march 27th:
somehow we escaped pain the morning after the wedding... but since it was a holiday (Happy Easter!), we knew everything would be closed in antwerp (heck, everywhere in europe), therefore we had little motivation to get up early and do anything of use.

check out was at 11 am, so we woke, packed, and had some breakfast before heading out the door and onto our next adventure... brussels!

we got to the train station and bought tickets for the somewhat quick journey. i spent the entire time sleeping, while conor wrote and watched our stuff.

once we arrived, our hotel was about 1/2 mile away from the hotel, so we decided to walk... which in retrospect wasn't a good idea because the weather sucked and we were so tired. but oh well - we made it and checked in... word to the wise: always bring reservation confirmation numbers with you when you travel. without ours that day, we might have ended up on the streets. something happened with our reservation and it never made it into their computers. but it all worked out and soon we were happily nesting in our new home...

our room was funny - spacious and fancy at first glance, but definitely tired, old, and deteriorating upon closer inspection. not that we cared - we had tons of space! it was a nice change from our accommodations in antwerp (which were cozy, to say the least), and would turn out to be the best hotel during our entire trip.

once in brussels, we were hit with our first wave of french. i'd been doing fine in in antwerp & brugge with the flemish -- thanks to the meager amount of german that i learned in high school. french, however, was a whole new ball game. i didn't even know how to say please. as conor explained, when someone spoke to me in french, i would just stare back like a deer in a headlight. it took me about three days to get over my incapacity to respond.

for dinner that night, we stumbled across a fondue restaurant that was yummy. it had pictures of gruyere, switzerland on the wall (for those who may not know, i absolutely LOVE gruyere cheese), these tangy little pickles as part of our appetizers, and lots of yummy beers... needless to say i was fit to be tied. cheese & beer for dinner? count me in!

march 28:

this was our whirlwind one-day tour of brussels. the night before, i mapped out a walk that would take us around the entire historical part of town & then some... we saw lots of great sites and learned all sorts of fun things about the history of brussels. needless to say, we had some tired feet by the end! be sure to check out the quick movie of the manekin pis. hilarious only in the sheer ridiculousness that it has become a huge tourist trap.

we got back to the hotel in the late afternoon, and somehow squeezed in a quick workout at the hotel gym -- i don't think we put in more than 30 minutes between the two of us -- but it was good to move around, sweat a little, and work off the cheese that was still sitting in our bellies from the night before. particularly since we had another feast awaiting us!

for dinner, conor booked reservations at a restaurant called 'the belga queen'. the food was good - the service was terrible. the ambiance was unique - trendy and almost gaudy, but not quite, so it ended up being a cool concept. in particular, the bar was super cool - we loved the cold blues and the clean look of its silhouettes. the rest was built in an old train station, which is awesome, except that they made it a bit to 'chic' and so ended up being too large and noisy for our tastes.

if you want details on food, you'll have to ask conor. i'm terrible at remembering what i ate and what was in it...

march 29:

yay! excitement was mounting this morning as we packed up our room and got ready for our train ride to paris! we left our bags at the concierge so that we could dash into town and get some belgian waffles (gotta eat them before we leave belgium!) and to grab another box of chocolates for the road... needless to say, it was a sugar-loaded morning. but don't worry, these chocolates lasted all through france, and even made their way back to the states with me.

once at the train station, we got our tickets and then spent the next hour wrangling with the train schedules to reserve seats for all of conor's future journeys. i think we got everything booked with the exception of one leg. turns out it was a good move for us to take care of these train rides when we did... travel to italy 2 weeks later would prove to be a pain, as conor's trip merged with the paths of millions of mourning catholics...