Greetings from Brussels :).We almost got delayed at Dulles because Diep's boarding pass jammed up the reader as we were getting ready to board. Now, what a way to start the trip! They made her step aside while they were trying to fix the machine, with all the passengers (aka Julie) behind getting upset.
Since Julee was the tallest of the two (grin), she sat on the aisle seat to help out with getting the bags in the overhead bin. Lo and behold, Diep's bag weighed a ton (thank you DIT for chosing IBMs), so it took a while to get Julee to put the bag in the overhead bin. Finally, the exhausted Julee managed to put the bag away, when she heard a small voice next to her: "Julee, I forgot something important in my bag....". Julee almost sent Diep in the overhead bin WITH the bag!
We settled in our seats, and we rested really well... until Julee almost drowned the whole plane!
Since we had prime seats, we had a good view of the bathrooms. Julee had observed that the average person using the facilities would take an enormous amount of time in the bathroom. Puzzled, but not mentioning anything, went to the bathroom... and disappeared for ever! When she came back, she had this horrified look, and thought that she was going to drown the whole plane ; she couldn't figure out how to use the faucet!!! (BTW, there is another Julee drowning story coming up pretty soon).
After all the bathroom excitement, nothing eventful happened.
We finally arrived in Paris, went through immigration and customs without a hitch. From the airport, we made our way to the station, waiting patiently for the train to Bxl. While waiting, we were interrogated suspiciously by two station attendants, to find out that we were standing (for hours, by ourselves) on the wrong side of the platform. Oops, mistakes happen :).
The room in the hotel in Brussels is "charming" (as Julee puts it). However, we can't open the suitcases and the bathroom door at the same time. Oh well, who needs the bathroom :D?
Julee, after taking a shower, just sheepishly said to Diep: " I hope you don't need to use the bathroom...". She tried to explain that European bathrooms are just not what she is used to. She didn't realize that she had to hold on to the showerhead BEFORE turning the water on. So she evenly sprayed the WHOLE bathroom with lots of water (she claims it was an honest mistake). In addition, when she was done, she couldn't figure out how to drain the bathtub, and almost drowned in there! Diep walked in the bathroom after her adventure, and Julee wasn't kidding: "there was water all over the floor!".
During our visit of Brussels, we stopped by a few places: Grand Place, Manneken Pis (Julee looked really embarassed to take a picture by "Da" man), Royal Palace, Petit Sablon, St Gudule's Church, Palais de Justice, City Hall, Town halls, Bourse... . We of course did a lot of window shopping. Julee fell in love with Belgian lace, but was undecisive about which lace piece to get, and after an hour of debate (while in the same store), she decided that she didn't need any! Poor vendor... !
Also, here is a picture of Julee, who wished to remain a red speck, so no close-up of her.
Well, that's all for now... it seems that another logging will be done shortly!
Stay tuned
Diep
