MPD

Monday morning, I packed up at the hotel and headed over to the B&B on the Metro. Younghee met me at the station to help me move my stuff to Mr. Lee’s house. My bed was one of ten six-foot-long bunkbeds in the basement. After we filled up our waterbottles, we left for the city.

The same company that runs the free Berlin walking tours also organizes free NewParis walking tours starting at St. Michel Plaza, so we wanted to go on it. Again, the tour guide was very eloquent and excited about her city. We saw Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Seine (we smelled it, too), more churches, the Champs d’Elysee, and more museums. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate this time, so partway through, the rand became unbearable and everyone was soaked. Soon after the tour was over, though, the sun came out again. We decided to walk to the Eiffel tower, since we were so close. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since I wrote in my journal, so bear with me if I forget a few details.  Right now, I’m sitting in a park in Barcelona feeling quite sick, but I suppose we’ll get there in time…

Last Sunday, Sam, Younghee, Eunhee, and I agreed to meet at the Louvre again at 1:00.  I arrived a few minutes early because I didn’t want to appear to be perpetually late.  Sam soon found me, and we started to wait together for the girls.  This time, they were the ones who were an hour late.  Turns out, they had some trouble moving from the hotel to the B&B where they planned to stay for a while.  However, they did say that the B&B was nice, and the owner had beds available for 18 Euro/night including breakfast, internet, etc.  It sounded too good to be true, so I said I’d check it out. Read the rest of this entry »

On Saturday, I planned to meet my friends Younghee, Eunhee, and Sam at the Louvre pyramid at 4pm for Bastille day. I thought I would take the 10:40 direct train, get to Paris at 12:08, and check in to my hotel with plenty of time. Naturally, by the time I arrived at the train station at 10:00, all the trains were booked until 2:40, meaning I could not make it to Paris before 4:08. Oh well, this was the best I could do, so I sent an email saying I’d be late and started the long wait. Read the rest of this entry »

Today started out great. As I walked to the laundrymat, I passed Thai Coffee (the restaurant next door), and Nam came out to yell “Hi, Michael!” I said, “Good morning!” and headed off to my day.

After washing my clothes, I had a bit of trouble getting the dryer to work. Luckily, two friendly French-speaking men decided to help me out. I bought the wrong token for the dryer – the 3.50 Euro one, not the 0.60 Euro. After I bought the right one, they were even nice enough to buy the other off of me, when I offered it to them for free (since I won’t be coming back).

Next, I went sightseeing. First, I saw Manneken Pis, a famous statue of a boy urinating into a fountain. I was fairly surprised by the size of the statue; pictures make it look huge, but in reality, it’s tiny. I must say, I’m glad I’m going to be getting out of the Conner 3 environment next year; my exact thoughts at the statue went, “Woah, it’s so small; I thought it would be much bigger… That’s what she said.”

Nearby is a famous courtyard, the Grand Place. The architecture is all 1700s, so it looked very scenic. I also wanted to see the Royal Palace and the European Parliament, so I started to walk that way.

One of the best things about Brussels is the fact that they have signs everywhere explaining the sights nearby, so as I walked, I could tell what I was passing. In front of the Royal Palace, there is a large garden where I decided to eat a waffle with cream and relax in the shade next to a fountain. The street vender’s waffle was absolutely delicious. I don’t know how they made it sweet, crispy, and tender all at the same time, but it worked. In fact, I think I’m going to stop writing for a little while to go find one (I’m currently in a train station)…

Well, that one wasn’t as good as the last, but I did get to put Belgian chocolate ice cream on top, which was quite a bonus. Anyway, after the park, I continued on to the European Parliament complex, but only saw it from the outside. I couldn’t tell if there was a tour/guest entrance, but I was alright with that.

Actually, I just realized that I missed a stop. In between Grand Place and the park, I went to the Museum of Ancient Through Modern Art. Personally, I think that just makes it a general art museum, but who am I to say? I decided to only see the modern (19th Century – Present) sections this time, both to save on time and because I haven’t seen much of it yet on this trip. Really, even though I’ve grown to appreciate art much more than when I was younger, I still didn’t see a large percentage of the works that impressed me. Only three or four even made me want to stop and think.

Finally, I wanted to see the Atomium and Mini-Europe, but because they were on the last Metro stop, I also didn’t think I had time at 4:00 to go and see much. Instead, I took a short nap at the hotel, then walked around the city and took photos in the botanical gardens.

For dinner, I decided to go with Thai again; it really was delicious before, plus they were really friendly. This time, I ordered without Nam’s help, and ended up with rice, green curry, beef, coconut milk, and peppers. Nam told me that it would be too spicy for my sensitive Western palate, but I insisted. Yes, it was spicy; the coconut milk, however, calmed the peppers a little and made the whole dish bearably delicious. At the end of dinner, it was 9:30. I took a picture of the sunset and went to bed.