Bruxelles

Hello from Bruxelles! Tonight is my second night in this lovely city and I am really enjoying the atmosphere here. It is much more laissez-faire than Paris and London.

I did forget to include in my previous post about my trip to the Luxembourg gardens in Paris. If you picture and idyllic Paris scene with the sunshine beating down, people on chairs having picnics, playing games, laughing and having a good time this is where you will meet them. It is so picturesque and so relaxed. There are fountains that you can rent little boats to race and play with along with other toys. I loved it.

My trip to Brussels was a bit bittersweet as the previous night there were maybe 6 - 10 of us at any given time in the hostel kitchen/dining area and we sat around and talked for hours about the places we were from and where we were going. It was good fun and it was sad to leave them all the very next day. I think this will happen often unfortunately. It is a part of the traveling life.

I arrived early in Brussels and spent the afternoon and evening hiking through the different areas. Brussels is conveniently small, I have not yet had to take the metro or bus system. It is just as easy for me to talk everywhere, it takes time but I have lots of that, I am in no hurry to be anywhere.

I cannot believe the luck that the day I arrived in Brussels so did Le Tour de France. I did not see the athletes arrive in town but I got up today and walked to the area that they were leaving from on the next portion of their race. I am not a follower of cycling but it will be for sure the only time I will ever have the opportunity to participate in something like this. And hey, I got a free hat out of it so it's a win win.

The tour buses were massive and there were unending cars with bikes on top. I took some pictures of people that looked like bikers but as I know little about the sport they really could have been anyone. I did pass by Lance Armstrongs bus at one point and was stuck in the most irritating pack of people imaginable. It took nearly 15 minutes to move 25ft and people were pressed together like sardines.

The start to the race was maybe a little lackluster, it really do happen quite fast and then that is it. But I was here and it was a cool thing to say that I have seen and done.

The rest of the day was more wandering and picture taking. The buildings here are just fantastic. There is this random mix of old and new. They do not even try to hide the ugliness of it all. They seem to embrace the absolute madness that is their city. It is just something you need to see. I will post many pictures soon.

I have two more days here and will be enjoying a very relaxing, slow paced few days before I head to the even smaller city of Ghent.