Yup! It’s Tuesday and we’re in Belgium.
After getting up at dark:thirty in the morning and getting a cab to the airport, we said goodbye to Istanbul, driving by the Golden Horn one last time.
Our flight to Brussels was just under 4 hours -uneventful. Once we deplaned in Brussels, got through Passport Control and all the rigmarole of international travel, we caught a train to our hotel. Riding a train from the airport is always an adventure – made more so because we were hauling our luggage and all the signage looked like gibberish.
The train was comfy and fast…and it was maybe 35 minutes before we were hopping off. Now, here we are in the Brussels Central Train Station. It is only a 10 minute walk to our hotel but that apparently did not take into account the 40 minutes it took us to find our way OUT of the train station!
Then, we walked for about 30 minutes, got lost, (dragging our suitcases behind us on cobblestoned streets) ended up back at the train station. Hmmm, didn’t feel like we were walking in a gigantic circle!
Now its starting to rain….okay, we’re getting a taxi. But first we have to figure out how to get out of the train station again. I feel like I’m in a Marx Brothers movie. We can’t find the taxi stand. We walk into the Royal Windsor hotel (not ours) and let Eve do the talking because she, after all, has an English accent and it IS the “Royal” Windsor. Go out the door, in the rain, turn left, take the first left and there’s a taxi stand. RRRIIIGGGHHHTTT. We’re back at the damn train station.
Finally, finally we find a cab. Success!
We have rooms at the “Welcome Hotel” This place is a riot and it is wonderful! Each room has a different theme.