Bustling Brussels

December 23rd I embarked on my first journey abroad since arriving in Georgia this past April. It was exciting to leave Georgia behind and explore some of the world’s most exotic and historic cities.  My trip began in the early hour of 3am. My friend Kayla and I left our Tbilisi hostel and began our 30 min taxi ride to the airport. Both of us were nervous/excited about our trips. For me, it would be the first time that I would be back in a country where my blond headedness and my identity as “the American” would not apply. I would go back to a land of food, music, and culture that more resembled America.  For Kayla (an older volunteer who came to Georgia in April 2012), this would be her first time going back to America in 20 months. Like I said we were nervous.  Struggling to stay awake we checked into our respected airline kiosks and waited to board our planes. At 5:30 I boarded the plane that would take me to Istanbul’s airport where a 3 hour layover was waiting for me before boarding the plane to Brussels.  By the time I’d arrived in Brussels, I had been up for 2 days and 3 hours.

 Despite my slightly haggard appearance my cousin and her family claimed me at the Brussels’s airport exit. My cousin Natalie, my second cousin on my mother’s side whom I've only met maybe 3 times in my life…the last of which being 13 years ago at her wedding, was gracious enough to invite me to spend the Christmas holidays with her family and to show me around Brussels and the towns around it.  The first night Nat took me to go see the Christmas marketplace in downtown Brussels before we headed home to her very cute and very picturesque European farmhouse.

 Her two kids Allen (five) and Annabel (five months) were the cutest things ever and didn't waste any time in making me a member of their family.  Gino, Natalie’s husband and a policeman at the airport, arrived back from work later that night. The next day was a day of rest and preparation for the family’s big Christmas Eve dinner with Gino’s side of the family.  There were 17 of us that sat down to dinner that night.  In the house there was cacophony of languages ranging from French, Dutch, English and the occasional word in Georgian when I was asked to speak a few words of it.  The night was full of great food, Allen’s magic tricks and party favors.  Christmas morning around 6am, I found my name being called by Allen downstairs telling me to come quickly because Santa had come.  I came downstairs to find that Santa had also left me a little stocking full of American goodies such as peanut butter, syrup, Starbursts, long johns and woolen socks. We spent the rest of the day watching movies, taking naps and eating the leftovers from the night before.

The Girl who Squats

The Boy Who Pees

The next few days Natalie took me around Brussels and showed me some of local atmosphere as well. We saw two castles, Brussels’s main square the Grand Place, the boy who pees statue, the girl who squats statue, the military museum, the Leffe brewery museum in Dinant, the Caracole brewery, Waterloo, and even a small German town across the border called Monschau.  I found out local secrets such as where to get the best Belgium waffle (Brico apparently…a home improvement store that resembled Home Depot….Nat swears by their waffles) and some lesser known bars such as the Old Oak, an old Irish Pub that is popular with both the locals and the expats. Allen, Annabel and Natalie were great sports about seeing these touristy places for the umpteenth time and I very much appreciated their enthusiasm.

Me in the Grand Place at night

More of the Grand Place

Beautiful Cathedral in Dinant

The second to last night I was there two American soldiers that knew Natalie through  a friend of hers took me out one night to experience the Brussels’s bar scene.  That was a fun night to let loose a bit and meet people my age both country nationals and expats who lived in Brussels. I even made it to Delirium Café, a bar known for its long beer list, standing at 2,004 different brands and for being in The Guinness Book of Records for having the longest beer menu. The next day, my last day in Belgium, Natalie took me across the boarder to Germany where we spent the afternoon in a cute German town called Monschau. It was a perfect way to end my Western European adventure and to finally say that I've been to Germany.  Later that night I did laundry (my clothes were really confused, it was the first time in 8 months that they had seen a dryer) and packed up my backpack for my departure the next morning to my new destination….Istanbul baby!

Allen and I in Monschau

And the story continues...