We had our first weekend excursion in Brussels, the wonderful land of waffles, frites, chocolate, and beer. A wise woman once said, “We need to remember what's
important in life: friends, waffles, work. Or waffles, friends,
work. Doesn't matter, but work is third” I had always appreciated this sentiment before visiting
Brussels, but now I realize just how right Leslie was. Waffles may just be my
new favorite food. Also, I think if Leslie Knope had ever tried Trappist beer
she would have made work 4th. The waffles were amazing, the company
just as good, and the Trappist beer was incredible.
We started out the weekend
in Cologne on Friday. We did a walking tour of the city, which ended in the
cathedral. Then we got to go on a tour of the roof of the Cathedral. It was an
amazing experience with breathtaking views and the sun setting while we were on
the bell tower. At the end of the tour our guide asked if instead of taking the
elevators did we want to take the stairs. I inadvertently answered for the
group and we ended up taking the 500 step spiral staircase back to the ground. Jack
if you’re reading this, again I am so sorry and I still owe you a beer. 20
seconds into the walk down and all I can hear is Jack cursing behind me, he is terrified
of heights and was looking forward to the elevator ride down.
We arrived in Brussels late
Friday night and being the broke, college students we are, opted to walk to our
Airbnb halfway across town. While trying to navigate our way, we got approached
in the train station by two guys who asked if we had drugs and then asked us if
we wanted to buy drugs, we declined. After
our night tour of the city, we finally made it to the Airbnb. Pro tip: When
fitting 9 people into a 6 person Airbnb always check the box-springs, if you’re
lucky they might be just as comfortable as the mattresses and definitely more
comfortable than the floor. It also helps to be a thrifty, slightly desperate, broke
college student.
Saturday we took a walking
tour around the city. We saw the house that Karl Marx lived in until he was
exiled and possibly coined the term “after party” in. We rubbed the statue of the hero Everard t'Serclaes, which will supposedly
bring good luck to men and Brussels men for the women. In the end, I didn’t
run into any tall, handsome men from Brussels and the men definitely get the
better deal anyway. We also saw the
famous Manneken Pis, who according to legend either helped win a war by peeing
on the opposing army’s soldiers or saved the city by peeing on the fuse of some
explosives during a siege. Our tour guide was amazing, if you go to Brussels
find Quentin, he’s hilarious and kept us entertained even in the miserable rain.
He told us all the best restaurants and bars to visit, and took us to his
friend’s beer shop (which had the aforementioned Trappist beer). During a break
in the tour, we got the chance to try the hot chocolate, and let me tell you
Nestle ain’t got nothing on Brussel’s hot chocolate. It was hands down the best
hot chocolate I have ever had. Even though it was raining, the city and
architecture was beautiful and the sun did end up coming out on Sunday!
Back in Bonn I did manage to
find a climbing group! WHOOP! Can’t wait for the weather to warm up and hit
some crags with them on the weekends. In the meantime, indoor climbing for now.
Next gym on the list to hit is Arena Vertikal for some top rope.
And in case you were
wondering the score is now Kate:1 Bonn:1.5. I ended up taking the train in the
wrong direction on our way in from Brussels. Since it was a Sunday the trains
and buses only run every 30 minutes. I waited 30 minutes to get back on the
train going in the other direction back to central station, and another 30
minutes until my normal bus came. I got back to my host families house a cool
hour and a half after getting into Bonn. Then on Tuesday night, because of bus
delays it took me 2 hours to get home from the AIB, but I made friends with the
sweetest old man when I finally got on my bus. He didn’t speak English and kept
trying to give me his seat. We bonded over the shitty bus schedule and a lady
helped translate for us, so I’m only counting that as a half loss.
Stay tuned for more
misadventures,
Tschüss!
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