Re-Routed to Belgium

Having completed my thesis, and before I return home, and thinking of giving myself a treat, Katie and I decided to go for a long weekend. We booked our long weekend to Stockholm... 2 weeks ago. The morning of the day we were supposed to fly off, I received a call from Katie "Look Cindy, I know we're always joking and all, but we might not go to Stockholm tonight. A volcano in Iceland erupted and I'm not even joking!" My response was only "Yeah right." "Go check the internet!"

True enough, a volcano did erupt in Iceland the night before and its ashes were blown to UK and most European airspace, causing most airports to shut down and all flights cancelled. We were really disappointed. I was and still am sick of hearing the word volcano and Iceland now - that's all we hear now! My sympathies are with those stuck in airports worldwide. I can only imagine the horror that they are going through. And those with family who has no money to take alternatives ie bus/train or even stay in a hotel. Loon would have turned into Incredible Hulk and jumped home from wherever he is, if he's one of those stranded in the airport.

Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, Katie and I booked a Eurostar weekend to Brussels. It was really last minute but we managed to get a reasonable package. Just 1-2 hours after we've booked our trip, news on TV were saying the Eurostar is sold out as stranded passengers took alternatives.

Grand Place

Once in Brussels, we thought... OK! Stop feeling sorry for ourselves... if that volcano did not erupt, we would have been in Sweden, staying in The Sheraton Stockholm. We were packed for Sweden! Oh nevermind! After reaching Brussels, we reached our hotel, which was not in the centre but near to the train station, which was good. Room was good, but Katie was excited to see the fitness centre until she SAW the fitness centre. Her exact words "It's revolting, Cindy! It's horrendous! It looks like someone will get murdered here!" muahahahahahaha. The hotel is more like a business hotel, everything looks really nice, except the fitness centre.

The first day was quite cold ie 10C. Then the 2nd and 3rd day was heavenly - for Katie. For me, it was nice but a bit too hot - 16-17C. And Katie likes to sit under the sun, which was unusual for me, you seldom see a chinese girl try to tan herself... but I enjoyed just talking to Katie nevertheless.

There's nothing much in Belgium except chocolate and mussels. There are nice buildings but again, I've been overdosed with magnificence so for me, it's more to chocolate and mussels. Turn left, right, front - chocolate shops.

Belgian Waffles just before boat ride

From Godiva, Corne Port Royal... and whatever names, heavenly Belgium chocolate. We tried the waffles in Brugge, it was really that good! Waffles + banana ice cream + chocolate cream = magnifique. And then, I discovered Beer. Something I hated all these while. Normal beer = bitter, nothing nice or tasty. I tried the Belgian St Louis Raspberry Beer, it was surprisingly good. We thought since we're here, why not. And then, we each drank a glass of beer EVERDAY whilst sitting in a cafe under the sun ie Katie's favourite past-time. I even bought back 2 bottles of the same beer! haha.

Her fav Cherry beer. Mine is raspberry beer.

The mussels were good but after 1 dinner of mussels, you won't want to eat mussels for the next 1 year. It was just too much!

We spent our 2nd day in Brugge, 1 hour train ride from Brussels. €14 return. Brugge is something like Venice. You'll see a long canal in the middle as well. It's nice with little shops and music and nice coffee etc.

In Brugges

1 thing I liked about Brussels and Brugge, was the cute cafes and restaurants. No matter how busy they are, you can just sit there and relax and talk without feeling rushed. And their toilets are clean. I've been to quite a few cities where their toilets were unacceptable. Maybe I've just been to a few, but the 5 toilets I visited were clean.

Oh, the Belgian language is a mix of German+French. Thank you is Dank U, it's TQ in German as well. And they say Bonjour when they see you, so it's French. Katie only taught me Merci Beaucoup.

Anyway, this trip was truly relaxing and we just talked and laughed a lot and did stupid things together.

It was really fun for me and I had a really good time. Now I just hope mum's flight will be OK. Whatever it is, if it's meant to be, then be it. No point feeling angry and all. World events seem to be revolving around me ie collapse of investment banks, coldest winter ever and now... volcano eruption stalling european air traffic. I really hope I won't see the apocalypse in my lifetime.