Lesson learned, I will never book a flight for 7:25 ever again (especially when I don’t realize that the airport is at best a 45 minute trip on the train to reach). We were fortunately near the central train station and Lufthansa runs a bus service to/from the airport every 20 minutes, starting at 5:10. We hopped on that lovely 5:10 one. 

THE LUFTHANSA BUS WENT ON AN AUTOBAHN. Most of the way there was a 100/120 speed limit, but every now and then (usually when there were no exits coming up) there was no speed limit. Still, I think buses have stickers on the back of them that say they don’t go faster than 80-100. Ours seemed to be quite speedy, though.

This was after getting 4h of sleep, at most, at the hostel. Two Australian girls arrived at midnight or so and there was some confusion because our room seemed overbooked. Luckily, it wasn’t — still — it meant going to bed at midnight and getting up at 4am. Aha. Fun stuff. 

Flight to Brussels wasn’t that bad. Descending still messes with my ears, but that passes not long after landing. 

The hostel we’re staying at is very modern, clean, nice. Has free wifi — i’ve got 5 bars of strength this time — though the wifi station is on the other side of the wall behind me, so that makes sense. We’re in a 16bed dorm, though — which I would not do again, given the choice. People are constantly coming and going (ESPECIALLY BETWEEN 7:00am-10:00am), people go to bed early so lights are out fast. Kind of lame, but there is a common area near the main foyer. 

SO. Brussels. Not so impressed with Brussels at the moment. It’s got an interesting blend of modern, old, and derelict architecture that doesn’t quite jive with me. Has some very interesting looking streets though. For instance, there is this one narrow street in particular covered in restaurants on both sides. Tables on both sides, waiters or something at each restaurant trying to get you into their restaurant. Very different/hectic/crazy.

There also appears to be a pretty apparent income gap. Brussels definitely seems to have rougher parts of town, far more homeless people than the only other places I have been: London/Munich. Interestingly, I feel like there are more homeless people in Ottawa than here. Haha, but unlike Munich I haven’t seen any homeless people bathing in fountains (yet). 

It’s Sunday and apparently everything in Brussels is closed. We’ll find out later when we head out, but yeah — this might not be an exciting day. Especially since it’s raining, too. Agh!!