My first day in Belgium...
Okay...pictures for now...the blog will be forthcoming.
I arrived in Brussels Belgium right on time...7:40 in the morning. I was relieved of that because Sylvie was coming by train from Antwerp to meet me and I didn't want to inconvenience her. But then came Customs! 12 different flights must have come in all at the same time and the lines through border patrol were long and slow. It took nearly an hour to get through, collect my luggage, and finally make it out to arrivals where Sylvie said she would wait. After just a couple of minutes of searching through the crowd, Sylvie spotted me first. It was a super feeling to finally meet her in person. We hugged each other and were just as happy as we could be. But poor Sylvie, if she had only known I would be late, she could have slept another hour!
Now we were to wait on Jeff who was supposed to be coming in at 9, but his plane was late and didn't get in until 10. But Sylvie and I bought some coffee and then sat outside on my suitcases and talked the time away.
At the train station in 
(Pieter, we can’t thank you enough for putting up with all of us and letting us lay our heads down wherever there might be space!)
After a full day and night of travel, I was ready for a shower, shave, and change of clothes. While doing that, another Travbuddy showed…Alex-B, my smoking buddy!!! Hmmm…I sure do hope I remember all the exact details as I write, but please forgive me in advance in case my mind short-circuits. Our next port of call was back near the train station to meet Sir Bennie. I was anxious for this moment because Bennie and I have done a lot of talking on TB…we even had gifts for each other!!!
Bennie was everything I thought he’d be: soft-spoken, friendly, and good-natured.
So…who was next to show up? Devika!!! Ah, the lovely Devika, it was so nice to meet her, also. Then Ashish from Zurich met us at the Quick restaurant where we grabbed a “quick” bite to eat.
From there we found an Irish pub where we visited for just a bit and then it was off to another establishment not too far away where we met up with Daniel and Wouter. And after this we found our way down in the middle of the action where the tall cathedral was. Wow! What a beautiful building at night time with the lights glowing on it!!! We took some tables and chairs in front of a café just across from the cathedral, ordered drinks, and let the night begin.
Our next stop was a dance club, which I cannot recall the name…but perhaps I’ll have it when I continue….
And thanks to Alex-B, I now know the name of the club. Here is his version of the story taken directly from his comment: “It's called in Dutch: De Vuile Was, translated as The Dirty Laundry. No kidding James, I am sober now while typing this, hahaha”
And now you know the rest of the story! Well, it didn’t end there, of course.
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