Hi gawr, I love your respect for churches and synagogues. And giving your teddy bear to that little girl, precious!

And the left shoe story, hysterical!

Your trip report is a jewel..I am enjoying it so much. More please!!

hey gaw, you are too funny- I'm laughing aloud over here. Keep it up.

This SO takes me back to 1973...my first solo to Holland, Belgium, Germany and the UK. Gawr, I hope you keep your journal from this through all the years...I am now (comparably) ancient and have had the good fortune to travel to 21 countries and live in 4 and the record/ tickets stubs/menus/photos of my first big solo trip still means a great deal.

Your attitude reminds me so much of the initial bewilderment that I felt while traveling for the first time. It is amazing that you can go on auto-pilot in a totally foreign place and still find your way. Keep writing!

Today I was taking the Eurostar train to London around 14:30. Since I didn’t stay in Brussels I wanted to at least walk around the city for a few hours. So I took an early train back to Brussels. I didn’t have a map, so I just followed those brown signs that point you in the right direction. I wanted to find the Grand Palace which I heard was pretty cool. After walking around for twenty minutes I sucked it up and asked a few teenagers who were walking in front of me. When I asked them they looked at each other, like they were all confused and then they all started laughing at me and kept walking. I didn’t think it was very funny, because I knew they understood me. I kept walking and found a sign which brought me right to it. After taking a few pics, I was hungry and went looking for a waffle house. I ordered two waffles and a beer with the money I got back from my key deposit at the hostel. Now, you have to imagine by backpack being 40 pounds with a sleeping bag sticking out the back. Lets just say it’s huge! Anyway When I was trying to maneuver around the crowded stop my bag pack knocked a man’s plate off the table and his waffles went flying and crashed on to the floor. He had order almost the same thing as I did so I told him I was sorry and I gave him my waffles. He didn’t want them, but I insisted he have them. He said thank you and I left the stop with everyone watching me. Because it pretty hard not to notice a bag bigger then most small children. So once again all I had for breakfast was the beer I had bought. Right then I knew bring a sleeping bag was a bad idea. Those of you, who are reading this and are thinking about bringing a sleeping bag, Don’t! It’s nothing but trouble. I went back to the central station so I knew where I was in the city. I walked the other way this time since I still had over two hours before I could check in. I say a huge arch in the middle of the street with some statues on top. So I started to walk over that way. To my surprise I had been walking for over twenty minutes and I wasn’t even close to. It was a lot farther then I had originally thought. But I had walked this far already, I might as well keep going. Finally I made it and took a few pictures. It defiantly wasn’t worth it but at least I got so see the UN building from a distance. Dripping of sweat and my back aching from this heavy back I made it back to the station and relaxed for half an hour. I was a little nervous going through the Chunnel. I didn’t like the idea of going under the English Channel, what if something would happen? It’s the feeling I get in my stomach when the plane is about to take off or when it lands. You have no control over the situation. The Eurostar train was very comfortable and easy to use. I might some people on the train and my fears went away when coming out the other end.

Good call on giving the waffles to that guy. That sort of hospitality is actually very American, and Europeans tend to be surprised by it (at least in my experience).

I am loving this report!

Poor boy, did you eat anything on this trip or was it beer for every meal?

Great report!
Linda

Oh again gawr, you show what a gentleman you are!! I too hope you got something to eat somewhere, young men always seem to be hungry.

Maybe you can sell your sleeping bag to a fellow traveler so you can afford more waffles? Just teasing... great trip report btw!!!

So are you going to England next? Keep up the great reports...it is so interesting to get the birds-eye view of youth on this Forum...we need more folks like you!

I love the report! And gawr0008, the beer for which you had to give your shoe is called a 'Kwak'.

gawr,

Enjoying your report very much.

I can't believe it... it sounds like you didn't find the most famous beer place in Brussels - Mort Subite, which offers over 300 different kinds of beer.

Enjoying your report a lot... it brings back memories of all the tourists we used to talk to in the Grand Place when I lived in Brussels (our class always hung out at the Roi d'Espagne in the Grand Place and at a reunion a few years back, two waiters there even remembered us, we were so bad)

Patricia

I was a student in 1972, so I have to laugh!
Okay, now, I'm seriously NOT picking on you, but how can you be in college and not know how to spell it, LOL!
CollAge student is one who is studying a type of art form, I suppose. Practice now, collEge. Glad you had fun ;-)

gawr,

I think your trip will do much to overcome the "Ugly American" stereotype.

Keep having fun, and being so nice!

Byrd

That was absolutely the right call to give the man your waffles but I feel so sorry for you, being hungry all the time!
I backpacked in 2002 and remember how heavy those packs can get - ugh!

~Jill

gawr0008 - I am enjoying your travel report. I am in the office, so reading your 'shoe' experience had my laughing so loud people stepped into my office to see what I was laughing about. Thanks for sharing your experience with us! As for food - some people say that there is a sandwich in every bottle/glass of beer! :) Have a safe and wonderful time! - bri.

topping and anxiously waiting for gawr to continue his great report!

Thank you for correcting my simple mistake. I’m sorry it’s CollEge. Sorry everyone those reading this report. By the way if you’re my official spell checker you have missed a few spelling errors. For example my last installment I said “I might some people on the train. It should be “I met some people on the train.”

When reaching Waterloo Station, I got off the Eurostar and followed everyone who was on the train to some unknown destination. I have never been in England, so obviously I’ve never been on the underground. Since my hostel was a few blocks away from Victoria Station. My hostel gave me directions, so I knew what train to take to Victoria station. My first train I got on from Waterloo Station went to a few stations and then a loud speaker said it was the last stop. Everyone on the train got off and started to run. Of course I followed and ran with everyone to the next train around the corner. I stopped right in front of the door, because I wasn’t sure if it was the right train. I saw a women looking at me who I was standing next to me on the other train we just got off. I shrugged my shoulders and jumped on the train not knowing where I was headed. I looked at her again and she was smiling at me because she knew I wasn’t sure if I should have got on the train. The train ended up being right and of got off at Victoria Station. I completely forgot about how they drove on the other side of the street and I stepped out into the street. A huge red tour bus came zipping by and almost took me out. From them on I tried to be more careful when crossing the street. Even thought the streets have arrows and signs telling you to look left or right, I could never seem to get the hang of it. To me it seemed harder crossing the street in London then Amsterdam. If you have been in Amsterdam you know what I’m talking about. When reaching my hostel I changed clothes and hit the city. It was about 18:00 and I wanted something to eat. So I headed out looking for some food. I forgot to mention that I took out 2 hundred pounds when I got to Waterloo Station, hopping that it would last me at least a few days. I found a pub that said it had food. I went in and go a beer. I didn’t know that all the beer in England was served at room temp. After one drink I ordered another one and asked to see a menu. The bartender gave me another London Pride and said that they didn’t serve food. I didn’t say anything but the sign in front says that you do. It turned out alright, because I met an Australian who was about 65 years old. We talked about politics and the Australian’s involvement in the Vietnam War, which I didn’t know. I left that pub and continued my search for food. I started walking down Victoria Street towards the House of Parliament and Westminster Abby. I got side tracked and my main objective turned to see these two attritions. I took a several pictures and headed home. On the way home I decided that I didn’t want to head back so soon, because, well I’m in England. I wanted to find a pub and about a block down I saw some lights outside that looked like a pub. My assumptions were right by all the loud noise and people standing outside. I walked in and ordered a beer called the Witches Brew. I just saw the 4th Harry Potter movies and thought it was funny, so I order them all night. I also saw that they had food so I order lasagna that was homemade. I met a gentleman who was from South African who played rugby and since I also played, we had an informative conversation about the differences between our two countries rules on rugby. Of course on my way back to my hostel I saw the famous American Golden Arches. I stopped in and got a Big Mac. I didn’t remember eating it, but I found a receipt in my pocket the next morning that explained why I had ketchup stains on my shirt.