Charlie's Birthday

Charlie's birthday was on Thursday the 22nd, and that is the day that I traveled over to visit him. As I mention before, I was a bit nervous about traveling to a country by myself where I don't speak the language at all. I'm used to traveling, but I was outside my comfort zone with the language barrier, not to mention that I'm going to a country I've never been before, nor did I have much time to prepare for where I was going and how to get there.

I flew out of London Heathrow about 2 p.m. I woke up in Oxford fairly early as I needed to stop by Brian's lab to print off some travel docs on the way to the bus station. I took the Oxford/London bus which runs every 15 mins, to Heathrow. I made it to Heathrow with like 3 hours to spare, since I didn't want to feel rushed. I checked in with the e-ticket kiosk and that went quick. Then I had to get in the queue (line) to drop off my one checked bag. In the U.S., it takes all of 30 seconds. In London Heathrow, it took me 50 minutes. Then I still had to get through security, which had 2 steps for that as well. Took probably about 45 minutes to get to my gate, still wasn't rushed, but very glad I got to the airport as soon as possible. Basically it all took forever because Heathrow is such an enormous international airport and they funnel everyone through a few check-in points.

Anyway, arrived at Brussels airport on time about 4 p.m. Then I knew it might get tricky for me at that point. I had to find the train station within the airport, and purchase a ticket to get to the city center. Luckily, finding the station and purchasing the ticket was easy, but I was worried about knowing when to get off the train. I just listened closely for "Gard du Midi" (South Station) and luckily it wasn't too hard. Then I debated whether I try to figure out the Metro to get to my hotel, or just hoof it, since it wasn't too far away. I decided I wouldn't mind the air and the walk and walked down to the hotel. I had studied a map I bought for Charlie for his Bday, so I could find where I had to go. The walk from the station to the hotel was not very impressive or attractive, and glad I wasn't walking in the dark. But I also wasn't to the main center yet, where all the great attractions were located.

Checked into the hotel and was proud of myself for making it all the way there. I relaxed a bit, looked for any English speaking television (My Wife and Kids were on a BBC channel in English) and then decided to venture out into the center for a little bit while I waited for Charlie to arrive. He had practice from 6-8, so I knew I wouldn't see him at the earliest until 8:30. I only had to walk a little ways to enter into the center and the Grand Place, which is a large square of some of the most fantastic architecture and lights all in one place. Then I checked out some of the surrounding streets and shops and grabbed a light bit to eat. I headed back to the hotel about 8:15 to wait for Charlie. A baseball friend was going to drop him off.

He arrived at 10:15, and it was fun to have him open some presents I brought over and took some pics. He was pretty hungry so we headed back to the center and nosed around again some more. But by the time we settled on a place to eat, it was past 11 and getting late. Luckily, a touristy restaurant took us in and we did have a really good meal. Charlie had a birthday lobster and I had a steak - yum!

We then figured we better at least stop for one beer on our way back to the hotel, and found a cool cafe (as they call bars in Belgium). It was close to touristy stuff, but seems like it wasn't too much of a touristy place. They let us in for one quick one and it was a great place immediately. The waiter was really cool and sounded British. The atmosphere was warm and cozy and had tons of historical stuff as decor around the place. We each had a Kriek, which is the famous Belgium cherry beer. Also I love how the Belgium cafes serve a small bowl of savory snacks with the beer. Reminds me of the different kinds grandma Hazel would have at her house.

So our trip was off to a great start, and we were excited about Friday because we had all day to explore the city.