Cherry beer, waffles, and Flemish... Toto, we aren't in London anymore!

Bellying up to the stand for an authentic, Belgian waffle! (With dark chocolate and strawberries...OMG!)

In front of the Palace in Brussels!




























The Triumphal Arch (@ Cinequentenaire Park, Brussels)

Not to be mean... but I just HAD to share this. This guy on our tour has THE longest ear hair I've ever seen. I promise you that it isn't head hair coming down under the hat. That is EAR HAIR wrapping around his ear lobes. Are you kidding me????

On the ferry in Dover, heading to Calais, France!

Drinking cider on the ferry? What cider?

Leaving Dover en route to France!
Well, we are officially on the Continent! Hated to leave London, but it's nice to see new, fresh sights, for sure.

Took a charter bus down to Dover where we caught the ferry to Calais, France. The guide (Marja pronounced "Maria") said Calais is a bit of a dump anyway, so I suppose it isn't much of a loss to not have spent much time there. The ferry logistics took a while, getting everyone together, getting off the bus, into the waiting area, then together again to walk to the ferry, then onto the ferry, then finding a seat, etc. Afterwards we headed to our charter bus and met our guide and driver (assumedly for the rest of the tour). Marja and Luigi are very nice, from Croatia and Italy respectively. In the bus we headed to Brussels, Belgium for our overnight stay.

Once there we checked in, had about 15 minutes to put our things in our rooms and freshen up, then it was off to downtown Brussels for a short tour, free beer, and dinner on our own. The guide Matthew ("Taz") from Antwerp, Belgium, was wonderfully informative and had a great sense of humor, so it was really great listening to him.

When getting the free beer, though, we had a really strange experience. There was a group of young (our age), good-looking guys at the pub. Didn't think much of it until we realized how loud and obnoxious they were being... towards our group!! They were speaking some English (to us, w/ an accent) and some of what sounded Scottish, or perhaps Flemish (if they were locals), and talking both to the people in our group and about them in order to make fun. Like, what? They asked the family in front of us where they were from, they said Australia, so of course they had to cheers to "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi! Put another shrimp on the barbie!" Tame enough, but annoying -- then, as the line went through for the complimentary beer, the jeers got more intense to where they were just outright ridiculing people as they approached, including me and the woman in front of me. It was all I (Meredith) had to control my anger and ignore them, and for some reason it made me really emotional afterwards upon reflection. I teach language and I teach culture every single day, which includes people, traveling, acceptance, broadened horizons, etc., and I'm not used to being on the vulnerable end of the equation. We didn't know what they were saying when they weren't speaking English to us but clearly in another language about us, we didn't know why, and it's not like we could say anything because that's exactly what they wanted: a reaction. It was a really strange and off-putting experience, and we really had to vent about it afterwards because it bothered both of us. I wish people (if they were from Belgium) would be better stewards for their homelands sometimes, and make people want to visit, and tell others, and come back, etc. 95% of the time I think this happens and people are great hosts; that other 5%, though, can really tick you off!

But, regardless, we went and got some food down the street (pizza and spaghetti next to two people from New Jersey... not very Belgian!) followed by an authentic Belgian waffle covered in dark chocolate and strawberries... Yum!!

Back to the hotel for a quick snooze before we have to be up early with bags outside the door for porter pick-up, etc.! Off to Wuerzburg, Germany tomorrow (Sunday) for a night, then Prague on Monday for a night. Movin' right along...! :)