I had intended to get up at 7.10, but the nearby church thought I should get up at 7 to be on the safe side. I think its bell chimed 40 times. I expect it was to call people to early mass, but it worked very effectively as an alarm clock.
After modern apartments and purpose-built hotels, it was nice to stay somewhere more characterful last night, with dark corridors, uneven stairs and real keys. The breakfast room had a close-up view of the triumphal arch in one direction, and in the other I could see the station, so there’s not much chance of getting lost this morning.
I got on the very front of the first train, looking for first class. First class was indeed at the front, but the train was going in the opposite direction from what I thought, so I had many steps to retrace.
I was supposed to have a 20-minute change in Munich, but there’s no way I took 15 minutes buying coffee and a sandwich, so I suppose we must have been late. The second train was another of those complicated ones going to two places, but this time there were clear directions on the information boards and I managed to find the correct half first-time.
The travel went smoothly enough until Cologne, when there was no longer any room in first class and I had to push off to second, where I had a reservation. Then we got to Brussels, and things started to fall apart.
I got to my hotel and was immediately told that they were overbooked, but not to worry, the manager had personally arranged accommodation at another hotel for me, and it would be only €100. Yeah, great, but the hotel I had already paid for was only €75.
He took me there in a taxi, which he paid for, and he offered me a free breakfast at his hotel tomorrow, which I may take him up on because I am very cross. The new hotel is run by a Chinese couple, the signs are in Chinese and I think the clientele are supposed to be Chinese, too. The hotel is tired-looking, none too clean, and my room smells of stale cigarette smoke. I immediately escaped from it to get a nice dinner and improve my mood.
Bia Mara, my go-to restaurant in Brussels, did not let me down. Lemon and basil tempura (i.e. battered) fish with seaweed-salted chips and garlic truffle mayonnaise. Gorgeous!
Then it was time to hit the chocolate shops – and here Brussels let me down again. Whereas it used to be possible to get very high quality chocolate (albeit not cheap), now there’s a whole lot of crud, too. I had to carefully read the ingredients to make sure there was an acceptable amount of cocoa in what I was purchasing. (51% is not an acceptable amount for dark chocolate, Belgium, just so you know.) And no shop I asked in could point out any chocolates without vegetable oils. I finished my shopping, but it took too much effort considering I’m supposedly in the chocolate capital of Europe. And my excessively security-conscious debit card decided to stop working, because it’s obviously been stolen by some other chocophile, despite me giving it my fingerprint and PIN.
Why do I stay in Brussels when I evidently don’t like it at all? Because it’s cheaper than Paris, and more convenient for the Eurostar. But I might have to rethink in future. Maybe I should try Lille next time (if there’s a next time).
I’m writing this in a bar/cafe/restaurant that I chose because it wasn’t full of loud tourists and wasn’t labelled as being an “Irish pub” 🙄, to avoid going back to my smelly hotel until it is time to sleep. But my battery is dying so I will have to make a move soon.
Good night, and I sincerely hope the bedbugs don’t bite.
K C Murdarasi 
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