Last night Mary made an interesting observation, as long as alcohol is involved, I seem to be able to make new friends fast. At dinner another American couple, from Dallas, sat next to us. We had a great time drinking wine and taking in the sites. After the cruise we stopped by a pub near Centraal Station for a couple beers, where we made fast friends with a German couple from Fussen.
This morning we woke up groggy with our stomach's slightly out of place. We had quite a bit of wine at last night's dinner cruise, followed by several glasses (.4 litres) of Wieckse Witte. But we feel much better after the B&B host, Carlos, made us a delicious breakfast.
We check out at 11AM, so we will be losing our internet connection until we check into our next B&B in Brussels. We are off for our high speed (TGV) train trip to Brussels. Tot ziens from Amsterdam.
Nightime update - Well what an interesting day. We arrived into Brussels and caught a cab to a popular tourist site near our B&B, the Albert Square. Unfortunately, our host never arrived and we waited for an hour before we were able to convince a neighboring business to contact them. Come to find out, we were to be placed in a different building altogether, which is where our contact was waiting. Once everything was smoothed out we found out we would be staying on the third floor of one of the guild houses overlooking the Grand Place. When we arrived, the Grand Place took our collective breathes away and the location of the room could not be beat. The detail and stonework of the buildings in square is unimaginable (so look at the pictures).
After settling in, Mary and I walked up to the Grand Sablon to sample chocolates at Pierre Marcoloni, Leonidas, and Nuehaus. A month earlier I made reservations at Les Clefs de Champs (Keys to the fields), which was highly rated on TripAdvisor and featured in the Michelin guide. Our meals were very good, but the best part was at the end our server presented us with two small boxes of chocolate (a royal approved brand) and some terrific apple brandy/liquor.
On our way back to the B&B, we saw the Mannekin Pis and bought four Belgian beers (two Hoegaarden Rosees', a Tremens Delierium, and a local Gueze). We drank them as we watched a music and light presentation on City Hall at the Grand Place (22:30 and 23:00). We are thinking about taking an excursion to Bruges/Brugge tomorrow.
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