Thursday, July 27, 2006

return journey

I made it back in one piece!

I write that with an exclamation point as if there was ever any doubt about whether it would happen or not, but I was never very worried. But first things first (so to speak) - the end of my trip!

I left Amsterdam after my brief stay and made my way to Brussels. Never alone for more than a few minutes, I came across a guy who looked about as confused as I was wandering the streets. Sure enough, we were looking for the same hostel, so we wandered around a bit more until we finally found it about 3 metro stops out of the center of town. His name was Kevin and he was a grad student studying in Paris, but staying in Brussels to do some research into the historical effect of whats-his-name's battle of you-know-where around the time of the ... oh forget it, I can't remember anyway!

Since it was early afternoon and his job didn't start until late in the morning the next day, I asked if he wanted to go wander the streets some more and then maybe grab a bite to eat with a pint of the oh-so-famous Belgian beer. He agreed, and we took the metro into the center of town. We wandered for a bit, taking in the sights of Brussels - the infamous pissing kid (or so I call him), which was no less than underwhelming at best. We also took in the magnificent architecture, cathedral and, more than anything, some of the best beer in the world. Around dinner time, we found a place with mussels on the menu, as Kevin claimed that the mussels in Brussels are the best. They did not disappoint! After a huge pot of mussels and several beers later (do you see a trend here?) the sun had set but we continued to wander the city. Okay, long story short we wound up breaking into a private garden piss drunk with a bottle of whiskey and marveling at how we had ever managed to scale the 8 foot wrought-iron fence and how we would ever get out again. All in good fun of course.

We did wind up making it out eventually, and the next morning I was aghast that it was the final full day of my trip. I took a high-speed train to Paris (which took all of an hour and a half) where I just lazed around for the rest of the afternoon. I meandered the streets, and wound up taking a nap with my feet in a fountain under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower after a baguette and cheese snack. I was feeling terribly european!

I woke the next morning and made my way to CDG, which is no easy task mind you! 2 metro lines and an RER train, not to mention the countless "moving sidewalks" in the terminal. I made it to the gate with just 20 minutes to spare. I flew through Heathrow again, where I had a quick layover before the long flight to SFO. Interesting flight, though. I was sitting next to (thankfully not in-between) two young Italian women who liked each other - very much. Every time I stole a glance away from my novel, they were either spooning or making out. Then they both disappeared towards the back of the plane for a good 15 minutes before they returned with smiles the size of the 747's wingspan. Then again a couple hours later. Interesting flight indeed.

Anyway, all this leads up to me being home. I made it into SFO on time, where both my parents met me with a huge sign with my name on it my sister had made. My mom was kind enough to drive me to Chico, where I slept peacefully in a hotel room until 4am when I was up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It was moving day! I went to my house to be, and found that I could not move in until Tuesday - 5 days from today. My lease at my current place ended today. Lucky, Rob, one of my neighbors, had a spare bedroom at his place, so we all moved my stuff into there for holding. After that, you guessed it, I drove back down to San Jose for a little family get-together for my aunt's birthday on Saturday in San Francisco, and a barbeque on Sunday supposedly to mark my return. It's good to be home, but all I want to do is sleep in my own bed - which I had to disassemble today! It feels today as if I don't even have a home...

Phew. What a trip. I'll post a full post mortem report when I have the time to sit down in front of my own computer with a cup of coffee and a clear head. Give me a few days :)