"Santé!" which is "cheers" in French! Last weekend was such an amazing and cultural experience. Jordan, Kirstie, and I got to go to Verviers, Belgium to meet up with a family friend's daughter. (Note, I had never actually met her before, but we had been facebooking since before I left for Europe.)
Well let's just say the train ride to Belgium was a little hectic...actually hectic is an understatement. It was stressful. I got to the train station 20min before my train was supposed to leave, so I asked the ticket lady which train I should take since the time my ticket said (16:44) and that one didn't list Köln as a stop. She then told me to take the slow train at 16:31 because it was going to Köln. Well the other two were have bus issues and were running late, but out of fear of missing my connection I hopped on the 16:31 train alone and headed to Köln. A lady I met in the station (who was originally from Michigan!) helped me look up time trains, and then told me that the 16:44 was actually a faster train and was going straight through to Aachen... Cool.. I got on the wrong train. Meanwhile, Kirstie and Jordan got to Hbf at 16:43, but the ticket people wouldn't let them on the 16:44 train, so they had to wait for another one. I got to Cologne and found another train heading to Aachen in 10min, but of course that meant the other two wouldn't make it... But I took it anyways since the service lady had told me that trains from Aachen to Verviers were somewhat rare. I arrived in Aachen with time to spare before my (finally correct train) would arrive and take me to Verviers. Unfortunately the other two would also miss this train to Verviers, but there was another one coming two hours later. As you can imagine, they had a very long wait in the Aachen train station. I got on the final train to Verviers, and let me tell you it was GHETTO, I'm talking like old school, train from a story book, still manual doors, OLD. hahaha I met a guy on the train who had apparently grown up in Belgium but then moved to study in the UK. When I asked if people in Belgium spoke English (seeing as in basically every other European country they do) I was surprised when he told me "no, not usually." He then wished me good luck since I didn't know a single word in French!
Well no regrets on taking the earlier trains alone because Catherine (my Belgian friend) and her friends were actually waiting for me at the train station! Since facebook was our only means of communication, and I didn't get wifi on my phone on the trains, I would've had no way of telling her I was going to be late. Then even better, her friend drove me to my hotel so I could check in before 8pm, (which was the check in cut off time) and I didn't have to pay for a cab. I had told Catherine was time Kirstie and Jordan should be arriving since they were on the later train and that we would meet them at her boyfriend's apartment after that. So I chilled at the hotel for an hour or so and then had to call a cab to take me back to the central station to meet Kirstie and Jordan. I was told it would be a 6-8 euro ride...and it turned out to be 13. (But sadly this was the best deal we had all weekend...) I met them no problem, and then while we were trying to decide what to do next, Catherine and her boyfriend Tom showed back up at the central station to meet us. (It was like magic!) So thankfully Tom's apartment was walking distance so we didn't have to get a cab. :) The first night we just chilled with their friends, and got aquainted with the Belgian culture. (I must add, they do the kiss-on-the-right-cheek greeting EVERYTIME they see someone they know. And even more surprising, the guys did it too. I honestly could not imagine my guy friends walking up and kissing each other on the cheek everytime they wanted to say hello! For me as American that likes my personal space, it was very strange to be kissed by someone whose name I didn't even know yet! And I could never remember which cheek they were going for, and I swear I had a few close encounters where the kiss almost missed the cheek hahaha It was defintely awkward and hard to get used to.) We listened to French music (like rap/techno/alternative stuff), learned a few French words, and learned how to count to 10 in French. (Which might I add, even looking at the spelling fails to help you know how to pronounce the stupid word, and I swear #1 sounds different everytime they say it!) Then we went and got Belgian Chips, which is another word for fries. We ended up splitting a sandwich that was over a foot long, and had Frickadelle (pork) and was smothered with french fries and ketchup. It was SO GOOD! After that we took a cab home, and one of their friends who lived near our hotel shared the cab. Well that was the first downhill experience. The cab got up to 15 euros by the time we got to the hotel, but thankfully our new friend told us not to worry about it and paid for us. (They were so nice!) Then we did our awkward cheek kisses good night, and the cab driver was like "a kiss for me too?!" I'm not sure I'll ever be fully comfortable with that haha.
We got up early Saturday morning to go meet Catherine and Tom in town so they could show us around Verviers before we went to Brussels. Well that's when hectic adventure #2 happened....So we call a cab and I told him Verviers Central (which is the name of the train station, and where we were supposed to meet them) and he says 'ok.' So we're driving along, and the whole time I'm thinking..hmm this is weird, it doesn't look right, but whatevs he's from here and knows where he's going. Well a 16 euro taxi ride later, he stops and tells us we're at Verviers Central. (and may I point out, the train station was NO WHERE in sight.) and we were so confused, but didn't want to pay anymore. So we asked him again where the station was and he goes 'oh that way, maybe 5-10min walk.' For starters, WHY did we have to pay 16 euros for a freaking cab that can't even take us to the RIGHT place?! So we started wandering in the direction he pointed, and finally found a street we recognized. Needless to say we were like 30min late. The market we went to was super neat! They sold everything from pet mice/birds/rabbits, to cell phone cases, to fruits/veggies, to underwear, and any other gizmo you can imagine. And I think it was over a mile long! Then a little after lunch time we headed over to Brussels on a train.
Brussels was a BLAST! Even with our slight communication barrier, we still had so much fun. (We even met an American kid on the train there who sat and talked to us the whole time. He had been there for almost 6months, and was staying for 5 more! So lucky!) We saw the Mannekin Pis, and tried belgian waffles with strawberries, whipped cream, and chocolate. Oh my GOD THOSE WERE TO DIE FOR!!! SOO GOOD!!! Then we went to the Delirium Bar which holds the world record for the most types of beer. It was super neat! Then of course we had to hit some chocolate shops, and desperately tried to find raspberry chocolate. (This was eventually accomplished!) We also ate a Quick, which is a Belgian version of Mickey Ds, and was quite satisfying if I do say so myself. Strangely enough we met a group in the train station that were from California, Austrailia, Ecuador, Canada. It was pretty neat! One guy knew French, English, some Deutsch, some Russian, and Spanish, I was very impressed! Then on the way back Jordan ended up getting a ticket for having her feet up on the seat across from her. This is NOT a myth, they really do give tickets!!! After that LONG day we were all exhausted, and decided to call it a night. Thankfully the girl from Canada had to get off at stop near our hotel and showed us a bus we could take instead of a cab! Yay!!
Sunday morning we had to check out by 10am, which we managed no problem. Catching the bus, however, was a different story. We got to the bus stop and checked the times, and apparently we had planned it just right! A bus should be there in 2 minutes! Well it came alright, and it blew right passed us, I don't even think the guy tapped his breaks. We were SO CONFUSED, but apparently you have to hail the buses like you would cab, otherwise they think you're just chillin' on the side of the road..at the bus stop.. (doesn't really make sense but whatever haha) So we hiked around the corner and found a different bus stop for a different bus that would take us to the same place. This time I was taking any chances, and I was practically in the road waving my arms to get the driver's attention. After the bus we met up with Catherine and Tom again and had breakfast at this delicious pastry shop, did I mention it was DELICIOUS?? Then we basically spent the day hanging out at their house with a few friends, listening to music, and attempting to learn French, while they practiced their English. Around 2pm we decided we would try to take the earlier train so that we would be home at 5pm instead of 9pm.
This is where NIGHTMARE 3 occurred. (Since the lady in Bonn told me to take a train different from my ticket, I had assumed that as long as it was still the same train type going to the same destination, that this would be okay to do. WRONG.) Our original train wasn't supposed to leave until 18:37, but we took one at 14:37 in hopes of arriving home early. Well of course they ask for our tickets on the train, and the guy looked at mine and proceeded to tell me that this ticket was no good, for the train from Verviers to Leige, and after debating with him for 10 min (since that was what the internet gave me for a ride from Verviers to Bonn) he decided it was ok since we were getting off at the next stop anyways. Then in Leige, we decided we better check and make sure our ticket will work for the early train... WRONG WRONG WRONG. The lady informed us that we were "obliged to take the later train according to our tickets." What the heck?! TOTAL miscalculation, and we were now going to spend FOUR HOURS waiting in the Leige train station. So we did what any logical American would, we went out to find somewhere to eat. We found a Doner/Durum shop accross the street, and it was really good! But that only wasted 1.5hrs.... so we went back and found a coffee shop in the train station, bought some hot cocoa, and posted up in there for the next 2.25 hours. (Thankfully I'd brought study material!) Finally the four hours passed and our train arrived that would take us from Liege to Köln. For whatever reason, about halfway through the trip, they decided that we needed to switch trains (this was NOT planned) and I swear we were parked on the tracks for 30min, then the train had to go backwards to the previous station for us to trade trains. (Thankfully we met a guy who had been living in Canada and he could explain the situation to us!) FINALLY we got back to Köln!!! We looked up the next train time to Bonn, and then ran over to that station with 5min to spare...after the train was officially going on 10minutes late (and the lack of people waiting for it) we decided this train was not coming and that we would have to wait AGAIN for the next one in 20 min. So I hit up the Netto for some Diet Coke and a sandwich. #winning so yummy! The second train arrived on time (but of course it was the one that stopped at EVERY possible stop on the way to Bonn.) And we finally got home at a little passed 10pm. (Over an hour after we were originally going to be home, and 6 hours after when we were trying to get home by.) We got off and saw our bus waiting, so we took off sprinting for it. The bus closed its doors and rolled about a foot forward before stopping and opening its doors for us. FINALLY we caught a break!
So minus the INSANE train adventures, Belgium was a blast! I made some really good friends, and definitely enjoyed getting to see what other cultures our age do, eat, and listen to. They were very different (ie: greetings) but also very similar at the same time (ie: music.) I told them they are always welcome to Germany, so perhaps in the future I will see them again! But until then, au revoir!
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