Saturday, August 4, 1979

1979 Brussels (8/3-4/1979)

Friday, August 3, 1979 continued
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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