B&B (Brussels and Brugge)

Time has been flying this last month. I don't know where the time is going. I have been working for my new family for about a month and a half now and they are still so wonderful. I am very very blessed to have found them.

So my latest adventure was a very interesting one. I wish I could say I had a blast and it went wonderful but well I can't. So Trixi and I decided we would like to see Boyce Avenue in concert and we really wanted to go see them in Dublin, Ireland. However, she is a full time student here in Munich so she couldn't take off that much time to go all the way to Ireland. So I was looking at what other cities they were going to and found a GREAT deal on a flight to Brussels. It was only 36 Euros round trip. Sounds to good to be true doesn't it?? So we decided that was a good idea. Plus my host dad is actually from Brussels and he can't stop talking about how wonderful the city is and how he would rather live there than Munich (I question his taste now haha).

We bought the airline tickets and the concert tickets and all together it was under 80 euros. After we purchased the tickets we found out that the airline (Ryanair) we had chosen was not the best airline to take. They say they fly to big cities but really the airports are pretty far from the actual city (JUST WHAT I THOUGHT... TO GOOD TO BE TRUE)! So in order for us to get the Munich WEST airport we had to take two trains (1hour travel in each) and a bus. The first train we took we didn't even have sitting seats so we had to stand for an hour on a the train.  When we arrived at the airport I was already saying my goodbye prayers. This airport was the smallest airport I have ever seen and there wasn't even a airplane in sight. To make matters worse they totally lost all credibility with me when I saw a Giant yogurt cup statue outside the building.....

We ended up making it to the "AIRPORT" in Bussels and it took us another hour to get the city via bus. All together I think our trip took us about 8-9 hours when it would have taken us 2-3 tops if we would have taken a real airline. At the point we finally reached Brussels Midi station we thought it couldn't get any worse.....HAHAHAHA!!! So along with Ryanair we also thought we would save money and try out couch surfing. I have other friends who have done it and they had nothing but great experiences. For those of you who do not know what couch surfing is it's basically a community of people who are willing to have guest stay in their place to meet new people. They get to share their culture and be a tour guide for people all over the world. So we found what we thought was a good candidate for our first couch surfing experience. He had many good reviews on his profile and we had messaged back and forth for a couple weeks and he seemed very nice. We had to walk from the train station to his house which wasn't to far but it seemed like an eternity for us. The neighborhood was so scarey and dirty. It's what I picture the worst part of New York to look like. I seriously thought we were going to get mugged so we just walked as fast as we could to his apartment. Trixi and I finally made it to his apartment and it was the dirtiest apartment I have ever seen. Just walking up the stairs to his apartment I could smell the mold coming out of the walls. The stairwell handles were just broken off and laying on the ground. The door to his apartment looked like it had been broken into like a million times and it didn't even shut anymore. If it wasn't locked you could just push it open. We make it to his living room and kitchen and he was showing us around the place. His bathroom was located in the kitchen and was only separated by a shower curtain. The toilet was located in the hall of the apartment building and it was so dirty it looked like someone had already used the bathroom and didn't flush....but no that was just the color stained on the toilet. The kicker to the story is when we were ready to go to sleep all he had were two tiny mattresses without sheets and two blankets that looked like they hadn't been washed in a while. He also only had one very flat pillow so I didn't even have a pillow to sleep on.  Needless to say our trip didn't start out so well. I was already counting down the days til I got to go home. Oh and I also didn't mention that before we even left Munich I had to go to the doctor because I had a eye infection. So I had to wear my glasses the entire time and I couldn't wear any makeup and had to put drops in my eyes four times a day.....ugh WHY?

We made it through the night....barely. We left that house as soon as we could and met Trixi's boyfriend at the train station because he was spending the day with us. I already had a negative outlook on Brussels but the people there were not so nice. For example, I ordered a yogurt for breakfast at a restaurant in the city center and it was frozen solid. I told the waiter and he said he would bring me another one. The next yogurt was also frozen so I told him and he just rolled his eyes at me and walked away. But we were trying to make the best of it.  We went and looked at the little pissing boy statue that Brussels is know for. It is the smallest statue I have ever seen and I don't understand why it's so popular.

 

So we did a bit of site seeing around the city center then we went to the Atomium. It was pretty cool not breathtaking or anything but okay.  

Trixi 

Björn (Trixi's Boyfriend)

That night Björn went back to Germany. Trixi and I went back into the center of town and bought ourselves a street waffle and some french fries. Belgium is know for these things. The waffle was amazing but the fries I didn't care for to much. We were about to head back to the dirt ridden apartment when we heard faint music coming from a distance. We followed the sound and came upon some street performers that were absolutely amazing. We stayed for about an hour just listening to the music in the streets of Belgium. I LOVE EUROPE! I took a video with my iPhone and I will post it at the end of the blog. :) After the free street concert we went back to the apartment so we didn't have to walk in that scary neighborhood in the dark.

BRUGGE
The next morning we headed back to the train station to head to Brugge. It is known as the most european city. The train ride only took us an hour which was really nice and we booked a room at a hostel so we didn't have to sleep in the apartment in Brussels. Brugge is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. It is exactly what you think about when you think about Europe. It has beautiful old buildings and amazing canals all over the city. It is 100% better in every way then Brussels. Trixi and I checked into our hostel and then started our site seeing adventure. We walked around the city and then took a canal tour which was AWESOME! We ended up meeting this really awesome boy from Australia who was also staying in our room in the hostel. He was traveling around Europe for the next 8 months. How cool is that? :) We all ended up going to dinner and to a bar afterwards together. He was the funniest person ever. It was a great night.

Belgium has 600 types of beer and every beer has is very own special glass. 

banana flavored beer (different....not bad)

passion fruit flavored beer (pretty good)  the best was the cherry flavored beer they had on tap. 

Funny story about the guy in the back with the long red beard. His wife was waiting for him inside and he was lost outside wondering around. Max saw him outside and said "that's the greatest beard I've ever seen" then his wife was like "yeah thats my husband" it was super funny. I guess it's one of those things you had to be there. ;)

 The next morning we did a bit more sight seeing but the weather was really bad so we found ourselves a nice coffee shop. We sat and talked and watched the people outside. It was actually really nice. We then had to head back to the train station to catch our train back to Brussels (YAY.....NOT). When we got back we got ready for the Boyce Avenue concert and then went and had dinner. After dinner we just had to get another street waffles because they're amazing. The street waffle cafe actually remembered us and made it extra yummy for us. WHOOHOO!! We then headed to the venue of the concert and it was okay. There really isn't much to say about it. It was just okay. I expected more and the set list was terrible. The opening acts were horrible but the songs they did play were well done just not the songs I wanted to hear.

The next morning I was so happy to be heading back to wonderful Munich and getting out of that horrible apartment. When I arrived home I don't think I have ever been happier to have a clean shower and a nice bed but most of all a PILLOW! I can't say it was a horrible trip because there were definitely some great moments but it wasn't the best. On the way out of Brussels I stepped in dog poop on the sidewalk and I thought that was an appropriate way to end things! hahaha


I'm adding a video I took of the street performers....seriously watch this video they're AMAZING!! I liked them so much I bought a CD from them.....They were much better than Boyce Avenue and they were free to watch.....