out and about: Day 30: Brussels

The Atomium

We awoke this morning to a wonderful breakfast and then set off for Leuven and Brussels (all of these cities, by the way, are in the Flemish part of Belgium). Caroline and Glenn (her boyfriend who also visited with us yesterday! He was really nice) had a photography class but Christophe joined us for a tour through Leuven, where he goes to school, and then Brussels where we would catch our flight that night. I think I said our last flight was coming back from Athens but we had a change of plans so now our next flight will be US bound (although mine stops in Iceland...). Anyways, we took a stroll through Leuven which is a really nice town! I don't know if it's incredibly touristy or anything but it certainly seems like a great town to live in or even to visit if you have friends or are studying abroad. We peeked inside the university library and the town hall (I think) before continuing on to Brussels. Brussels of course had plenty of chocolate and waffel places as well as a handfull of stores with a great variety of beers--most of which I had never even heard of. We started out at the atomium but the line was unfortunately too long for the time we had to spend so we moved on to see a few other sights (see photos below) and have some fries and a belgian waffel hah. They were good. I'll be honest, I regret not having written the Belgium posts sooner because I feel like I can't write as much about the things we saw but we definitely had a great time in Belgium and I would certainly return there again.

Mark, Hilde, and Christophe dropped us off at the airport in the evening where we worked on our essays (nearly finished!) by our gate. The ride to London was nice and short. We grabbed our checked bags, headed for the tube and got off at Leicester Square. Unfortunately, the Victoria and Northern lines were closed by the time we made it to Green Park and Leicester Square (thank God we at least made the Piccadilly line!) so we got off and walked back--it was only about a mile. All the shops were closed, the bars were closed, the streets were pretty empty... you might have thought it was 4am almost anywhere else in Europe but it was only 12:30am. Oh London, I missed you! :) (The pubs close around 11pm usually). I stepped into Ramsay to find a study room of architects chipping away at some projects probably due the next day. The familiar, unusual, almost unpleasant scent of the hallways had never smelled so good. I climbed two flights of stairs, put my key in the door and was homeeeeeeee!!!! Well, you know, London home. My room was just the way I had left it: bed perfectly made, a bottle of water awaiting my return, desk clean, trash empty, laundry bin... okay well that still had some dirty laundry in it. Can't have it all I suppose! I threw my bag on my chair just as I had imagined I would four weeks ago, unpacked, showered, and crawled into bed--my warm, soft, cozy bed--for a wonderful night's sleep. It's been a great trip! Thanks for keeping up with me all this time.

And in case you were wondering, I finished my essay the next day and handed it in with three hours to spare. :) Also, I'll still be posting about other things we see and do in the UK. Check back soon!