To Brussels and Back

Hello All. I have just had the hardest time logging into my account. I forgot my user name and spent about thirty minutes trying to figure it out. But I am here now :D.

A brussel sprout for Brussels

So on Friday I went to Brussels with four friends from my home university. I woke up early for our train. I still wasn't feeling my best but I it didn't side track me because I was going on vacation! We had take a train from Glasgow from Edinburgh. The train apparently broke down but we weren't delayed, so we made it to the station in time. When we made it to Edinburgh it was pouring down rain. Typical Scottish weather. We took a double decker bus to the airport.

The Edinburgh airport looked familiar because my mom and I were just there when we went on our "Royal Tour of the UK". While waiting to board the plane, my friends and I met a nice guy about our age from Toronto. He said he played hockey and knew a guy that just signed for the Dallas Stars. I responded "DO YOU KNOW JAMIE BENN?" (For those of you who don't know, Jamie Benn is on the Dallas Stars and is my future husband if my plans with Matt Niskanen (Pittsburgh Penguins) fall through. It's ok, they don't know they're my future husbands yet either). He said he didn't know Jamie Benn but that is still pretty cool that he knew a draft pick of Dallas' (Sadly, the NHL is on strike. I would tell y'all all about it but it would be an entirely different blog entry. Sufficed to say, I am very emotional about it and would rather not talk about it). Anyway, I told my friends that I was nervous about flying and they were very helpful on the plane, and unlike Annie's experience in Bridesmaid, the plane ride went surprisingly well.

Jamie Benn (just for a visual)

Matty

When we got through customs, we decided to split a cab with Canada guy and a girl from Brussels. We tried to negotiate the price but then they asked us for the address for the hotel and I was lost. I should have looked it up before we went but I didn't. Then, in French,  one of the other cab drivers called us a bunch of whores and told us to take the bus. It was a very harsh welcome but we decided to take the bus to the city center. Instead he dropped us off at South Station. From there, we looked up our hotel on the internet and found the address, and grabbed a cab. I have to add my french was very helpful for the taxi driver, although I did not do so well on the AP exam,  and we made it easily to the hotel.

My friends and I had two rooms at the hotel. Lauren and I stayed in one room and Liz, Jamie, and Katy stayed in another. Because Liz, Jamie, and Katy's room was reserved under my dad's name, they got free breakfast and wifi. However, they were notified about these amenities from a letter addressed to my dad but written to Mr. Pieureu. It was very funny.

The City Center

Delirium!

That night we walked to the city center with a few Finnish people we met on the way there. Ironically, our first meal in Brussels was good ole American fast food. However, they had gourmet "cheesy balls" that were to die for. After dinner we went to this really cool bar called Delirium. I am pretty sure they had over 2,000 beers. We met some guys that were studying abroad from Virginia. It was nice to hang out with people from the states in a very foreign country. At Delirium, I had apple beer and cactus beer.  It was a lot of fun.

Brussels was very scary at night. We were hit on by many grimy guys walking to and from the bar. Also walking away from the bar, we say a guy with a gash in his head getting arrested. Needless to say. I am so glad that we were only on vacation and I can call Scotland my home away from home.

Saturday we did the touristy site seeing things. To give you an image, Brussels is a beautiful city with its old Gothic architecture and cobblestone streets. The speak more French and Dutch than English.

A sample of Brussels architecture

First, we took pictures by the Palace and the giant smurf :D. Then we went to the city center to get some Belgian chocolates. Then we went to the famous statue know as Mannequin Pis. The story of the statue is kind of funny. From what I've heard, it is a statue made by a father looking for his son. He made the statue in the way he saw his son, I guess as a peeing boy. After that, we got Belgian waffles that were so good! Mine had nutella, strawberries, and pistachio ice cream. Lastly, we went to a beautiful gothic Cathedral where a gypsies grandson tried to steal all of our chocolate.

The Palace

Smurfs!

Le Mannequin Pis

Our Belgian Waffles

The Cathedral

Next, we all went back to the hotel to take a nap. Lauren and I fell asleep to ICarly in German. Ironically, Lauren has been an extra in ICarly a couple of times and is very noticeable in one episode. When I woke up, the Big Time Rush concert was playing on German Nickelodeon. It made me think of Leah and Becky, so I watched the concert and their ICarly episode. I miss my sister so much! We don't see each other very much over the school year but we spend ALOT of time together during the summer. I TERRIBLY miss watching Supernatural with her( I am Sam and she is Dean (even though she is younger than me)). We started watching it together because she told me she couldn't watch it alone (It's a scary show). One of the first things I did when I got to Scotland was to see if they have Supernatural on Netflix. Sadly, they do not. We also went to a lot of movies and watched Parks and Rec together. I miss her so much but I figured that if we I watched a One Direction concert, it would fill my Leah void, which it did, although I still miss her.

After our nap, we all tried to navigate the subway so we could meet up with Liz's friend (who ended up being one of my sorority sister's roommates!). We went to a really cool pizza place with her where they cut the pizza the size you wanted and charged you for how much it weighed. Then we got ice cream and headed back to the hotel.

On Sunday we checked out of the hotel and went to the city center to eat some frites (fries). We then made our way to the bus station that took us to the airport. However, we ended up not taking the bus. A nicer cab driver than the first one took us to the airport for the same price as the bus. It was so easy. We got to the airport so early for our flight (four hours to be exact!). I spent the first hour watching New Girl but then  I bought a deck of playing cards and we all played as many card games as we could think of. Honestly, this might have been one of the best parts of the trip. I don't know what it is about card games. They make everyone more relaxed and more themselves. They also make everyone very competitive.

Thankfully, with all the excitement of the card games, we did not miss our flight. Security was kind of hard to go through, seeing as we could only take one bag. We had to rearrange our bags and stuff a lot of things into our jacket pockets but we made it through security (You would thing they would restrict bags based on weight).

The flight back was also very smooth, although the landing was not the best. We were not delayed and we made it back in time. Because we were on the last train to Glasgow from Edinburgh, we had to book it to customs. At customs, with my puppy dog folder with my customs documents I told my friends that I got my visa because of community service. The customs guy laughed and told me that community service is something for people that are being punished. Now I will say volunteering :D.

We made it to the bus and train on time and both were fine. From the train station, we split up and took taxis going to our respective locations. The trip was great but I am glad to be back home in my flat. I have a greater appreciation for the University of Scotland. I'm glad I am where I am.

Back in Scotland, things have been good. I have been just trying to get organized. I met a girl, Mckinley, from Hamilton University that is taking the same three out of four classes I am taking. She is very nice. Speaking of this week, can I just say I hate Vodaphone. Let me just say they are not very user friendly. I miss the United States where I can have unlimited texting and calling on my iphone.

 I can't believe that it's already October! I have been here for a month. I thought that it would be a lot harder than it was. I did miss my family terribly but so far, I have had a great abroad experience with great friends and great memories. I can't wait for the 2 more months I have here! I just don't want it to be over that soon...