Brussels

I arrived in Brussels around 4:30 on Monday and my (couch surfing )host picked me up at the station- late, but still nice! Lol My host’s name was Jeroen, he was a nice guy but not too exciting. He had to go pick up his daughter (that I didn’t know he had!) and stay in with her all night. So I met up with another couch surfer, got some dinner, and then explored the city at night! It was a very beautiful and active city even at night. 

The tourism in Brussels doesn’t seem to be too well established. Especially for international tourists, the was a pretty large language barrier at times. So glad I had other surfers with me who could speak French.  The city seemed more of a place to live rather than visit.

The infrastructure of the city is not that great, my surfer friend said it was because many posher (don’t think that’s a word lol) people only work in Brussels and live elsewhere, so their tax money does not go to the city. One instance is.. The Grand Palace has been under restoration for over 20 years. That’s how long the ugly scaffolding has been up! 

 

On Tuesday, since my host was being lame- I met up with another surfer (Dimitri) that couldn’t host me because he lives with his girlfriend and she had a bunch of work to do for her university. But we met up because he found me very interesting! And I’m glad because he was the most passionate and headstrong   person I have ever met!  We talked of how he was not fulfilled in his job now- so I asked him what he really wanted to do. He said, ‘I want to do what you do!’ Like what?!?! He wants to go into dog care! He’s ten years older than me and wants my life! Lol Also, he loves to tango! So we talked a lot about that too! It was so great getting to know one another. I got some Belgium fries at his favorite place then he showed me around a bit. Afterward, I went back to my host’s place then left for Brugge! =