I am the guy who reaches the platform at least 30 minutes early for any train. Always. For any train, for any trip, without fail.
And then there was Brussels.
To give a little background, we decided to take a trip to Paris, but getting there directly from our place would take longer by train and was too costly by air. So we decided to add a pit stop in Belgium first and Luxembourg at the end. One of our friends suggested this, and we thought, wow, we can cover three countries in a single trip, and just by train. Let's go for it.
What we didn't account for was that all three countries would be experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures hitting 35+ degrees. But more on that later. Several times later.
Brussels - The Arrival
We reached Brussels on the 25th at noon, and the heat hit us the moment we stepped out. 35 degrees and no mercy. We checked into our hotel, paying a little extra for early check-in, but it was worth it. To our surprise, the room had AC, which we didn't expect at all. We just stood there for a moment, grateful.
That evening, we decided to hunt for waffles at a famous place before it closed. Tram ride, then a walk. The walk was horrible. My toddler couldn't take the heat, and neither could we, if we're being honest. We finally reached the place, only to be told that this branch sold only cookies. The actual waffles were at another branch nearby, and we had maybe 15 minutes before it closed. So there we were, following Google Maps, walking around in 35-degree heat, sweating uncontrollably, walking past beautiful streets and monuments without stopping even once for a picture. We almost gave up. But we found it. Got our waffles just before they closed.
My toddler didn't even like the waffles.
She had fries from a nearby place instead. They weren't great either. But she liked them, so fine.
After that, we finally made it to the Grand Place, took some pictures, and kept wetting a towel for my toddler every few minutes. It was windy though, which made the heat slightly more tolerable. Then Manneken Pis, then a bus and tram back to the hotel. It was almost 10 PM and still unbearably hot.
The Cancelled Day
So we decided we couldn't leave early for Bruges the next day since we were already tired. We thought we'd go later in the day. But looking at the weather, even that was difficult. So we decided to skip the day entirely and stay in the room, feeling guilty about not doing anything on a vacation.
Meanwhile, I found out after waking up that our Eurostar train to Paris had been cancelled, and I had to book an alternative. The only cheaper option I found was an OUIGO train in the afternoon, which took almost twice the time compared to the Eurostar. So we spent the whole day in the AC room, only going out for lunch to a nearby South Indian restaurant. Even that was too much for my kid, but at least the food was good. Later in the evening, I walked to a nearby supermarket, hoping the weather had improved. It hadn't. That pretty much killed any plan to go out, even later in the evening.
We decided to catch the first train to Bruges at 6 AM, then realised that would be impossible, and settled for the 7 AM train instead.
Bruges - The Redemption
Early in the morning, we checked out, stored our luggage at the hotel, and tried to book a cab to the station. Everyone kept cancelling. Then the hotel helpdesk called one for us; it took some time, but he finally came. We reached the station on time and caught the train to Bruges, meanwhile losing my sunglasses onto the tracks while getting in. At first it looked like we had taken seats in a silent coach, and with our kid we knew it was impossible to stay silent, so we immediately shifted to another coach.
After reaching Bruges, we took a bus to the first spot. It was magical. Perfect weather, no crowds, beautiful spots everywhere. We had also planned our outfits for Bruges specifically, and for once on this trip, we actually looked good instead of just sweaty. We wandered around, visited the famous spots, got a waffle, and this time we actually liked it. Then a few more spots, and I got a little jealous of my friend who was living there. We even met him at the station before heading back, and it started raining. Finally. Some respite from the heat. Bruges was everything Brussels wasn't.
The 10 Euro Mistake
Then it was time to get back to Brussels to catch our train to Paris, the actual reason for this trip. We reached the station with more than an hour before our train. My plan was to go back to the hotel by metro, collect the luggage, and return in a cab while my wife and toddler had lunch at the station. Also, I wanted to tick off the Brussels Metro from my travel list. What I didn't realise was that by trying to save 10 euros on a cab, I was about to nearly destroy our dream trip to Paris. And also that I was going to lose more than 600 euros in the coming days. But that's for another post.
It took some time to decide on a place to eat. Then I left them and caught the metro, eventually reaching the hotel after circling around the station for a while, thanks to Google Maps. I asked the helpdesk to book me a cab and went to pick up the luggage. She said the cab would be there in a minute. It didn't come. After waiting a few minutes, I went back to the helpdesk, and apparently the booking had been cancelled. They booked another one. By then, there were only 15 minutes left before the train, and I couldn't decide whether to run back to the metro with all the luggage or wait for the cab. It got delayed, but finally he came. "I asked him to hurry, while my wife kept calling, saying this is why I asked you to take a cab from here and come back with the luggage in the same cab. But where's the drama in that? I kept saying, "Still in the cab." Every single red signal suddenly felt personal.
Finally, I reached the station, and I started running towards the platform. Couldn't find my wife. Couldn't find the stairs. Couldn't find a lift. And we had just one minute left.
She was like, "It's done. We are not reaching Paris."
Then I finally spotted her. I took the stroller onto the escalator and handed the trolleys to her. Boarded the train with the stroller while my wife was still struggling to get both trolleys up. Then I came back out, grabbed the bags, and we both ran into some coach while people were already running past us. We got in just in time. The train conductor said something that sounded like, "Impossible." And the train started moving.
Meanwhile, our kid had just woken up in the stroller, completely unaware of all the drama.
To be continued. More hotels, more drama, more South Indian food. Paris next, Luxembourg to follow.
