Parliament Day

The tour of Brussels would prove to be just a prelude to what would happen the next day.  When we walked around the city we had nothing on us but our wallets.  On the next morning, we understood what luggage really meant.

We checked out of the hotel early.  We were to move our bags to the Trias office.  Their volunteers would be the ones to take the bags via train to Westhoek where the bags and our host families would be waiting for us in the evening.  So first we had to go from the hotel to the office.

But it was rush hour.

In Brussels, there are no escalators going down into train stations.  The moving stairs only went up.  So we carried our luggage down the stairs going to the Metro station.  We weren't really rushing but lugging those bags around is not a walk in the park either.  Then there was the fact that the trains near our hotel did not go directly into the area where the offices were so we still had to change trains.  That meant climbing up ad down some more stairs.

Finally, we got out of the correct station.  We had to smile when we found out that the Trias office was the first door to the right when you got up to street level.

After meeting with Trias officials, we had to move to the Unizo offices.  That was not much of a rush although it was still a few blocks walk.  What happened after that meeting was the highlight of the day.

We finished the Unizo meeting a few minutes behind schedule.  The next stop was the European Parliament.  Since we were running late, Anna Marie literally run.  The race was on then and there was also a slight drizzle.  The girl did not believe in taking cabs or there were few cabs in the area.  Anyways, we rushed to the Parliament building.  

When we got to Parliament, there were the requisite security measures.  We were accommodated by the aide of Marianne Thyssen, a Belgian representative from the Christian Democratic party.  He explained how the EU system worked as far as legislation was concerned.  He showed us the session hall and allowed us a few shots too.  It really is interesting what cooperation can do.  I would also like to mention that culture does play na important role and should never be ignored.

After the meeting at Parliament, it was a leisurely walk back to the Unizo building,

But the day was not yet over.

Off to Belgium

So we are finally on our European adventure.  We got here last night.  Manila time that would be Sunday morning already.  We moved back in time.  Actually, we went back about six time zones.

KLM has some good services.  It starts with the free newspapers while waiting to board the plane.  Then there is the flight tracking system onboard.  I really liked that a lot, being able to track where we passed and what's below us.  The system also showed data about temperature outside, the speed of the plane, the distance we have gone and how far we still have to go, and how high we are flying.  I liked the graphics, the details of the display, the terrain.

KLM also has a good set of entertainment.  You get to watch movies and tv programs or listen to your favorite music.  There are also games for adults and kids.  There are even language courses so you can study how to talk with the people at youur destination.

Then of course there is the onboard meals.  We had two full meals, several snacks and lots of drinks. My seat was in the middle so I had to disturb my companion who was in the aisle seat several times to go to the lavatory.  Anyhow, the food was great.  We were full and we really felt full after we landed.

Finally, we landed at the Schipol airport in Amsterdam. After getting off the plane, we had to walk a long ways off to get to the exit.  I appreciate the fact that although there was a long line at passport control, it was a quick pass.  Then we had to get train tickets.  Our tickets were prepaid so we only had to get the ticket.  Then we had to find our platform and get on the right train.

It was still sunny outside when we boarded our train.  We enjoyed the view of the countryside of Holland.  We also got a view of the sunset.  Even after the sun started to go down, it was a long time before it got dark outside.  One of my companions said he was getting tired of waiting for the darkness.

At every station, we checked the station name.  Our station was supposedly the last station but we were not sure how far that would be.  We were all getting nervous, tired as we were from the trip.

At last, we got into Brussels.  Then we found out there were tyhree train stations in the city.  It's a good thing we were told we had to get off at the last station.  So we waited for the announcement that it was the last station before we got off.

Then we met our host or the representative of our host.  She guided us to the hotel by first getting us on the Metro.  Then we navigated the station with our luggages before we finally got to the street level near our hotel.

After three hours waiting to board a plane, fourteen hours in the air and four hours on the tracks, we were finally able to lie on our beds.  But the day was not over yet,