I am not sure if my day really had a beginning. If I were pressed to identify when my day began I would have to say it began last night as I put my clothes on to wash. That officially marked the beginning of my departure preparation. Unfortunately as is normally the case when it comes to me and leaving I had a thousand things I needed to get done and not enough time to do them all. I think it is now a standard practice of mine to travel on zero sleep. I was able to complete my postings to this blog as well as upload some videos. I was not able to post a link to the videos, that will have to come when I get WiFi access to post this blog.
I packed up all my stuff and hit the road. The bus out of Matt’s place was late or missing for about an hour. Finally the bus came and off I went. Time sorta flew by after that. I remember it in flashes rather than a continuous journey. *Flash* the bus comes to a stop at a station. I ask, several times if we are at Leeds, finally I am understood; turns out we are at white rose, a shopping mall. *flash* my eyes fly open and the bus is emptying of the last passenger. I assume this is Leeds and hurry to get my bag. I check in at the counter for the national express bus line to London. *flash* the doors are opening and the announcement is on the loud speaker, my bus is arriving. I load my stuff into the bus and grab a seat. I start to get comfortable *flash* we are at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere for a 5 minute rest stop. The lady sitting on the inside seat next to me has moved seats while I was out. *flash* we are at the stop in London. I grab my stuff and
drop my glasses, some nice person picks them up for me “thanks”. I roam around London looking for the underground “the tube”, I don’t ask for directions. After roaming through the mall I find it. I recognize the station from when I was 9 years old. I remember where the ticket lines are and the entrance to the underground. Feels good to remember this. I am hungry but I want to get my train ticket first then worry about food. I have already eaten a sandwich for breakfast.
I buy a one way pass for zone 1 and check the map to find the Waterloo station. I have already checked my guide book and I know which metro the Eurostar will leave from. I get to Waterloo without much difficulty at all. Proud, hungry, and tired I wait in the que of the ticket line. The nice man at the window after a 30 minute line informs me that as of November of last year the Eurostar station has moved to Kings cross St Pancreas metro stop. ARG!!!!!
I head back to the underground and back track my steps to get to the correct stop. Man this bag i
s heavy!! The pessimist in me is wondering if the station really moved. I wonder if one can just move a train stop for a major train like that. In my mind this is tantamount to moving Union Station in Washington, DC. Now I am wondering if maybe he is just playing a 4 pound joke on me. I make it to the new stop and get off. The Eurostar is there and I am relieved. I buy my ticket for a discount because I have a Eurail pass. I plan on leaving my bags behind and going exploring for an hour or two. She informs me that the check in for my train is…NOW. Oh man I rush down to the new que and skip all the food places and shops I wanted to peruse. I was going to buy postcards and mail them out to some people but, not now. I make it to the check in place and m
y ticket does not work. I have to have them do it manually. It works and I board the train. I get my stuff settled and *flash* we are moving through some country side. I read the signs and most seem to be in English must still be in England. I go grab a curry meal from the dining car. It tastes like crap but I was hungry. *flash * everything is dark we must be under water now. *flash* my phone vibrates I get a text message from my dad.
**yes dad I got your message**
I make a quick note to include this in my blog tonight. *flash* we are here in Brussels. I hurry and gather my stuff. Quick check of the map and I am off.
Now it gets a little pathetic. Time to make a confession, I am so out of my element here. I normally come across as confident and self assured. I can do this because I am in situations that I am familiar with. People have told me I am arrogant at times and I agree, but this is due to the fact that I have actually taken the time to learn what I need to know and more. I am arrogant because I know what I am talking about, because I learned and practiced it. Now here I am traveling internationally alone in a place I know nothing about including the language and I am terrified of meeting new people. Generally when I do something new I keep the learning process to myself. By the time people actually see me doing something I have already spent countless hours developing a skill in that area. By typing this up you get to see me as I muddle my way through a truly terrifying experience.
This trip was originally planned for four people; Matt, Heather, Roy, and myself. Well as you may have guessed I am the only one to actually make it. People tell me it sounds like fun to travel like this. I am not so sure. You see today as I got off the train I knew I should take the light rail car to Brussels Centraal then walk 2 blocks to the hostel. It would be a 3.2K walk up hill otherwise. Well guess what. I could not read the signs and I was too shy to ask anyone for directions so I walked through the city hoping I was going in the right direction carrying my heavy bag. I did eventu
ally find the hostel and I did not talk to a single person to do it. Not really a point of pride for me by the way.
After checking in I went out to explore and get a bite to eat, maybe even meet some people. Well, I walked and walked and walked. I found several restaurants but of course could not read the menu. I did not want to ask the waiter out front because the thought of trying to communicate with them seemed out of reach. After walking around and past several restaurants I headed back to the hostel. Here is where it gets a little funny. I was so hungry I would not walk inside; instead I turned and walked down another street and past more restaurants. This cycle repeated like a tribute to the Asimov book I’Robot when the…(If you have read the book you get the reference). Eventually I made it back to the Hostel without food. I had a coke for dinner and I am really looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. Maybe I will meet people there. Remember my goal this trip is to get over this stupid insecuri
ty I have in new situations. I wish I had a friend here to bolster me. *flash* Hungry, sad, depressed.
Right now I am trying to connect to the WiFi network here without much luck. Let’s hope it works soon because I would really like to sleep. This room is now full of people speaking French. Wish I knew what they were saying. Maybe in my next blog I will type up the rest of my thoughts I wanted to share. But this one is getting kinda long.
I packed up all my stuff and hit the road. The bus out of Matt’s place was late or missing for about an hour. Finally the bus came and off I went. Time sorta flew by after that. I remember it in flashes rather than a continuous journey. *Flash* the bus comes to a stop at a station. I ask, several times if we are at Leeds, finally I am understood; turns out we are at white rose, a shopping mall. *flash* my eyes fly open and the bus is emptying of the last passenger. I assume this is Leeds and hurry to get my bag. I check in at the counter for the national express bus line to London. *flash* the doors are opening and the announcement is on the loud speaker, my bus is arriving. I load my stuff into the bus and grab a seat. I start to get comfortable *flash* we are at a bus stop in the middle of nowhere for a 5 minute rest stop. The lady sitting on the inside seat next to me has moved seats while I was out. *flash* we are at the stop in London. I grab my stuff and
drop my glasses, some nice person picks them up for me “thanks”. I roam around London looking for the underground “the tube”, I don’t ask for directions. After roaming through the mall I find it. I recognize the station from when I was 9 years old. I remember where the ticket lines are and the entrance to the underground. Feels good to remember this. I am hungry but I want to get my train ticket first then worry about food. I have already eaten a sandwich for breakfast.I buy a one way pass for zone 1 and check the map to find the Waterloo station. I have already checked my guide book and I know which metro the Eurostar will leave from. I get to Waterloo without much difficulty at all. Proud, hungry, and tired I wait in the que of the ticket line. The nice man at the window after a 30 minute line informs me that as of November of last year the Eurostar station has moved to Kings cross St Pancreas metro stop. ARG!!!!!
I head back to the underground and back track my steps to get to the correct stop. Man this bag i
s heavy!! The pessimist in me is wondering if the station really moved. I wonder if one can just move a train stop for a major train like that. In my mind this is tantamount to moving Union Station in Washington, DC. Now I am wondering if maybe he is just playing a 4 pound joke on me. I make it to the new stop and get off. The Eurostar is there and I am relieved. I buy my ticket for a discount because I have a Eurail pass. I plan on leaving my bags behind and going exploring for an hour or two. She informs me that the check in for my train is…NOW. Oh man I rush down to the new que and skip all the food places and shops I wanted to peruse. I was going to buy postcards and mail them out to some people but, not now. I make it to the check in place and m
y ticket does not work. I have to have them do it manually. It works and I board the train. I get my stuff settled and *flash* we are moving through some country side. I read the signs and most seem to be in English must still be in England. I go grab a curry meal from the dining car. It tastes like crap but I was hungry. *flash * everything is dark we must be under water now. *flash* my phone vibrates I get a text message from my dad.**yes dad I got your message**
I make a quick note to include this in my blog tonight. *flash* we are here in Brussels. I hurry and gather my stuff. Quick check of the map and I am off.
Now it gets a little pathetic. Time to make a confession, I am so out of my element here. I normally come across as confident and self assured. I can do this because I am in situations that I am familiar with. People have told me I am arrogant at times and I agree, but this is due to the fact that I have actually taken the time to learn what I need to know and more. I am arrogant because I know what I am talking about, because I learned and practiced it. Now here I am traveling internationally alone in a place I know nothing about including the language and I am terrified of meeting new people. Generally when I do something new I keep the learning process to myself. By the time people actually see me doing something I have already spent countless hours developing a skill in that area. By typing this up you get to see me as I muddle my way through a truly terrifying experience.
This trip was originally planned for four people; Matt, Heather, Roy, and myself. Well as you may have guessed I am the only one to actually make it. People tell me it sounds like fun to travel like this. I am not so sure. You see today as I got off the train I knew I should take the light rail car to Brussels Centraal then walk 2 blocks to the hostel. It would be a 3.2K walk up hill otherwise. Well guess what. I could not read the signs and I was too shy to ask anyone for directions so I walked through the city hoping I was going in the right direction carrying my heavy bag. I did eventu
ally find the hostel and I did not talk to a single person to do it. Not really a point of pride for me by the way.After checking in I went out to explore and get a bite to eat, maybe even meet some people. Well, I walked and walked and walked. I found several restaurants but of course could not read the menu. I did not want to ask the waiter out front because the thought of trying to communicate with them seemed out of reach. After walking around and past several restaurants I headed back to the hostel. Here is where it gets a little funny. I was so hungry I would not walk inside; instead I turned and walked down another street and past more restaurants. This cycle repeated like a tribute to the Asimov book I’Robot when the…(If you have read the book you get the reference). Eventually I made it back to the Hostel without food. I had a coke for dinner and I am really looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. Maybe I will meet people there. Remember my goal this trip is to get over this stupid insecuri
ty I have in new situations. I wish I had a friend here to bolster me. *flash* Hungry, sad, depressed.Right now I am trying to connect to the WiFi network here without much luck. Let’s hope it works soon because I would really like to sleep. This room is now full of people speaking French. Wish I knew what they were saying. Maybe in my next blog I will type up the rest of my thoughts I wanted to share. But this one is getting kinda long.
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