It’s a nice modern train whose air-conditioning
is blowing warm air. We grabbed an empty compartment, only to find it was
reserved. So found some empty seats with a non-communicative French woman, a
French girl who spoke English well, a Filipino guy who spoke decent English, a Chinese guy who spoke lousy English, and a pretty good but tendency to go into a Southern
drawl English-speaking Kathy. Turns out the Filipino, Ricky, is going to stay
in Brussels the next day, and the Chinese guy, Sing, was on the wrong train and
thus had to stay in Brussels for the night. Ricky and Sing amused everyone with
their confusing English conversations. Upon arrival in Brussels, the four of us
somehow got thrown together, especially since Sing was anxious for
companionship. First we wanted to change our money. We got in line and the
money changer turned off his light just before we got to the window. But he kept
changing money and I changed some of my plentiful lire. Then we looked for the
baggage lockers and with the help of a couple English-speaking fellows, we
found where to buy the tokens for the lockers. Our particular locker readily
accepted the tokens, but was reluctant to give us the key. We had to enlist the
aid of the baggage check man. Nearly everyone here speaks enough English. In
France they let Kathy speak her French without insulting her or insisting she
speak English; we didn't run into any French language snobs we had heard about.
Anyway, after straightening out the locker situation, we went in search of
restrooms. Apparently only one set of men’s urinals were open. Asked one of the
ticket checkers about open facilities for women, and he was great enough to
leave his post to open up a restroom for us. Finally the four of us set out for
a carnival we first noticed when coming in on the train. Had an exciting night.
Rode several rides: the Octopus, bumper cars, a Ferris wheel, where we must
have viewed all of Belgium, and a merry-go-round. We “lost” Ricky after the
first ride where he seemed to be shaken up. Also witnessed a Brussels brawl and
tasted soft ice cream again.
Saturday, August 4, 1979
Things started closing up at 2:00,
so we returned to the train station which had also closed up! We had to kill
time until it opened at 3:00. We went to a nearby bar for beer and tea,
depending on preferences, and watched bumper pool. At 3:00 we went to the
station to sack out a while. A couple hours later we woke up one by one. Sing
left to take his train to Liege, but returned. He left to take his train
several times, once even with Kathy, but always returned because he was too
early or was given several times of departure. Before he finally left for good,
he took a photo of the rest of us. We were kicked off the baggage claim
counters as they opened up, so we sat in the main lobby where some official
later kicked us in the toes to wake us up. It was probably 8:00 when we decided to
set out to see Brussels. It was a bit foggy and cool. Ricky accompanied us.
First we took the Metro (articulated and regular streetcars on special roadbeds
with some sections underground) to the Basilica, a massive structure where we
explored inside. There I discovered my camera wouldn't take photos. I rewound
the film and it skipped, then felt like it was ready to open. When I did open
the camera, I exposed film that was still there. I probably ruined the Paris
photos and I didn't even finish the roll. I was somewhat upset not having a
functional camera. We Metro’ed to the canal which wasn't very spectacular. We
returned to the station and took the next train to Den Haag/The Hague. Once
there we lost Ricky, but didn't really bother to try to find him.
We found the L family's address, but no
one answered the door or the telephone. Set out to explore The Hague a little. Found the tourist office and
the shopping district with pedestrian-only areas. We decided to go ahead and
check our bags at the station and window-shop some more. We found a McDonald’s
for lunch and ate at a nearby park with a fountain across from government
buildings. We bought the Europe on $10 a
Day book and tried calling the Ls again. No answer. Off the cuff, we
decided to go north. Took a train to the North Station and found that a train left
for Copenhagen at 21:15. We explored the attached shopping mall where a Wimpies
and a McDonald’s were closed. We ran down the up escalator and Kathy danced in
front of mirrors that made her look really skinny. We had a roast beef sandwich
at the station restaurant, then boarded our train. Had to sit in the aisle
until seats were offered. Mostly slept. Oh, yes, at the station we bought a few
magazines and felt like schoolgirls in doing so.
Next: Copenhagen.
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