Hello, Cold

Oh, my, was it cold today. Nearly 7 inches of snow... And I spent several hours lost in it.

After finally going to bed at 1AM last night, I woke at 1PM today. If you think about it, that's like going to bed at 7 and getting up at 7 the next morning in Charleston (or anywhere, EST). And it's only 10:30 and I'm exhausted again. Whew. Hopefully I'll get adjusted soon.

Anywho, I woke up at 1, took pictures of the apartment (on facebook - I don't know how to put them on this page...), got dressed and took the metro (subway) to see Marion, leaving probably about 2, if not a bit earlier. I took the metro to Gran Central, where I thought her hotel was. There are several Hotel Isis locations, which I didn't realize, and I went to the wrong one. The lady at the desk told me it was a 10 minute walk, do this, do that, and you're there..... Well, maybe if there had been street signs or something. See, this is my thing, how the hell do you know where you are when the only markers on anything are numbers? There are sometimes plaques on buildings that say what street you're on, and sometimes what the cross-street is. Most of the time, there is no marker at all. I walked for at least an hour, stopped in at the Marc Sleen Museum for directions, and finally got to the hotel at 330. For Marion to have given up and gone to a museum herself, leaving a note for me at the front desk. I went up to the room, tried to warm my feet, burned a huge whole in my sock instead, said screw it and went back downstairs, barefooted in my rainboots, to have hot chocolate and a waffle.

Here's a tip... actually two:
Don't hang your socks over a heat lamp to warm them - they WILL burn.
Rainboots are not warm, they just keep your feet dry.

My hot chocolate was served with sugar and cream, which confused me at first... and then I tasted it. I think it was literally steamed milk with cocoa powder in it. Very bitter, but very good once I added the cream and sugar and put the whipped cream from my waffle on top. I know, very American, but it was good and whipped cream shouldn't go to waste. The waffle was superb. It came on a long rectangular plate, sitting in a light yellow sauce, dusted heavily with powdered sugar and lots of whipped cream. I tasted it, and thought it was incredible. Light and fluffy, incredibly sweet. I tasted the light yellow sauce - sugared butter. Perhaps one of the most unhealthy things on the face of the earth, but it made my waffle taste amazing.

After "lunch", Marion and I went shopping. It was about 430 or 5 and it was already starting to get dark. We got some gloves (expensive) and some boots (really cheap) that were very nice, and then went out to dinner. I had vol-au-vent, which is a Belgian specialty that's pretty much chicken and mushroom gravy over a biscuit. And of course french fries... Everything comes with french fries here.

I didn't talk about food yesterday, so I'll say a little blurb here. Yesterday was our first day in Brussels. I had won ton soup at a little place called "Le Open" with Kristen and Marion. Good, interesting, pretty much the same. Then for dinner, the whole group of thirty of us went to dinner in Gran Plac - which is basically downtown. Most people got pizza or pasta, and nearly everyone got beer or wine. A whole pizza or pasta dish could easily serve two people, but we didn't realize that. They were about 10 euros each. As for a beer or a glass of wine, they generally cost 2.50-4 euros... which was the same as a soda or water. Yes, I paid 3 euros for a glass of water. We are spoiled rotten. You can't even get tap water. You can ask, but you can't get it. Not in the high-end places, at least. And you don't want to ask at the low-end places...

Ok, so after dinner, I came back to the apartment. Nice long metro ride, and many funny looks. That may have been because of my rainbow polka-dotted rain boots and matching rainbow scarf and hat, but it was still very awkward. Now it is time for a shower, some emails, and sleep.

Goodnight world.