My last full day in the Belgian capital

Four days in Brussels was probably too much time. Had I not gone to Ghent and Bruges, and just spent the entire four days here I'd have been very bored. Don't get me wrong, Brussels is a nice place and I'm happy I got to see it but two days would have been enough.



Yesterday I slept late, until about 10:30. Now that would not be late at home, but ever since I got off the plane I've been getting up early and heading out almost immediately. I had no plans yesterday, and nothing really to do. After hanging around the hostel for a bit I went out in the city and decided to hit some of the major landmarks that I hadn't yet. These included the European Parliament, the Belgian Parliament, and the Congress pole(that can't be what it is actually called). These were all a serious walk from my hostel, and it just happened to be cold, raning, and windy today. I must be crazy. The European parliament was so underwhelming I didn't even take a picture, and I couldn't get in. The rest of what I saw was cool in it's own right, very reminiscent of images in my head of 18th century Europe.

The day wasn't so great, but last night was a different story. I met some cool Americans who invited me to out with them. A bunch of us met in the common room of the hostel and went to Celtica and the Delirium Cafe, both really cool bars. It was a virtual meeting of the Anglosphere(if such a thing exists). Americans, Canadians, Irish, Australian, and a Croatian thrown in for good measure. The mood was great, I laughed pretty much the whole time. Most fun was the hating on our neighbors; the Australian laughed at the idea of anyone wanting to New Zealand, the Irish spent the whole night trashing the English, and we took shots at the Canadians with them coming back at us after each one. I also impressed the Canadians and Australian by being able to name all of the states, provinces, and territories of their countries. I became the breaker of American stereotypes, a role I happily play.