Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure

Brussels - Part Deux

Hello all you lovely people,

I warn you now, this is going to be a big posting so make sure you have some coffee or tea or something before reading it becuase a lot of things have happened between the last time we posted and today.

Firstly, the rest of our time in Bruges went well, even with the rain. We met another fellow Canadian from Edmonton and this guy was a HUGE Oilers fan (Hockey, for all you non-Canadians). He had the shirt, the hat, pins, stickers and I'm pretty sure he had some tattoos somewhere which we, thankfully, were spared from seing. The guy, aside from his obsession, seemed very nice and so when we decided to go out to this place called the Lucifernum (a cool bar we had heard about) we thought it would be alright to let him come along.

Every time we leave a hostel to walk to a place I do a double take. Bruges really is amazing with it's preserved buildings and winding streets, so just walking to the Lucifernum gets us in the adventuring mood. It's good that we were in an adventuring mood, because in the windows was an odd assortment of wooden puppets which ranged from 1930s style black servants to to small frail china dolls with cracks running down their faces. It looked like something out of "The Temple of Doom", and since I like to pretend in my head that I'm really Indiana Jones, I decided to check it out. Although there weren't any weird priest people ripping hearts out of other people's chests, the rest of the Bar wasn't any less creepy, with carved heads of classic movie monsters everywhere and the main host dressed up as Dracula. All this was very dark and moody, but what really made us scream in terror were the price of the drinks in this place. Being the starving students that we are, we ordered one drink each, sipped each drop as if it were the last liquid left on this earth and then left peacfully and went back to the hostel to get some sleep.

After taking the train back to Brussels in the morning we went back to the extra cool hostel there, the Van Gogh. Generally, we relaxed most of the day, did some laundry and mentally prepared ourselves for our first night of European clubbing. As evening fell, we decided that we'd head out a little early so that we could check out a jazz festival that was in town, maybe go to a cafe or bar and then we'd hit the club.

Now, I know that our friend, Mr. William Shakespeare taught us the valuable lesson that blaming the gods for our problems is not a reasonable thing to do. At this point, however, I am convinced that if there is a god of rain then he has most likely been reading our postings and is amusing himself by torturing us puny mortals. The moment we walk out of the hostel, and I'm talking about seconds here, it starts to come down, and this time it isn't trickling, it's showering hard. This is when something dawned upon me. You see, I have never felt the need to carry an umbrella. I mean, it's only water, right? So you get a little wet. What's the big deal. Well, apparently I missed the Sesame Street episode when Big Bird explains the very complex and intricate concept that cold and wet = BAAaad. Dry and warm = Good. Maybe it's the rampant stupidity that is embedded in youth, maybe it's the testosterone of the young male (in which case, the stupidity clause still applies) but nontheless, I have now seen the error of my ways. This did not stop me from getting cold and wet on the way to the jazz festival, and let it be known that were it not for Brian's insistance that we tough it out, I most likely would have gone home defeated by our avid reader, Mr. Rain God.

Anyways, getting back on track here, after staying at the jazz festival only long enough to realize that they were in the middle of changing bands, we decided to go to the club. After a short while of walking we arrived, cold and wet (which is Bad) and realized that it would not open for another hour (which is worse). Seeing the poor state we were in and realizing that we were still in the young and stupid phase of life, the owner of the place took pity on us and decided that we could sit inside the main door until the place opened. This made us quite happy, since it would give us a chance to dry off and at the same time gave us the amusement of watching two huge and burly bouncers kiss each other on the cheeck in true Brussels greeting tradition.

Alright people, this is the point where everyone over thirty and not interested in clubs can begin pre-emptively shacking their heads slowly from side to side. The club was amazing. Not only was the DJ spinning extremely good music, but the entire atmosphere of the club was completely different from that of the north american experience. People here were not at the club to impress or intimidate or to fight, they were there for only two reasons, to drink and to dance... okay three reasons to drink to dance and to pick up if possible (things aren't THAT different after all). Overall people were simply more friendly. They let you by if you had to get somewhere, they smiled back at you if you made eye-contact and all in all, they seemed to be there to have a good time. In short, I loved it.

Anyways, it's time to wrap this monstrosity of a posting up. We travelled to Paris today and plan to start seeing the sights tomorrow. On the way I lost both my journal with all its entries thus far and my eurorail pass which was hidden inside. I'm not sure if it was stolen or if I misplaced it, but I have insurance for the pass, so getting a replacement won't be that hard. The journal doesn't bug me that much either, since I've got these postings and since it's only been 6 days. It's a good lesson to learn early on in the trip, though. Maybe it'll sink in a little better than those Sesame Street shows.

Take it easy people and thanks for all your comments,

Markus

P.S. Paris is supposed to be partially cloudy and sunny tomorrow. I beg of you Mr. Rain God, show us some mercy. I know it's fun to pick on the French, but please wait until we're gone...

Posted by Markus at May 25, 2003 08:42 PM