the rest of Belguim

Friday evening after dinner I hung out in the "family room" there at Bethel until it was time for meeting at 7:30 in english :-) the Kingdom Hall for Stockel is in the same building - different entrance. Wonderful congregation, met some great friends and made arrangements to come back the next morning to go out in the ministry with the local friends. Everything is fabulous, I head back to Brussels, to my hostel.

OK - this was my fault. I hadn't already paid for Friday night when I had left in the morning. I get back, it's about 10:30pm, and the Hostel is full... and SO ARE ALL THE OTHERS... in the entire city. I'm not super excited... I change out of my skirt, get my bags and head for the metro. I had met a sis at the meeting who's from Florida. maybe i can stay with her. No answer on her phone but i'll head towards Stockel and try to ring her again. Back in Stockel with my bags, no answer again. I think I looked terrified by the response of the metro security guy. He asked if i needed help, at this point I don't want to spend the money and am debating sleeping in a really nice park I had found that day, it was a warm night. But i ask the metro man if there are any hotel's in Stockel. No. But there is 2 stops back towards Brussels. One of his coleagues is heading home that way and i am sent with him for directions. Its bout a 10 min walk from the metro, not bad but a new place at now... midnight, not fun. (This whole conversation took place with both men speaking no english, lots of gestures an alittle french). Make it to a super nice Best Western, ouch - how much is this going to cost me? I haggled the man at the front desk down in price, pretty proud of myself.

Next day in the ministry i found that the sis had her phone still on silent from the meeting. She demanded though that I stay with her and her husband that night. Very happy for the invitation. Sat was great, sunday I store my bags at the Central Stations to go to meeting in french where the sister of a friend of mine attends. Yeah, couldnt find the Kingdom Hall -it's somewhere in a different suberb, few more hours of wandering, sunday is a bust. I go get something to eat. Also I miss booked my bus for Paris. Instead of it leaving sunday night, it leaves 6am monday morning. That's too early for the to stay with the brother and sister in Stockel, metro doesn't run early enough... where do I stay the night. Kinda didn't stay anywhere... a story for when I get home let's just say that monday, I make it too my bus and off to Paris.

Davis - the couple I stayed with!

I ate a sandwich every day for a week, either for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or all 3. I'm done with sandwiches for awhile.

Belguim Branch

Friday 6.4.10

In the morning I lock my bags in the locker room at the hostel an set off to find the Bethel. I have an address... on the map I have there is a place called "USE IT", supposed to be helpful for young travelers like myself. I wander there, bout 20 min away... awesome place! People who speak english, computers with free internet, coffee, and answers to any travel questions I had. They helped me find bethel. It's in a small town called Stockel at the end of one of the metro lines. I get Google directions and head off.

When I get to Stockel, 25 min by metro, I follow the directions I had written to the T. Exactly. yeah, wandered for 3 hours. In the hot sun. I am no longer white, rather pink. Yes I asked for directions, but because the streets are like ~~~ and change names at every curve, no one knew where 'Potaardestraat' was. Oh, also, all the street names are in both Dutch and French. Alot of the people I asked directions from, only spoke Dutch. So, after 3 hour (i wouldn't give up) I found a UPS man, yay! Story is way more complex but lets just say I made it to the Bethel/Branch offices of Jehovah's Witnesses, yeah it was just down the road. Kinda..., not really.

An older brother named Luey gave me a tour. Small bethel family of 20. They take care of the regional building needs for the Kingdom Halls, receive shipments of literature (watchtower, books, bibles) printed at the branch in Germany, and also take care of many medical correspondence issues for Missionaries in other lands. I had the privilege to meet a couple serving in Cameroon who were at the branch after medical treatment in Belgium. They were on a motorcycle and hit by a large truck. It happened at 730am in Cameroon and they had been flown to Belgium on a medical plane by 1130pm that same night, the multiple branch offices had arranged everything. Unfortunately that one day in hospital in Cameroon, the doctors there took out the sister's spleen, where if they had been in Belgium it would have been repaired. The brother may still need a new hip. They were in hospital for 8 months.

They're doing well! Didn't mean to end on a sad note.

A market I found in the Center of Stockel while wandering

A park I found while wandering

The Branch!! Found it :-)

The library/family room

Dining room other side of the family room

Laundry

Behind the main building is a garden and the residence building

Luey and his wife

He made me espresso!!

mmmmm, so good

this brother a jokester, had to get a bad shot of him for laughs

Luey invited me to stay for dinner with the bethel family! It's friday night so family style, w/ lefftovers :-) alittle bit of everything -the way I like it!

Tried to take a photo - video instead

Brussels, Belgium

Thursday (6-3-10)

Loaded down with baggage, up the stairs, past the homeless and through walkways that smell of urine... finally in Brussels. Where to go now? Left looks good, why not? After 10 min of walking, "maybe I should have found a hostel before I showed up?" (not planning ahead...) It's all good though. Found a travel agency that pointed me towards a hostel just around the corner. Its a very cool place -my room with 5 bunk beds but, I have a bed for the night. Come to find out - the monuments and tourist traps are just around the corner so, I explore. Parliament, a beautiful palace with gardens in between, rows of consulates from all the EU. Heading north I find a museum (free on sat. I'll come back then) ancient churches with musicians playing on the walk for the tourists, and... the shopping district :-)

The Palace

Me in front of the Palace...

A Church... one of... alot

European cars - LOVE THEM (at least this one)

what is that??

Yes, in the heart of Belguim -

there is a beer temple.

priests included

very cool little ally -

prob full of bums at night

last but not least, I always have to be eating something.

They sell just fries in stands on the street. It comes in a cone and you can

get it topped with ketchup or mayo. i choose ketchup :-)

Getting There

Mmm, SeaTac Airport at 4am, after driving all night from Portland. There is no turning back. I haven’t slept for 24 hrs at this point and will only get about 4 hrs of sleep in the next 36 but... that’s what happens when you decide to travel to the other side of the globe.

I had a 5 hr layover in Atlanta, so I decided to eat my last American meal there. Starbucks and a McDonald’s cheeseburger – tasty. My flight into Copenhagen goes very well, there were about 30 marines on the flight, a bit obnoxious at times but… it happens. Walking into the airport what do I see, a Starbucks ; take the train into Copenhagen, what do I see, a McDonalds. America is everywhere –if you didn’t know that already.

Copenhagen is amazing. There are tiny winding streets that end in little courtyards, instead of cars there are a million and one bicycles, and everyone speaks English - Bonus for me. Although let me tell you, walk out to the north of the central train station you see tourists, school children on field trips, surrounded by lovely historic landmarks. To the West - the red light district. Don’t go there.

So I am in Copenhagen but I hadn't actually gotten a ticket to get to Brussels yet (not planning ahead will be a constant theme for this trip) I buy the ticket and take off in a sleeper train that evening. I wake up about 4 the next morning to find myself in Germany. Pretty cool eh? I change trains 3 times in various German stations (it was cheaper that way) before making it to Brussels around noon Thursday. I have my bags that are certainly over packed and very heavy… now – where is a hostel?

SeaTac at 4am - a bit empty (flight leaves at 6)

Last cup of bad coffee for 6 weeks

Last "oh so bad for you, yet sooo tasty" meal.

I think this is a pic from Copenhagen

(Could be Stockel, Belgium - tell you bout that town later)

People don't own cars, rather, there is an abundance of bicycles.

If you order a hot dog on the street in Copenhagen, this is how it comes.

One of the trains, this one from Germany to Brussels.

Yes, a head shot on the train.

I'm solo - there will be a few of these.

The country side as I travel through Germany.

Blurry but I like the way it turned out :-)