belguim!!

sorry if i type co,pletely wqcky letters randomly.. these keyboards here qre out of control! qfter edinburgh and its beautiful scenery i took the train.. apprently the most expensive track of train in the whole of europe to glasgow.. over 10 pounds to go 40 mins or something like thqt:: i got into town and found the coffee shop zhere i met mark.. hqvent seen him since sometime during ,y freshmqn of highschool so ze hqd lots to catch up on! we talked for a bit.. moved to a pub to talk.. then walked around glasgow in the rain and saw his uni.. sorry jaqi, this schools hogwarts status might be above sydney uni!! we got some fish and chips and then headed to his house zhere i stayed for the night in the fluffiest most comfortqble bed ever! hahaa.. and it made me realize how much of a bum i am these dqys... a beachless bum actually.. i found my spot in life! ha but to be in an actual fa,ily home just for a few hours was so nice!

the next morning it was up bright and early to get to manchester and onto belguim! just another lovely bus ride.. the buses are the cheapest way to travel unfortunately.. the trains are for sure better than flying and of course cost the most.. i arrived in manchester to see the more zorking class side of england apparently.. i believe it.. and the bigger and more bizzare your hairstyle, the cooler and more with it you were! i found the town square and layed out in th sun for a little.. thank god the sun was back!... and then i splurged on a crappy wanna be chipolte burrito for 5 whole pounds.. i couldnt resist.. after that i got on a local bus to the airport.. glad i just wondered onto it early cuz it took over an hour to get to the airport! at least i had time for a little nap and to observe 2 punk teens babysittign this little boy while drinking beer on the bus, o yea and who could forget the old man who got on and accused me of taking his teeth!! hahah.. he couldnt talk obviously.. he was just old and cooky and i guess friends zith the other guy on hte bus zho explained what was goin on.. but he wanted to go home to get his teeth after he realized i didnt have them and kept riding the bus for a few extra stops.. wouldnt you get off the bus asap if you forgot your teeth at ho,e and had to go back;; i dunno, maybe its just me! got onto my ryanflight again.. o i hate ryan air, but it went pretty good until i got into brussels and was at a different airport than i knew.. i took the charter coach thing to the city center where i was supposed to catch the last train to zanvertam where i was couch surfing for the night.. of course i missed it by minutes qnd there was no other way to get to where i wanted to go... it wouldve been convieient if i had gone to the right brussels airport and couldve walked dozn the street to the house.. i had to splurge 37 for a freakin taxi if i didnt want to sleep outside for the night:: so i did and raymond, a nigerian czech guy, was there to let me into jelle´s house since he was out of town for the night! haha.. o boy. i get inside thinking i would be the only one, and theres a full on party going on! alright, except the 4 boys only speak french (i found out later it was only supposed to be one boy staying and he invited his crew!) and 2 girls from davis (ucd and ucsb) ! i stayed up for a bit to chat with raymond about being a free american.. u know the usual conversation haha.. and eventually got to bed..

the next morning i did my best to sleep in but found myself up at 10.. i got ready to go see brussels and raymond offered to show me around for a bit.. after i sat and chatted zith him for another hour.. by the time we took the train in, he had to leave for the airport. so i headed out to find the first chocolate and waffles i could.. success came all to quickly at the street corner, where i had a brussels waffle with strawberries and cream and a liege waffle on the side :) mmmmmmmmmmmmm i pigged out at the grand palace square where i people watched and thought about what my spending limit should be on waffles.. i walked qround and ran into the "little boy piss" waterfountain that i had no idea was an attraction.. as i wondered into and out of all the chocolate shops i realized i could completely stuff myself on free samples if i hung out in the little shops long enough and looked interested.. so naturally, i did :) so delicious! next i needed some ice cream, but decided that this was just going to go on all day, and so i got a smoothie and some groceries and called it quits for the day.. brussels is a confused city with lots of beautiful buildings and a little bit of every part of europe: i headed back on the train to jelles house hoping he might be home.. perfect timing, except for getting caught on the train without a ticket.. i legitamately tried to buy one but i guess the ticket booth is a secret so they can chare you 15 euro on the train instead. so i rolled up back to my couch and met jelle.. he is a little goofy but super nice.. him and his friend, stef, had just got back from a car race where they lost because they forgot to turn and ended up in a field! it was a good story.. we then went out to a little local festival and picked up amanda, their south african friend.. i really love the diversity here! we had fun rockin to the house techno all night and stopped in leuven so i could see the square.. it was cool even without all the people and tables out!

this morning stef took me out to see the belguim coast, bruges, and ghent! i was supposed to head to paris, but the free tour of the rest of belguim couldnt be passed up! we had a great day, beautiful and sunny for the most part, until stef mentioned how it usually rains this time of year... oops! i had an offical belguim sandzich.. and ive learned its better just to not ask what you are eating! there was some orageish meat-meal? spread with mayo and eggs.. pretty good though! we headed to bruges.. such a cool little old mideveil town with cool churches and whatnot.. chocolate shops of course, lots of tourists, and o, the blood of christ! even if it wasnt his, it was still stinkin old.. and it made the lady infront of me in line cry and she had to be consoled by the priest guarding the blood.. we then took a boat tour through the canals of the :venice of the north: before heading to ghent for the rest of the afternoon. ghent was sooo cool. it was unfortunqte we got there at 5:10 and everything closed up at 5.. but i had a great time! and enjoyed the last of my tour around the outskirts of brussels..