Les Not So Miserables. In Belgium.

Brussels, Belgium June 3-5, 2013

They call it A Very Bad Trip. HA!

     On Monday, I left London via bus and made the six hour journey to Brussels. It was meant to be a quick two-night stop on my way to Stuttgart to meet mi familia, but it was actually a really nice time! As I said before, I am CouchSurfing across Europe, and this time I thought I’d shake it up a bit and stay with a new CSer without any references. Hey now. Don’t read at me with that tone of thought! I mean come on! Think about it. Someone went out on a limb for me before I had any references, so this was my way to help expand the CS community and pay it forward. Obviously I was a little extra cautious, but I really didn’t worry about that too long. You all shouldn’t be surprised after I’ve told you about making friends with many of my previous CS hosts. This dudes name was Marius and he was lovely.

Marius and I At The End Of The Day.

     After sitting on the curb like a lost puppy for a few minutes, he met me at the bus station and saved me from the mini-panic that always occurs in me when I am waiting for my CS host. On the way to his flat, he told me that he was from around Normandy, France and studied art. I could totes tell. He met me in a stylish hat and scarf combo paired with a tailor-made suit. Super artsy. It was kinda apparent that we were both a bit nervous at first, with him being a new CSer and me knowing this, but really it was no big deal and we became pretty comfortable together in no time. The first day, Marius and I relaxed in his quite large and surprisingly clean apartment, talking about ourselves, our homes, and anything we thought of. I showed him pictures of my family and friends and where I live on Google Maps. Many hours later, it was dawn and we were both like, “Oh shit. I need to sleep!” And so we did.

This is the prison in Brussels... THE PRISON. Someone arrest me.

     In the morning, we lazed about again (I mean really. What did you expect after an accidental all-nighter?) until we ventured to the train station to buy tomorrow’s ticket to Frankfurt. On the way back, we stopped for a few drinks at his favorite pub and he told me of his family, adventures, and really tried (God bless’im) to teach me a bit of French. My French was sub sub sub-par so eventually he gave up and we headed back to his place where he showed me his life through his Facebook pictures as I had done the previous night. Marius told me a story about some of the demonstrations that he participated in and I about died of excitement. No seriously. I Dreamed A Dream about this. I couldn’t tell anyone though because I was On My Own. Luckily I had a Red And Black cell phone which I used to Bring Him Home to my Heart Full Of Love. Then we had to go inside because there was A Little Fall Of Rain but that was okay because it was At The End Of The Day and after the rain, there is always One Day More. I could’ve sworn, though, that while it was raining I saw A Castle On A Cloud and then I knew I saw it because Pancho pointed to it and asked ‘Do You Hear The People Sing?’ And I was all like, ‘Thenardier Waltz.’ Wait what? Oh yeah. So as I was saying… My CouchSurfer host in Brussels was named Marius. He is French. He takes part in many protests In one he used barricades. He fought 1000 cops with the other protesters. They fought into the wee hours of the morning until there was only one barricade left. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP. I just wish they all sang together about colors and furniture...

Speaking of missing friends...

    Anyway, Marius and I decided to watch a zombie movie, Fido. Watch that. It’s funny. Of course, the movie ended around 2 AM and with only 3 hours until I needed to wake up, I brilliantly decided to show him Jenna Marbles, Glozell, and several other Youtube videos he had never heard of before (how has France not heard of these geniuses?!) for another hour and a half before once again going to sleep.

     An hour and no sleep later, we rose, looking much like the zombies in Fido, and headed to the train station. Both of us were pretty sad to say goodbye because we really did have a good time, but then the train came and, sadly, we did say goodbye. I was on the train for a few minutes unpacking my stuff and claiming my territory and then, out of nowhere, Marius was coming to me on the train and hugging me again. He said he was already off of the platform when he started getting really emotional and decided he still had time to say goodbye. Again. That kinda sucked because then I felt really bad for leaving him all alone. UGH. It was a horrible feeling. CS should come with a warning: You will make friends and you will hate leaving them.