European Adventure Day Ten - Wrapping Up in Brussels

Sunday was a glorious and warm day in Brussels. It was also market day! Hemu, Nirvi and I took a nice walk to check out the sites. Tent after tent of fresh produce, trucks with coffee and waffles (yes, please!), and even bigger trucks with, get this, full counters of meats and fish. Some of the meats and fish were in fridges covered with glass, just like you'd find in the grocery store back home - except we we're outside...in the middle of the city. Just ponder that for a minute. Then there were giant trucks with a full wall of turning, roasting rotisserie items. It was wild! And clearly very popular because the lines were long too.

heading out tot he market

rotisserie truck

You could also, quite randomly, buy mattresses if you wanted, though not from the rotisserie guys.

When we first arrived, N and H hit the produce stand which was very long and colorful with a huge variety of things to choose form. A large man in a knit hat who worked part of the stand approached us and said to me, in French, "It's one euro to take my picture!" I wasn't sure if he was serious or not. Being in another country, you don't know how people will react to you and your camera, but Nirvi and Hemu laughed, so I think it was OK. The man cut a fig in half and handed it to me. A few seconds later, he slapped a bunch of tiny bananas in my hand.

Someone has a crush on me!

fig provider

pickin' out chestnuts (no, I don't know them)

I was excited to have another waffle and once it was our turn to order, I also asked if I could take photos. They said sure. There was a young man and an older gentleman running the popular truck, and the younger guy told me the older man used to be a photographer, but "when digital came along..." he said, and glanced over at the older man, who then gestured the demise of his career by running his thumb across his throat. Ah well, I guess digital's not for everyone.

The waffles here are amazing, as you might guess. As far as we can tell, a sugary coating is added to the outside of the waffles, which give it an amazing, subtle carmelization on the outside. ** I just looked it up. Apparently pearl sugar is used which melts in the iron making that crispy coating. I ordered a chocolate one, and the former-photographer made this happen by jamming two sticks of chocolate in the waffle which then melted perfectly. (I'm suddenly starving, BTW).

We relaxed and enjoyed our treats, and then made our way slowly back to their home where I packed up my things. I knew I was getting close to the end of my trip because I had to use the expander built into the luggage I borrowed from Mom for this trip.

It was still really beautiful out, so Nirvi and I got a little walk through the neighborhood in before they both rode with me to Brussels Midi where they walked me to my platform. I lugged my LUGgage on the train and watched as Nirvi teared-up on the platform. Poor Nirvi. She's on such an adventure but also so far away! I was happy I could see her during this trip.

my view through the window at the train station

At the airport I approached the RyanAir counter to check in. He asked for my boarding pass, and I told him I had the scannable one in my phone. "It needs to be printed out for you to board" he claimed. Without thinking, I responded, incredulously, with "Are you SERIOUS?!"

He was serious. I asked him if he could print it out for me. "For a price" he said. I searched for the boarding pass in my phone, and apologized to him, mentioning that I wasn't somewhere that I could print it out and nowhere did I see any indication that the version in my phone would not be acceptable.

He silently printed mine out for me and didn't charge me. I suppose that's what I get for paying, I kid you not, no more than $50 to get from Brussels to Barcelona.

Landing in Spain was a bit discombobulating. My mind was still on French, and even though I don't speak it, "Merci" and "Si vous plait" were on the tip of my tongue, and well as "pardon".  When I got in my cab, driven by a Pakistani, we spoke only a little bit. I asked him how to say "thank you very much" here. I know that seems like a silly questions, but I came to find quickly that my English to Catalan translation app was not accurate. He said "merci or gracias".

Later that night, once I was checked into my AirBnB located in a grand apartment building in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, I went out to get a bite to eat. Having no idea where to go, and it being nearly ten at this point, I just chose someplace nearby and outside (it's warm and a bit humid here).

At the end of dinner, I asked the server the right way to say "I'm finished" at the table. I would have thought "He terminando". Not even close, "He acabat" she told me, (which I heard as aya cabado until I looked it up just now).

Time to take on Barcelona!