out as she drove around that same roundabout, where a bearded Belgian woman approached me to see if she could help. The same basement where we parked and played with remote control cars. The same park around the corner where I had my birthday party. The same bench that I slammed into and slid all the way along as I learned to ride my bike. The same field with the old rusty grill that we played in when we first moved there. And around the corner, the same Dutch school where I had pre-k and kindergarten with Euff Hilda and Euff Christine.

Not much has changed in twelve years.

Day 2: Brussels, the City of Waffles, Chocolate, and Little Peeing Boys

It's fascinating coming back here after twelve years. Though I don't recognize much of the city itself (it appears to have been much modernized in recent years), the Grand Place and the surrounding area are exactly as I remember them. It's a vibrant contradiction: new versus old, discovery versus nostalgia, the memory of childhood versus the experience in adulthood.

In a way everything does seem smaller; after all, I was probably barely four feet tall when I left. But on the other hand, the city seems so much more than I remembered, so much more full and bustling and tall. It's probably because of where we lived, but I don't remember Brussels as, you know, a huge city like London or Paris or New York. I don't remember that feeling of confinement and bustle and humanity.

Either way, today was an interesting one. We walked to the Grand Place, and I got a waffle along the way - the first REAL waffle I've had in twelve years, and I must say, it was divine. No one can make Belgian waffles like the Belgian, which should go without saying, but people everywhere always try so hard, always label anything that comes out of a waffle iron a "Belgian" waffle, but they always always fail. Seriously, you can't beat a true Belgian gaufre made with whatever secret ingredient makes it so addicting, glazed in sugar with little sugar chunks, and smelling like a very specific kind of heaven all the way down the street. You just can't beat that anywhere but here.

After the Waffle Experience, we saw the most beautiful square in the world, smack in the middle of Europe, the Grand Place. Oh, it's gorgeous! So old and yet still so alive. It was exactly as it was in my childhood. :)

Then we tromped down the streets to the Menneken Pis - the peeing boy - one of the most beloved symbols of this city and a perfect example of Belgian humor. Sometimes he eveN wears clothes! And he's almost 400 years old. Also, he is my favorite statue. :)

After that we went to dinner at a place called Léon something-something after being mercilessly solicited by the door men of the many famed seafood restaurants along this particular road. One even grabbed me and tried to "subtly" block our path anywhere but into his restaurant. But I really don't like seafood and my grandfather's a vegetarian, so we got by with some arguing and instead I enjoyed a meal of a ham and cheese omelet and pommes frites (the original French Fries) before we stopped by a chocolatier known as Belgian Gourmand and got truffles.

Now I am stuffed and exhausted and so thankful for the concierge who sorted out the lack-of-hot-water situation in my hotel room. To bed!

Did I mention that America doesn't have good chocolate?

I'm in Belgium. Yup.

Omg free wifi! Also, Belgium. :)

Whooo! I heart this hotel in Brussels. They give me free wifi in my room. Also, BRUSSELS! It smells like old cigarettes and exhaust - in other words, just how I remember it. Haven't seen anything I recognize yet (except the Quick! And Tin Tin. And the "Welcome to Belgium chocolate on my pillow.) but I'm off soon to explore and go to the Grand Place!

YES! :D