Okay, a whirlwind of things is about to hit you, please prepare yourself accordingly.
DAY 1: Thursday, after two very very veryyyy long classes (as I was super excited about leaving for Belgium) Jessy, Stephen, Lindsay, and I grabbed a taxi, got on a plane, and flew to Brussels. The flight there wasn't too exciting as flying is starting to become extremely normal for me. (I know I know, #studyabroadproblems) After landing, and catching a bus from the Charleroi airport to Brussels Central Station, I got in contact with Andrej (our gracious host for the weekend) and after some confusing phone calls, back tracking in the station, and a little bit of waiting we finally found him (ok HE found US, details details). It was interesting because I had no idea what to expect. I hadn't seen Andrej in 17 years... and I barely remembered him at all. I only have proof that we knew each other from word of mouth from my parents and him, and some old photos of a little me and a little him sharing a seat eating cake (obviously proving we were friends). We all hopped in his car and he drove us back to his apartment in Leuven, which is super nice with a beautiful view of a church. I was thinking (when he explained the sleeping accommodations) that we were going to be on top of each other and freezing and what not but nope he had plenty of room for all of us. Being that it was Jessy's 21st birthday I had asked Andrej ahead of time to buy her a chocolate cake (AH i forgot to pay him! Guess I am giving him money when he visits in April...oops) which he did a great job of choosing. Then after looking at the cake, and being that we hadn't eaten in a very long time, he took us to this restaurant in the center of town called Quasimodo. Yeah THE Quasimodo. Anyway, the food was great, he helped us choose which beers we should have as our first in Belgium (because us girls were much less savvy than the boys) and I think I got, hmm... I can't remember... but I promise it was delicious. Wow, I honestly can't believe I can't remember! I guess when I do remember I will add it later. Oh well. Then after that we walked back towards the center and found a bar (a less crowded one) and sat down to have another beer. Oh! And we meet up with Wouter!
It was so exciting to see him again. Especially being that us meeting in the first place was completely random and being in the same random place again... okay hold on. I should explain. Ok, I am American, I am studying in Bologna Italy (not a huge tourist town), he is Dutch, studying in Leuven Belgium (also not a big tourist place) and he was in Bologna for three days visiting a friend studying there and now I was in Leuven visiting a childhood friend who is actually from Croatia... wrap your brain around that one! OH and to top it off, my Croatian friend, Andrej, I haven't seen in 17 years and we met in Connecticut when I was like 3 years old AND we just happen to have an opportunity to meet up while I am in Europe... small world. Okay, now that I have been sidetracked a lot... after the beers in the pub/bar/whatever it was we called it a night and decided to save the cake for the next day.
DAY 2: Friday, we got up around 9:30 so that Andrej could drive us to the train station before he went to work so we could spend the day in Brussels. After taking a train for 5 euro into Brussels Lindsay, Jessy, Stephen, and I explored all the tourist stuff, but not before we got WAFFLES. Literally 10 minutes of being in Brussels we got Haggen Daas (wow butchered that name) waffles with this crystallized sugar all over it. BEST.THING.EVER. No joke. Anyway, we saw all the fancy, beautiful buildings and churches Brussels had to offer, saw the little peeing boy statue (where we bought another, less yummy but still amazing waffle), found a secret getaway garden, took the metro (yet another city metro accounted for!), explored the EU headquarters, took many pictures of cool looking birds, and then decided it was food/beer time! We went to Delirium Cafe (the world renowned alcohol place in Belgium with over 2000 beers) and each got a beer. Then we went to Leone's to get food where I got water and pasta with mussels and shrimp (it's so funny because all the English translations say "shrimps" it makes me chuckle every time :) ). It was delicious! Then we wandered to this indoor mall and bought lots of delicious truffles and chocolates (don't worry mom and dad I bought you some). THEN we headed back towards Delirium to grab another beer before catching a train to go back to Leuven where Andrej picked us up (outside of an American style carnival, bumper cars and all). We headed back to his apartment where some of his friends from Croatia were so we could all hang out. Wouter joined us again, shenanigans ensued, we ate chocolate cake for Jessy's Birthday, went to the Seven Oaks to dance, and returned to Andrej's where everyone else passed out while Andrej and I talked until 7 am. Successful night? I think so.
DAY 3: We woke up around noon so that Andrej could drive us to Bruge to do some casual sight seeing and when they say that Bruge is listed as one of the most romantic hidden places in Europe, you should believe them. It is just such a surreal place. We wandered around the Bshflirslda (yeah still couldn't tell you what the place is called), walked around the main square and clock tower, got yet another waffle and some fries with mayo (SO GOOD), and took a boat tour. The place was adorable. Then from Bruge, Andrej took us to the coast of the North Sea where it was already getting dark and the pier was in the distance. Thank goodness is was low tide because otherwise we would have been restricted to the sand dunes! Oh my gosh, Andrej was like a little kid when he saw the ocean. We legitimately ran to the water, which was freezing, just so we could smell and touch it. I have a video ;)
Okay, time out. Time to explain something. After not seeing Andrej for 17 years and then being reunited was incredible in itself, but literally after an hour of being in the same room I remembered our interactions. The way he teases me and the way I automatically give him lip back. It's hilarious. I love it though. It's so natural and we get along really well. I cannot wait until I see him in Bologna and Croatia and eventually America. AH too much excitement. I seriously felt so comfortable with him, like he was a brother (which I guess I could say he was/is?). It was a sad moment when I left, but we shall get to that later.
Okay back to Saturday. After the coast we headed back to Leuven where we got food and went back to the apartment as we were all so tired and Jessy and Lindsay had to catch a 7:45 am flight the next morning. BUT being the crazy kids we are, Andrej, Stephen, and I stayed up, watched Moulin Rouge, watched some Youtube videos and by the time his internet freaked out it was time to get up and get the girls to the bus station anyway (around 4:30 am). However, after waiting for the 5:10 bus for about 50 minutes we had to call a cab for the girls. Fail. But they made it back safe, the three of us that were left went back and passed out until 2 pm... Oops. I mean we did stay up until 7 again...
DAY 4: Sunday, we got up at 2 pm, walked around Leuven, grabbed sandwiches, sat in a park and ate them while watching scouts play games, two little kids piggy back ride and put a basket over their heads, and headed back to the apartment to change into soccer clothes. We grabbed his soccer ball, and headed to the local soccer fields, all like 11 of them. We had trouble finding space there were so many people there. A. because we brought the best weather since November with us and B. because Belgians understand the awesome that is soccer! So we played around for 2 hours (Andrej isn't too bad :P and Stephen has a lot of potential). Then we walked around the university for a while eventually ending up back at the apartment where we showered and changed before heading to Gent for the night. Gent is one of those places that you walk around, take pictures, and think... "no one is going to believe this exists or that I am here, its so unreal". I loved it. It is like Venice but in Belgium. We got this chicken stew that Andrej loves, which is basically chicken noodle soup on steroids. Delicious! After that we went back to the apartment and due to our late nights all weekend we of course couldn't sleep. So, we each had a beer, played some cards, and finally around 5 passed out.
Day 5: Monday, Andrej had work at 9:30 so he left, I got up around 10 and met up with Wouter for coffee since I didn't get to see him too much the past few days, said goodbye, met up with Stephen again, walked to Andrej's work, got lost, couldn't contact him because he had no money on his phone AND I had no money on mine (fail), then got lunch in his work and got a tour of the place. Oh my gosh, Andrej's job/PhD is so cool. He works in reliability which basically means he breaks stuff and figures out how to fix it. While he took us around it was so cool to see him get so excited about it and explain everything. Although I may not have understood it all, I got the idea. And he was like a little kid in a candy shop! He totally loves what he does :)
Then Stephen and I walked back to Andrej's apartment. packed and cleaned up and met him outside where he drove us to the airport. We said some sad goodbyes but we will be reunited again soon! Oh my goodness I love Belgium. Everything about it. The people. The places. The culture. I am sure I could come to love the language (Dutch/Flemish) as well. I want to go back. I NEED to go back. Who knows? :)
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