I have a working hypothesis that the founders of European discount brands are all fans of the Cyprus National Soccer team or they are working some color-theory/feng shui blue-plus-yellow-equals-green. This theory is supported by such notable discount brands as Ikea, RyanAir, and Lidl.

This theory began to take shape during our flight from Dublin to Brussles, Belguim. After studying the business model of RyanAir in great detail during my journey through business school I was pretty darn excited to be strapped into my molded plastic and pleather seat. With a flight time of only one hour and twenty minutes we were across the English Channel and in the land of beer, lace, and chocolate.

As we filed off the plane Brad and I quickly realized that the old saying "when you make assumptions, you wind up at the wrong airport aproximately 40 Kilometers outside of the city you are trying to go to" is a saying not to be ignored. We had both assumed that there was a single international airport servicing the great city of Brussels; turns out it is so great that they need two airports to service all the peeps wanting to frolick in this fair city.

Having learned our lesson, we hoped on a shuttle bus that took us to the North train station in the city. Our hostel was located in the heart of downtown, so a short train ride to the central station was all that stood between us and getting our exploration on. What should have taken us ten minutes turned into an hour long excursion of deciphering signs written in French and Flemmish, neither of which we speak/read/understand. This delay put us behind schedule so that when we finally arrived at the hostel to check in we had missed the early check-in.

With 35 pound packs strapped to our backs, 3 hours until we could check in, and an unseasonably warm spell, we had a recipe for disaster. Fortunately we are not too proud to set up on the sidewalk, grab some pizza, and have ourselfs a little hobo-picnic. Sweaty, dirty, but happily satiated, we waited until another hosteler headed out and snuck in before the door could lock behind him. Once inside the helpful staff let us lock up our packs in the luggage room. With full bellies and a lightened load we were off to explore until we could properly check in to our room...