Adventures in Babysitting (the Brussels Blog)

Paris was from the 23rd to the 26th of December, Amsterdam was from the 28th of December to the 1st of January. That left the night of the 27th (and the morning/afternoon of the 28th) open. The original plan was to go to Cologne, Germany. But after learning that Eurail pass included Belgium…I’m sorry, lemme take a step back and educate the viewers at home:

There is a plan that is open only to non-EU residents called the “Eurail” pass. Basically, for 2 months you’re allowed either 5 or 10 days of travel between 3, 4, 5 or all 18 EU countries…with each plan increasing in price the more days and/or countries you’re allowed. But here’s the thing, you have to select the countries up front. Now, Kadija and I, starting in Germany and desiring to travel to Paris (France) and Amsterdam (the Netherlands) obviously wanted the 5-day, 3-country pass. Luckily for us, “the Netherlands”, in addition to Holland, included Luxembourg and Belgium (Google Earth it, dammit!).

Anyways, lonelyplanet.com has been my guide for many of the weekend trips I have taken during my tenure out here (Sidebar: Them bammas are going corporate because when I was looking for our Amsterdam accommodations back in November, I was able to see the editor’s picks and get phone numbers and all. But now, they don’t give you any of that stuff and try to have you book your rooms through them.) So when I went here and saw that, “From November to March, the weather is often wretched (right around freezing with plenty of slushy precipitation),” I figured Brussels was not the best of ideas. The site did have a very good review of Luxembourg, but unfortunately, the country is either so small or off the radar that there were no reviews or suggestions of places to stay. So during my day at the Paris office, I asked where we should go. The overwhelming answer…Brussels.

So here’s the funny thing. We didn’t have Internet access on Christmas (and we were busy out and about all throughout the 24th) so the only day (i.e. night) I could book something was the 26th (i.e. the night before). Considering the Christmas/New Year’s holiday, you’d think we were doomed. But the night of the 27th, given this week’s distribution of days in 2007 (i.e. Thursday night), was the exact mid-point between people’s Christmas and/or New Year’s plans/travels. So while I was aware it was last minute, I was also aware that there may be openings. Aww, lemme stop b.s.-ing, I was ready to take the first place that answered, spoke English, took Visa and was ready to book us. Surprisingly, it didn’t take long and within an hour we had the basement room in the Phineas Fogg—a 4-room (what in D.C. would be called a “row house” and in NY a “brownstone”) B&B in Brussels: http://hotels.lonelyplanet.com/hotel/-P131455.html

Nothing much happened between checking out of the hotel in Paris and checking into the B&B in Brussels except:

• When traveling in and out of Paris, you have to have a reservation…regardless of whether or not you have a Eurail pass, and there’s a guy at the train door who checks each person getting on to make sure they have a reservation. So when boarding the train in Paris, when the guy in front of us tried to act like he didn’t know, the train checker-guy straight sonned him by saying (in the most stereotypic French accent you can conjure), “I do not know who told you this, but he is a lyeur!” Kadija and I were laughing about this the rest of the trip (and still are). What’s even funnier is that he also came around to where we were sitting later and struck up a conversation. He said he loved “Pulp Fiction” (replete with the John Travolta “peace sign” dance) and said he’ll only begin to come around on his not-so-positive views on America if Barack Obama was elected (he was black by the way).
• I took this picture of Kadija:
  

• And just like all of Germany, there are no subway turnstiles

So after arriving and getting settled in our room, Karin (the owner/operator of the Phineas Fogg)…


….drew us a “spot-on” map of the path that we should take to get downtown.

Here are some of the pics from our walk:
















OK.

So, the original plan was to head back to the B&B, charge our (and the camera’s) batteries, sample (i.e. drink) all 6 of the Belgian beers we purchased from…


…and then head out to the authentic Belgian restaurant that Karin suggested and depicted on her hand-drawn map. But after uploading pictures from the camera, drinking delectable Belgian ales and realizing a 20-30 minute (round trip) walk just wasn’t a good look, we decided to try for something a little more closer to home-base. It was around this time that Karin asked us if we wanted pizza. Now, Kadija (for some-odd-English reason) does not like pizza and I wasn’t trying to impose, so we politely declined.

Some 15 minutes and 2 to 3 beers later, Karin asked us to babysit while she got the pizza. To her defense, there was another guest that hadn’t called to let her know (or lied about) when they were to show up. So the pizza would have been gotten earlier (i.e before we got there), had they shown up or let her know when they were going to be there.

This is a pic of her and her beautiful daughter.


Kadija and I were both a bit leery or this situation, but I figured Karin wouldn’t be that long getting the pizza and I was also a bit sympathetic to her because, being the traveler that my experiences with her and her place led me to believe she was (and lonely planet described her as being), I felt that she might have just needed a break away from it all (if not just for 5 to 10 minutes). So, speaking on behalf of the both of us, I agreed.

For the majority of the 20 or so minutes Karin was gone, things went well. Her Karin’s daughter (I’m sorry, I forget her name) sat on my lap and looked at my pictures in iPhoto. Some she liked…


Most she didn’t…


[Yeah I know Karin is in the background of these pics, but this is basically what was happening the majority of while she was gone.]

I even taught her to call Kadija a “bamma.” But then…. Look, the truth of the matter is this girl was no older than 4. And despite the fact she can probably speak 6 languages better than I can, she can’t speak none of ‘em fluently. And I don’t care if your mother or one of the many guests taught you to be an origami master, scissors without your mother’s supervision just ain’t happening.

Now Kadija will tell you herself, she dislikes children (especially bad-ass German ones—see here). So when little girl sulked and ran to the corner in the other room after I took the scissors from her, Kadija just pursed her lips, slightly shook her head and continued typing. I, on the other hand, followed her to the corner, and attempted to console her. I thought I was making headway, then she started saying, “I want Mommy.”

Luckily shortly thereafter Karin showed back up and when the little girl ran up to Karin speaking another language…I feared the worst. I then told Karin that she tried to pick up some scissors and took them away from her. Karin said she completely understood and thanked us for looking after her. Shortly after that, Kadija and I left to go to the same Italian place Karin got her pizza from. Not only were we hungry, but we were both extremely eager to talk about the situation that had just transpired.

Basically, both sides of the story were like this:

• On one hand, she shouldn’t be leaving her 4-year old daughter in the care of strangers she just met no more than 6 hours ago. To do so is just plain simple irresponsible parenting because you never know what could happen…even if you’re gone for 5 minutes. The fact that she found it OK to do so might be reflective of her not wanting to be bothered for a period of time (as evidenced by Karin playing solitaire (by herself) several times during the evening and her daughter’s insatiable need of attention—meaning Karin may not be paying her enough of it). If this is indeed the case, this also lends to the notion of irresponsible parenting.
• On the other hand, the fact that she found it OK to do so might also be reflective her liberal mindset in maybe wanting her daughter to be exposed to as much of the world and life as possible (i.e. spending time with complete strangers without her supervision will not only teach her English, but also teach her to be independent). Furthermore, the likelihood that one of her guests would do anything heinous to her daughter is slim to none—given her place is small and not that publicized, I would suspect that the “lonely planet” crowd that stays there is more civil than the general traveling populace. I know you can’t put a profile on a traveler or the type of person that would do something heinous, but that’s just my sentiment. Of note also, as I stated earlier, there are no turnstiles in the Brussels subway system. And if my assumption, that people who ride the subway pay for tickets to the same degree that they do in Germany, is correct, the people of Brussels have some sense of morals (i.e. paying for tickets) and would be less inclined to do something to her daughter than they would be in America.
  

Still, Kadija and I were both in aggreance that were it our child, we wouldn’t have left him or her alone with us, or any strangers for that matter. But then again, neither of us have been parents, nor have either of us run a B&B.

After dinner, we went back to the Phineas Fogg and went to bed. We woke the next morning to your standard European breakfast (bread with butter and/or jam, sliced meat, coffee and boiled egg (optional), and headed out to Brussels again to catch some pictures in the good weather before leaving to head for Amsterdam.

These pictures and many more can be found on my photobucket account...link coming soon.

Cheers.