There are many reasons that I do not like France. There are many reasons why I do like France. The number of holiday breaks each year is, without a doubt, a good reason. Every October, all the students in France receive a week long holiday to celebrate Toussaint (a Christian holiday celebrating "All Saints"). To take advantage of my proximity to all the European cities, I planned a ten day vacation to Brussels, Brugges, and Amsterdam. If I had known that the strikes would be the cause for all my classes being cancelled a week before Toussaint, I would have left earlier and could have potentially traveled for 17 days instead. I probably should have also visited more than 3 cities during my 10 days since each city was actually quite small and became boring after a few days. But, all is done, and now I can take that knowledge with me when planning my next trip.
BRUSSELS/BRUXELLES:
Had to catch my flight from Lyon to Brussels from LYS airport which is about 45 minutes from the city. Woke up around noon and was out of my house by 1:30pm. Flight was at 4:30pm and I thought that I had plenty of time to get to the airport and catch my plane. WRONG! ALL the public transportation I needed to get to the other side of town to catch a train was closed. I had to walk across town which took a good hour and a half. Then I had to wait for the train. The train took 30 minutes to get to the airport. When I arrived, it was already 3:50pm. The gate closes at 4:00pm. I ran through the airport and reached the baggage check at 4:05pm. The check-in lady refused to check my bags at first because the plane was already boarding. Then she gave pity on me and told me to hurry up. I literally got through security and boarded the plane at the very LAST minute. Unfortunately, my friends on the same plane were not able to make it and had to pay a crap load of Euros to get to Brussels a different way. I was extremely happy when I did manage to make it on the plane though.
When I arrived in Brussels, my next task was to find the home of the couchsurfer who offered to host us. I will leave his name anonymous, but I will say that he is one of the most welcoming, hospitable, open-minded people I have ever met. The fact that there are people like him in this world blow my mind. So care-free and trusting. On the first night, he cooked for us and took us on a mini car tour of a part of the city. The first site we saw was the Atomium. It was built for the world expo in 1958 along with various other buildings that can be seen in the King's garden. However, the King's garden is only opened a few days every year to the public so I was not able to see it. And yes, there is a real king in Brussels. He is just a symbol though and holds no actual power except that he is the only one who can excuse the head of parliament from his duties. These are all neat little facts I picked up from my couchsurfer. He explained to us the different types of waffles in Belgium, the levels of chocolate stores, the history of the architecture in the city, and where a couple hot spots to eat are.
All in all, I had a wonderful time in Belgium even though 4 days is a bit long. I believe that a person could probably see enough of Brussels in two days and be satisfied. *NOTE* you don't have to go to Amsterdam to see legal prostitutes and smoke legal weed. Its all legal in Belgium too! They just don't advertise it because they don't want tourists coming just for that.
A little lesson on Belgian Food:
-Moules et Frites (mussels and fries) are not actually a Belgian specialty. It originated from northern France.
-Belgian Fries must be made a certain way or they are not worth it. They are all cut by hand and never frozen. They must be deep fried twice in liquid animal fat aka HOT LARD. Once at 135 degrees. They are traditionally served with Mayo but you can order it with ketchup, tartar sauce, even beef stew! all in a nice paper cone. Best and most authentic fries found in Brussels is located at "Chez Antoine". Pick up a cone and head into any pub close by and order a nice tall Belgian beer. NOM.
-Belgian Waffles have two varieties. There is a Brussel style waffle which uses a pre-made waffle that is kept warm and is topped with whipped cream, chocolate, caramel...basically whatever you want. Then, there is a Liege waffle which in my opinion, is the better of the two. It is made fresh to order and served plain/natural. The batter is extremely thick and already has chunks of sugar in it which melt and become caramelized during the cooking process. Basically, you bite into a piece of heaven.
BRUGGES:
This is a small town an hour northwest of Brussels. Very small but very touristic. The city is known as the "Venice of Belgium" for its many water canals running throughout the city. I also had the opportunity of Couchsurfing here with a nice couple. The husband was born in Brugges but he had traveled all over the world and had a great many experiences. His wife was born in Sri Lanka and moved to Brugges with him after they married. Although they were a bit older and a bit quieter, they were very nice and made me feel right at home. I was fortunate enough to have a separate room from them and could finally relax a little. They also made a wonderful authentic Belgian style dinner which consisted of an endive wrapped in ham and baked in a milk/cheese based sauce until everything is brown and bubbly. It was served with a heaping portion of mashed potatoes. YUMM :). I am sure I will find myself making it sometime in the near future. Brugges itself was nothing too special. It had a nice old town feel to it and beautiful architecture, but so does the rest of France. The bars were either too packed to breathe, or had no one at all. The city also has no clubs because the Mayor banned it some years ago. Basically, as some people say, Brugges is where the Belgians go to die. They do have random art pieces sitting in the city center though was is pretty cool. We also hit the city during a random crazy weather storm and ran into a couple inches of hail. Yes, inches of HAIL. 
FOOD ADVICE:
-There is a small chocolate shop here called "Sweertvaegher". Don't ask me how to pronounce it because I have no clue. The choclate shop has been open for over 100 years and each chocolate piece is crafted by hand. The customer service isn't too nice but the chocolates are as good as you will find in Belgium and the praline chocolates are super tasty.
-You can find cheap tasty soup at two restaurants relatively close to each other. The names are "L'estaminet" and "Medard". The soup of the day is about 3 euros and comes with a few slices of bread and butter. Warm, well seasoned, and satisfying. Medard also serve heaping portions of spaghetti for 4 euros but I wasn't able to try any.
-This city is the best place to find fresh waffles Liege style. They literally make it in front of you and make you wait. They hand it to you just as it comes off the grill. You are so excited and tempted to eat it that you forget it just finished cooking. You can bet I burned my mouth more than once...
AMSTERDAM:
Dear Amsterdam,
What happened? Last time I came, it was so fun and enjoyable. This time, you gave me a stomach flu, you surrounded me by rude locals, and you rained on my parade.
Sincerely,
Minerva
That basically sums up how I felt about Amsterdam this time around. I ended up staying at two hostels in the city center this time around and it was just not fun at all after the first day. Too much weed, too many drunk tourists, too many hoes in the red light district. Its just a city of too much. All the museums were too expensive and the weather was absolute crap. 99% of the food I ingested was borderline disgusting and 99% of the people I met seemed to be having a very very bad day. I didn't feel too good either after yacking and sitting on the toilet for two days. Fortunately I was feeling a little better on my birthday and was able to eat my first decent meal in ten days.
FOODLINGS:
-"New King" restaurant is the only decent Chinese food in Amsterdam and probably one of the few places that you can actually get a nice meal for a good price. It doesn't look like much from the outside but the inside is enormous and is always packed.
-Don't be lured in by the little food/snack shops sitting in the red light district. They are there to attract the tourists who have a serious case of munchies. 3 euros for a crappy cold muffin. Never again.
-Try to avoid the falafel shop with free salad bars. I ate there and I think it is what made me sick. The falafels themselves are perfect, but the salad bar was sitting out at rooms temperature all day without a cover and i am pretty sure they were harboring some super bad bacteria.
CONCLUSION: Its good to be back in Lyon. True story.
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