Brussels and London: Food and Family.

The morning of the 22nd Katrin and I had breakfast in a lovely little bakery on the way 

into Luxembourg City. Seriously wonderful quiche and chocolate croissants. I was very happy to have an unexpected extra morning with her and after breakfast I caught a bus to the train station for Brussels.

I had done the least amount of research on Brussels than any other city. A plane ticket from Brussels to London was my cheapest option and I was planning on the city being more a hop-over point than a destination.

The train deposited me in the north business district of the city, walking out of the station into an urban jungle of skyscrapers was not what I was expecting. After getting lost, and lost again following terrible directions I finally found the check in location for my hostel, the hostel itself being another 10 minutes away right in the center of the old city. I became increasingly annoyed with the check-in location, first locked out then their card reader broke and insisted my card was declined.

With all the logistics finally figured out, I followed a new map to my hostel and once I stepped into the old part of the city my stress melted away and I was taken up in the charm of the city center.

Brussels is famous for chocolate, beer, waffles, and fries. The heavenly aroma of all of these drift through the city center relaxing at least me for sure and everyone else as well I'd hazard to guess. I joined the stream of tourists wandering through the cobbled street leading to the Grand Place, the center Plaza of Brussels. And for all the hassle of having to check in half a mile away the hostel location makes up for it. It's right on the Grand Place, 20 feet away from the central location of the city.

I met some great girls in my room, one from India and one from Brazil. We chatted about our travels and the similarities and differences of our countries and cities and had dinner together in the hostel kitchen before bed.

They were both up early and continuing their trips the next day and in the morning I set out into the city by myself, first into the Grand Place admiring the ornate and beautiful buildings around the perimeter of the square. In one corner I heard someone explaining the purposes of the various buildings in English (hooray!) and I joined the free walking tour. I learned that all of these buildings had at one time been guild halls, and the only one that still is a guild hall is the Guild of Brewers, the most important industry in Belgium.

Our tour guide was very good at his job, leading us around the major locations in the center of Brussels. First the Manneken Pis, the famous statue of a little boy peeing that is the pride and joy of Brussels. He has over 900 outfits and on very special days pees beer or wine instead of water. He has occasionally been stolen and either found or replaced immediately with a backup kept in one of the museums. The legend says that an opposing army was planning on blowing up the wall around Brussels, they lit the fuse and ran for cover. But a passing little boy saw the lit fuse and peed on it, thus saving the city and he became a legend.

The true story is less heroic though, the symbol of a boy peeing used to mark where in the city the poor could sell their urine to leather tanners.

We walked through the old city, observing a performance by the stilt walkers of Brussels, marching down the street in front of the Manneken, some on stilts about 12 feet tall. Then around to the best fries in Brussels and the guide also pointed out where one could find a Trappist beer, a very special and expensive kind for 2 euros.

He led us up to the royal park and took the opportunity to give us a brief history of Belgium's extremely dark history in the Congo, then seriously sobered showed us the Palace and a lovely view of the old city from the stairs to the museum platz.

There the tour ended. During the walk I had made the acquaintance of a fellow solo-traveling girl from Wisconsin who had also skipped breakfast. We decided to go find a famous Belgian waffle and were joined by another member of our tour, a student visiting from the Netherlands for the weekend. We went back to the Manneken, a popular little boy, constantly surrounded by people. According to the guide the streets near the little statue hold the city's best and cheapest Belgian waffles, 1 euro per. They get tourists with toppings, Belgians only ever have plain waffles maybe lightly dusted with powdered sugar; this perfect confection will cost the promised 1 euro, every topping after sugar is 1 euro as well.

If there is a heaven, I believe it smells like a Belgian waffle shop. The waffles themselves exactly walk the line between bread and a confection. With a waffle in each hand we left the Manneken's crowded district and went back to the Grand Place, finding coffee to assuage my persistent caffeine addiction. Having already seen all of the major locations of the city before noon we went to Brussels' next major attraction, the bars. Belgium has some spectacular beers and we did a tour of the three most famous bars in Brussels, the Brown Bar, Celtica, and Delirium, the Guinness world record holder for most commercially available beers on tap in the world. At last count over 3000.

At 6:00 I said goodbye to my new friends, picked up my luggage and walked back to the train station. Navigating tickets, the train, then then the airport, security and finding my gate all quite tipsy was an interesting experience. I was sober by the time the plane took off, and ready to get to England.

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Because of the distance, I have some family in England that I have never met, chiefly my Dad's sister, Tessa and her daughter Chantelle and her family, Rushie, her husband and their two sons Jem and Zach. I had been in talks with Chantelle to meet her and stay with her family my first night in England, and after a short flight and a long line in customs she picked me out of the crowd right away.  

Even though we had never met before, Chantelle felt like family right from the moment we met. It was a seamless introduction; she is a lovely person and I was happy to get to catch up on the last 24 years in the car on the way home and at the house before bed.

The next morning I met the boys, and we ate breakfast together while Chantelle showed me our grandmother's photo album, holding photos of our great grandparents, great uncles and aunts, and cousins. She also knows many family stories and shared them with me all morning until it was time to go back to Heathrow to pick up mom.

Mom arrived safely in Heathrow, customs took her awhile too, but soon she found us and we were on our way. We had lunch with the whole family at the neighborhood pub near their house, talking about our travels and eating really tasty pub food.

After lunch we said goodbye and Chantelle took us to the train station via Windsor and Eton College. We got on a train and made our way to our Air B&B in London near the Vauxhall Station. We were both too exhausted to do much more than eat a snack at the restaurant downstairs and collapse to sleep.

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The next morning marked the beginning of our one and only day in London. In the planning stages of the trip we had accidentally allowed for over three days in London and found we didn't have any time at the end of the trip to see Scotland. So we went a bit extreme in the other direction and cut London down to a day. In the morning we made our way to Victoria station, the starting point of all the double-decker hop-on-hop-off bus tours, finding a decently priced one and getting onboard.

Mom is still recovering from receiving her second fake hip and is getting around very well, but walking all over London wasn't an option, and neither of us felt like navigating public transportation. Bus tour was our best sightseeing option and it also provided facts about each area we went past.

One day in London is obviously not enough, but I knew that if I didn't go into any other building, I really wanted to see the British Museum and the Egypt exhibit in particular. Most of the museums in London are free, so we and about a million other people entered the museum and hung a left into the Egypt wing. The Rosetta Stone is the centerpiece of the exhibit, behind glass with lights shining down on it. Most everything else though isn't behind glass. Signs ask nicely to please not touch the artefacts but you can. You can put your hand right onto the stone sarcophagus of an Egyptian queen who reigned 5000 years ago, get in the face of blank-eyed pharos missing noses, touch the stone feathers of eight foot tall statues intended to guard Byzantine throne rooms. It's wild and totally stunning.

We spent a few hours in the museum, visiting ancient Greek pottery, Roman statues from the Parthenon, and ancient as well a contemporary Japanese art. But with our short amount of time left looming we left the museum, ate some lunch and headed back out into the street.

The tour took us over and around through the city, Rick Steves puts it well when he says that London is England's L.A., Washington DC, and New York, (I'm going to add Seattle too for the tech element) all the country's major industries have hubs in London including politics. The sheer amount of people and layered elements of the city are enough to make your head spin. Parts of London are flashy and demure, new and old depending on where fires have gone through, some parts have exquisite urban planning while others are a mash of streets fitting together like broken pieces of glass. London is the only city I've been in that feels wholly like a new and and old city all at once.

We went by the Tower of London and got off at St. Paul's Cathedral but found it costs 17 pounds to enter the church so we turned around and got back on the bus, passing the re-creation of Shakespeare's Globe Theater and the London Eye. Both catching street names we've read in novels and history books alike.

In the late afternoon we got off the bus and crossed the bridge nearest to Parliament and Big Ben, walking around Westminster Abbey to the quieter residential street behind the cathedral. A restaurant opened in the cellar of the cathedral a few years ago and after the hustle and bustle of the metropolis, the most quiet place of a quiet place like a Cathedral was right where we wanted to be. We had afternoon tea with the greatest pot of Earl Grey I've ever been lucky enough to taste, tea sandwiches, scones, and a few small desserts. Tea at the Abbey was a relaxing way to end a hyper-stimulating visit to the big city.

Salzburg: The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Delicious Food and Beer

Even after spending two full days in Salzburg I'm still not sure if it was real.

A serene little city nestled into the foothills of the Austrian Alps, church towers dot the horizon and fill the streets with their singing through the day. Some locals have started wearing Dirndls and Lederhosen again to get back to their native roots, and it's not uncommon to see a group of them sitting in a cafe in brightly colored outfits singing songs in German together. The whole time we were there, Taylor and I kept exclaiming, "how is this real!"

We arrived and walked to our hostel without a hitch. In the common space we saw a sign saying they play "The Sound of Music" every night at 8. The movie was filmed here and the Sound of Music tour is apparently super great, even people who hate the movie say the tour is worth it. Do be warned, they make you sing on the bus.

The map provided at the hostel marked out three self-directed walking tours that would take us past most of the major Salzburg points of interest. After lunch, Taylor and I set off on the longest flat one, through the city, over the river and into the old city near the Dom.

First we entered the Mirabell garden, where part of "Doe a Deer" was filmed. And I kid you not it may be the most perfect garden I have ever had the privilege of entering. Human scale, bursting with flowers, still symmetrical and very orderly and imperial but at a size that makes sense for people.

Unicorn statues greeted us at the main entrance down a path flanked by flowers in swirling patterns then over to another part of the garden with walkways all leading to a central fountain with nymph statues and a wall dripping in purple wisteria blossoms. We sat on a bench for awhile taking in the views, unable to believe that it really exists. This is the garden illustrated in fairy tale books, sitting in it was surreal and wonderful.

The end of the Mirabell garden led us to a pedestrian bridge across the river to the older part of the city, then through a close to the famous and very expensive shopping street. Every store has an ornate sign stretching out beyond the door. Soon we wandered into Domplatz and Kapitalplatz at the base of the mountain where the fortress balances on top. A violinist played in the stoa between the two plazas and serenaded us and other visitors while we rested.

Salzburg is surrounded by ridges and small mountains I guess, they're not hills but not quite towering peaks. This gives them the amiable quality of providing excellent views with just a little bit of cardiovascular work. That evening I hiked up the south ridge at the west end and followed the cliff all the way along back above the old city, on the same level as the fortress one mountain over. Watching the sunset, turning from yellow, gold then orange, bathing the old city in color was one of the highlights of the trip so far. At one outlook I could see beyond the fortress mountain out to the alps beyond, still dusted with snow.

I worked my way down to a ridge right at the level of the rooftops and from that position it was just me and the bell towers hanging out in the evening air together. As I walked home they all started to strike ten, and I listened to their clear tones all the way back to the hostel.

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The next morning I made the trek up to the fortress, it's a short but impossibly steep ascent. Parts of it have ladder like rungs bolted to the ground to make the trek safer. Eight Euros bought me entrance to the old fortress, but more importantly the view off the side opposite Salzburg. I could see the start of the Alps in all their glory on a clear sunny morning. I sat at a very well placed cafe and enjoyed a coffee and the view for a good long while.

At noon I met Taylor and some of her friends from the states in the Mirabell garden. One of them, named Andreas is from the Salzburg area and he acted as host and tour guide through the city. First to a food stand in the old city where they sell the world's greatest hotdog. Onions, mustard, curry powder and real bratwurst on a lightly toasted bun. It rocked my world. Apparently the lady running the stand will occasionally yell at patrons who ask for ketchup on their sausage. Sacrelige.

After the greatest hotdog ever they were planning on heading up to the fortress. I almost didn't go since I'd already made that trek, but they said they would just hike to the beer garden about halfway up and stop for lunch. On the way through the street Andreas recognize a man walking the opposite way, stopped him and chatted for a moment. And a minute later he lead us back the way he came towards the mountain.

Turns out this man went to school with Andreas 12 years ago and the two haven't seen each other since, and now he manages the brewery we were headed to. He gave us a little tour of the building hanging onto the the cliff below the fortress including a huge traditional event hall and a balcony overlooking the city. Then he sat down with us and caught up while we enjoyed beer, wine, sun and snacks for a few hours. Again, Salzburg felt unreal.

We ate and drank our way though Salzburg and the day, the brewery, a dessert shop where there is a designated cake lady who brings fat slices of decorated cakes to the table on a large platter. Then to a monastery where the locals go to have dinner and drink in the beer garden. You pay for your beer based on size, get a ticket and pick up the correct mug off the shelf. Rinse it out at the waiting taps then hand it and the ticket to the man managing the beer dispersal. He fills your cup from a tap in a large wooden barrel and off you go. Taylor and I somehow shared one of the smallest size they had; it was delicious, but we were both pretty done with drinking by then.

Afterwards we hiked the ridge, back down into the city and back to the hostel for what? Yes to watch "The Sound of Music". It was really cool to see so many of the places we had wandered for the last few days appear before us being danced upon by Julie Andrews and 7 kids.

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The next morning we had breakfast together and hurried to the station to catch our separate trains. Taylor heading East and me headed South for a few days. I'm so lucky to have found such a great travel companion and friend. I really hope we meet up again soon.

So I am headed off to the south. Into a small mountain town to relax, take in the mountain air and views. Off to Filzmoos!