#peeingboy

We totally got jipped in Paris. I mean granted, we still got a lot done, as I’ve previously told you, but damnit Rafik you and your gross Airbnb really harshed my Parisian mellow. I’m only complaining right now because I’m leaving my favorite place, that’s all. Just being a snotty bitter buttface that got jipped out of a day. But it’s cool, I’ve already forgotten about it.

Despite my commentary, I actually am in a pretty good mood – I absolutely fell in love with Paris, just like my fourteen-year-old self knew I would. Even though we are leaving this morning, I am so excited to travel somewhere new and also start planning my next trip back, or start looking at apartment prices, who knows… Our bus ride was much smoother than expected. It was five hours of adjusting in and out of sleep and listening to the strangest man I’ve ever sat next to whisper to himself in French. I have become a much more patient person since traveling I gotta tell ya. The amount of times that curly-haired, baguette-chomping twenty something jabbed me in the side with his elbow would annoy just about anyone, let alone the freak I am with personal space issues. I laughed it off and lurked his French book, hoping to see what he was reading about. No success. When we arrived in Brussels, Jay and I already had a good feeling. Catching a cab was easy and cheap, so we headed to our Airbnb, hoping marvelously that it would be a different experience than Paris, and indeed it was. This place was right in the city, just a ten minute walk from the places we were dying to see. Not only that, but it was fully equipped with dream catchers, a million plants, and more than enough books for any human, Dutch or otherwise, to read in a two night stay. After we settled in, we decided to step out and see the famous statue, the Manneken Pis. It was tiny and hilarious, and nearby many souvenir stores where you could buy tiny replicas of the tiny peeing boy. We enjoyed a famous Belgian waffle with Nutella and strawberries as we sat in famous square, and then headed to get a kebob and a beer before we started for home.

As we sat down to devour our kebob, a girl next to us leaned in and asked where we were from. She sounded like she was from California, and alas, once again, she was. She told us that she was traveling alone and asked if she could tag along with us for the night because she didn’t have anything to do. We headed to the Manneken bar near the statue with Mikayla, as she told us stories about her Army job, the wineries in Temecula, and the rave she just came from called Beyond Wonderland. As she talked, Jay and I couldn’t stop staring at her tongue ring, or wondering just how many different substances she had just flushed out of her body from the weekend before. That’s our military folks. A-merica. Once the bar closed and we headed for home, we noticed it was pretty wet outside, and that mixes with the cobblestone and my heels I decided to stupidly wear, made for an interesting walk home.

Our first day in Belgium was hilarious, rainy, delicious and unique. Can’t wait to head to Bruges tomorrow and experience some more languages we don’t understand and even more yummy food.