Chocolate, Waffles, and 1926

Brussels was an impromptu decision—the kind that happens after 11:30pm when your brain starts to rationalize what 11:30am you would never agree to. For me and Emily, Brussels proved that with last minute google searches and bus station maps, we can find any point in Europe.  

 

The apartment that we stayed in was a 20 minute bus ride from center city and a 15 minute walk from one of the largest “inner-city” forests in the EU. We found the apartment through Air B&B, a great way to experience local life instead of being separated from it by three or four stars.

It rained most of the time, but we didn’t let that stop us.

The waffles were as good as everyone said! I had my first one with chocolate and my second one plain, like a local. The man who made our waffles was from Turkey, but was Kurdish. He started talking politics almost immediately, and was one of the most openly pro-American people I’ve met. His family and land are constantly under threat from ISIS, and he was happy that America had come to the aid of his people.

 An NBA team that visited his stand was so impressed by his friendly attitude that they are flying him to New York to watch one of their games in January. He was that cool.

Probably my favorite thing that we did in Brussels was find a tiny movie theater with one of the biggest film collections in Europe. Their library was mostly vintage films and b movies. They play about 8 different titles every day, rarely repeating them. We saw the 1926 silent film “The Great K & A Train Robbery.” I sat right behind the pianist. He didn’t have any music and just watched the screen. I was impressed considering this was the only showing of the movie on the theater’s schedule.

Brussels turned out to be an awesome impromptu adventure. It’s nice to live in a place where country hopping is an option for the weekend. Unfortunately, my traveling days are over for the semester, and I’ll be staying in Italy for the next three weeks. Italy itself has a lot to offer though, and I’m off to Venice this weekend!

 

To Put Yourself in the Way of Knowing

If I were to attempt to tell you everything about fall break, I would end up telling you nothing.

We expected to have a great time in Paris, seeing the Louvre, the Eifel Tower, Versailles, and all the other big sights.

We expected to have a blast in Ireland, biking the Dingle peninsula, pub hopping, walking along the Cliffs of Moher (aka the Cliffs of Insanity), and seeing the Book of Kells at Trinity College.

So I’m going to tell you about what we didn’t expect. Here are some small things no one can plan, that are just happened upon, that separate the travelers from the tourists, and ultimately become the favorite parts of a trip.  

Paris:

When we planned our visit to Versailles, we decided to spend all of our time within the walls of the palace, not bothering with paying the extra euros to get into the gardens. However, we quickly opted for the wide open spaces of the gardens. (I’m not sure how many pictures we made it into while touring the palace, but the hordes of Asian tourists probably have a lot of selfies with my poofy hair in the background.)

We made our way through the main avenue of the gardens, but it started raining and we were eventually driven into the grounds of Marie Antoinette in search of shelter. What we found there became one of the highlights of my trip. We wandered through the gardens, looking at her perfect village, farm, and the many pathways that were little more than animal trails through the forest. We ended up spending hours there.

This pig was one of the most entertaining things in Versailles. He entertained us quite a while with his snorts and general piggishness. It shows that college students can still be entertained the same way they were as three-year-olds.

Marie Antoinette's lighthouse and pond. 

Rowing in the largest "pond" in Versailles. We eventually got the hang of rowing. But when our boat narrowly missed a collision with a French family, they were much less enthusiastic than I was as I attempted to congratulate them on remaining dry.  

 I couldn't end my section on Paris without including this video. Our entire trip was incredibly musical, but this was just so unexpected that listening to her became one of my favorite experiences in Paris.

 

Ireland:

We had been told to go pub hopping, but even with this encouragement, I was wary because of the smoky, dirty, sad places that American bars can be. Irish pubs were just the opposite. Welcoming and friendly, those who did come in alone certainly didn’t drink alone. When we flew into Cork, we had planned to get dinner and get to bed early because we were bussing out in the morning. Then we found out there was a jazz festival going on all around us. There couldn’t have been a better introduction to Irish pubs.

We tried to go pub hopping as much as we could all around Ireland. We heard jazz bands with saxophonists that used their solos to flirt better than most American boys ever do. We heard brothers sing together, preforming Irish interpretations of Eminem. We heard an accordion “school” in a pub in Dingle, and sang along to rowdy drinking songs in Dublin.  

We finally found something we liked! Balmers cider hit the spot. (Though we were laughed at by a wonderful old Irishman named Tom when we asked if it could be served hot.)

There is so much more I could say and so many small moments that added up to a wonderful 10 days. You’ll have to ask me in person.