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Keith In Europe

Leaving Switzerland

Leaving Switzerland

 It has been an amazing 4 days in Zurich and we couldn't have been any luckier with our hosts; I sincerely mean that. We've sailed back to Germany, rode bikes all over zurich, watch fireworks from rooftops, and talked deeply and passionately in more languages than I know. This makes swimming in the clear waters and enjoying beautiful weather and tasty barbecue almost seem less than awesome.

 I feel like I have been pulled into the typical, real life of Zurich, even if only for a short time, as oppose to passing through as tourists; We did touristic things but really the people filled my memories.

 Actually hanging out with a bunch of masters stdents has seiously made me reconsider going for my masters.

 I will miss Switzerland greatly and because of the great people.

 It's funny that meeting these great people was made possible by meeting a very cool guy from my San francisco stay at the hacker house. It is cool to see the dots connect.

It's a beautiful day in Brussels, as were the last few aside from the occasional short periods of rain.

I'm in my room right now taking it easy for now.  I'm staying with a really nice local Pascale, renting a room out of her apartment.  It's an very old build and has a great view out of the window.  I have to get going to meet up with Gaby in a little bit to do some more planning and exploration, so I'll try to review the last bit quickly.

Getting to Paris is so quick.  It was close to 5 hours of flight and for some reason I expected more time to sleep.  It makes the world feel even smaller.  I definitely shouldn't have drank the wine and coffee - the food was good.  I caught about 30 minutes of bad sleep and woke up in France.  The customs seemed to like my canadian passport and I got my checkin back as usual.  There was an information booth right at the exit and I got moving to the train station where I was suppose to meet Gaby.

Quick side note: I can remember I once asked my mom, around grade 7 or so, if I could get out of french immersion in high school.  I'm not really sure why I did that, maybe it seemed easier or my friends were there or something.  Anyway, knowing french has been so useful and valuable in travel and in learning spanish too.  So, good call on french immersion mom.

I met up with Gaby with almost no problems and we had plenty of time to rejoice since we had to wait for our 3:30 pm train to Brussels (9:30 pm on my clock).  I still hadn't slept so we found a place that wasn't too busy and just sat on the floor to let the time pass.  I sadly paid 2.50 euros for a bottle of water which is probably close to 4 CAD or USD.  Food can be expensive here but if you are smart about it can get by without being financially destroyed.  Luckily Gaby had already had time to pick up a lot of the tricks.  I actually enjoy the exercise in living frugally.  You get to be really resourceful.

The train ride went smoothly and after that we went took the metro to the downtown area since her mom was able to get us a good deal on a Marriott hotel.  The metros are pretty much like Montreal's.

We were able to head out to the Grand Place which you can check out the pictures but the best part about being there on a Friday night is the music and atmosphere.

Gotta get going so I'll just post htis.