Having already visited France, Germany, and Luxembourg our whirlwind European vacation was well underway. Though fun and exciting we consumed a few too many Leffe’s the night before so the crew was off to a slow start this morning. Just outside Bastogne, Belgium we left the hotel to find a quick breakfast before starting our journey to Brussels. Locating a quaint little bakery we grabbed a few pastries and headed to a nearby coffee shop. Sitting on the front patio we watched as several locals began setting up booths for what appeared to be some sort of weekend market. Who would have ever imagined that you can’t get a waffle for breakfast in Belgium, apparently people here believe waffles to be snack food and not a breakfast item. Today’s plan was to find a small city on the outskirts of Brussels and locate a hotel. Having traveled in Europe several other times my family enjoyed finding 2-6 room hotels with an attached restaurant. This allows you to have a few drinks and share a conversation with the others travelers passing through. It is amazing the good times and people you can meet over a few beers in a foreign country.
Reaching a small town we stopped and ask a local shop owner for a suggestion on a nearby hotel. With not many options available, one, we headed in the direction he pointed us. Locating the sign with the name he told us we turned in for a look. Though the sign stated it was a hotel the u-shaped drive was lined with horse stables. Getting late, warn out and tired, we stopped to check it out anyways. The lady behind the counter grabbed a room key and offered to show us a room before checking in. We learned that this was a riding stable/hotel, with all of the rooms located directly above the horses. Unlike the US you don’t have to offer your passport, credit card, and sign away your first born child to rent a room. No questions asked, no names provided, and no money changing hands, she handed us the keys and simply walked away. Too tired to care that our hotel was a mix between India and the birthplace and Jesus we unloaded the luggage and turned in for the night.
Man after this night Brussels had better be as excellent as the tour books claimed!
"Europe" Pictures
Blake
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