Going with the flow and Brussels throwing curve balls

Some things that are planned are not always how they end up.  After Paris I had a training session with a great company that I was going to be teaching for.  The company was able to give me a good amount of teachinmg hours and I had some private sessions and classes with other companies set up, in order to fill my schedule.

The training session went well and I had a good understanding of the material I was expected to teach.  I would begin teaching the next week! I was more than excited to start teaching and feel like I had a meaning to be in Barcelona.  Unfortunately, over the weekend some of my other jobs fell through which caused me to forfeit all my classes as a whole because it was not enough to get by.  The classes that fell through left my schedule very sparse and random, which would make it very difficult to fill.

I had to make a quick decision; to either take the few hours of teaching and dip into my savings in order to pay bills or to stay for a shorter amount of time in Europe and travel.  I decided the second option was the best.  I came foremost to travel anyways!  This opened my schedule completely and I started planning my next trip= Brussels and Dublin!

October 3, 2012.  I had decided to make this trip a longer than the previous trips I had taken by myself since I was not looking for work anymore.  Five days in Brussels and five days in Dublin, I was so amped for Dublin and could not wait.

(Pan photo of Grand Place)

I made it to Brussels safely and had to take an hour-long bus ride to the city center.  Since Ryanair is such a cheap airline it flies to airports that are not normally near the city center.  A hassle you pay since the ticket was so cheap.  I arrived in the city center of Brussels and then need to take the metro to the hostel.  Well it so happened that the metro in Brussels was on strike that day and I had to resort to a taxi.  Something I did not know about Brussels was how expensive it was!  So the taxi ride was a bit of bummer, but probably turned out for the best since it was rainy and cold out.

I got to the hostel and left my luggage in the storage room and decided to walk around a bit before I could check into my room.  First I went in search of some lunch, I found this awesome little pizza place.  It was delicious and the pizza was cooked in a wood-burning oven; that gives it such a great taste.

(Town Hall)

After filling up on some amazing cheese pizza I wanted to see the Grand Place.  The Grand Place was voted the most beautiful plaza in all of Europe in 2010.  They were not joking; it was breath taking and absolutely gorgeous.  The architecture, detail and color of the buildings were outstanding.  When I first entered the plaza I just stood there in amazement.

The largest building, Brussels’s Town Hall was amazing.  The steeple has a statue of Saint Michael slaying a demon located at the highest point.  And the Town Hall stands at 315 feet high and was first constructed in 1401.

The Guildhalls on the Grand Place were like something out of a Disney movie. The guilds are a place of meeting, but now there are also restaurants and shops located on the first level.  The Guildhalls have gold trimming and intricate detailed architecture.  I just stood there and stared.

(King's House- dark facade)

The Maison du Roi (King’s House) is located across from the Town Hall.  It is no longer used as the Royal Palace, but is now turned into a museum.  This building has many arches and is a huge tourist attraction.

(Maison du Roi)

I went to the museum located in the Maison du Roi and learned about the history of Brussels and how the Grand Place was constructed.  I learned they had to take down homes in order to finish the Town Hall, which many people were against.  And how there was a French bombardment in 1695, which caused most of the city to burn down.  Somehow the Town Hall was one of the buildings left standing, even though it was the main target under fire.

Within the museum there was a separate room for the Manneken Pis, which is a little statue of a peeing boy; it is like the trademark of Brussels.  The city of Brussels has many different outfits for this statue; including many American outfits.  It was strange to see how much effort was put into this tiny statue.

(Elvis!)

(The many outfits...)

Since I was in Brussels, I thought it necessary to try some Belgium beer.  I went to a beer museum and tried a pint.  It was a great way to get out of the rain and cold and warm up; such a dramatic difference in weather compared to Barcelona.

(The instruments they used to used to brew beer)

(Nowadays!)

After walking and gawking at the Grand Place I went to see the Mannken Pis.  What a let down, this statue was tiny!  I thought it was a joke.  The people of Brussels find it amusing that so many people come to see the statue, which is about 2 feet tall.  The looks on my people’s faces were priceless and full of disappointment.  Many people just stood there and laughed.

(Tiny statue was tucked away in a corner...)

I then went back through the Grand Place and stopped by Les Brasseurs de la Grand Palace pub for another pint of Belgium beer.  This pub brewed their own beer and it was fantastic.  I love how throughout Europe it is a rule that if you are serving a drink at a bar it is necessary to serve a snack as well.  So I sat there with my beer and pub-mix watching people snap photos of the Grand Place.

After awhile I decided to go back to the hostel and take a nap since I had been up since 4am traveling from Barcelona to Brussels.

Once I got some much needed rest I went out for some dinner.  I walked down Rue des Bouchers and found a little restaurant that had decent French Onion Soup- something I have been craving.  Rue des Bouchers is a very narrow street with restaurants on both sides of the street.  There was outside seating among numerous heaters since it was very chilly out.  While this area was very expensive, it was worth the experience.

It was at this point I started to get very lonely and decided that I did not want to travel by myself anymore.  From there the night went down hill, the people at the hostel were strange and I did not feel comfortable staying there.  The people of Brussels were cold and I ended up not having the best time.  I decided instead of continuing my 10-day trip that I would go back to Barcelona to where I felt more comfortable and make plans to travel with a friend from now on. Luckily I was able to get most of my expenses refunded, sadly however I did not even stay long enough to have a Belgium waffle. This would be the last time I travel alone; traveling with a friend is always a better time anyways.