Brussels, Belgium part Deux

Setting out from the hostel we headed in the direction of the Grand Place. We wound our way through the narrow streets towards the stone spire that peeked out above the rest of the downtown skyline. As we stepped out onto the plaza, I was struck with a swell of emotion. With Brad's hand planted firmly around mine, I couldn't help but reminisce that the last time my feet tread across this uneven cobbleston holding the hand of a man that I loved I was eleven years old and the hand I held was my father's. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss him, but I was comforted by the fond memories I had of the time our family spent vacationing here.

After our stroll through the Grand Place and my stroll down memory lane the time had arrived to check into our Hostel. Turns out that our hostel expierence would also be remincent of middle school, but in a very different way. Accomodations in Brussels were scarce and expensive; our solution was to stay in the dorm style rooms. The last time I slept in a bunk bed in a room full of strangers might have been summer camp. We opted for a mixed dorm so that Brad and I would at least be in the same room (we shared a bunk bed), turns out the first night our "mixed dorm" was actually me and 6 dudes. C'est la vie.

This trip has been filled with many lessons, but after our day of opps-a-dillies, I was reminded of the power of a good shower. Clean and much more prepared to take in the city we were off to find sustinence. I was set on one of the resturaunts that offered outdoor seating on the Grand Plaza. Brad was happy to oblige and on the advice of the dinners next to us we thoroughly enjoyed a meal of Mussels. Yep, we ate mussles in Brussles. We passed on dessert at the resturant and instead accepted the mission of finding a Belgian waffle from a street vendor. This proved to be easy as there are at least two waffle stands on every block surrounding the Grand Place.

We returned to our hostel where I suprised the heck out of our Malaysian bunk mates (I don't think they were aware they were staying in a "mixed room") and crashed. So far Brussels has been everything I remember and much, much more.