Belgium June 7-12
It is strange that I met Tatiana not long after Beck and I first travelled seprately and here I am at her and her mothers home the day Beck and I begin our 2nd separate travels. If youve been keeping up, you may remember about me writing about meeting Tatiana in Laos and travelling through Cambodia together and meeting up with her boyfriend there. We had arranged by email fro me to stay with her if I was in the area and Amsterdam being " hours from her town in Belgium, we arrange for her to pick me up from the train station. I, however, miss the stop, get off at the next one, catch the next train back, and when I get to the right station, no Tatianna. I figure she thought I missed the train and went home to check if there was an email from me. I go to the pub next to the trainstation and ask if there is somewhere I can send on email. No they say. Is there a hotel I can go to until I can get in touch with her. No, they say. Its a very small town. No internet, no hotels. Is there a police station? Ahhh, one of those we have. They point me in the direction of the police station where I figure that in such a small town they might know Tatianna. I, stupidly, dont even know here surname. All I have is her first nama and an email address. I figure the police will have email and let me send her an email to pick me up from the station. As I approach the police station, a car beeping its horn and Tatiannas voice calling my nale come down the street. Aparently, they went TO THE WRONG TRAIN STATION ANYWAY and wouldnt have been at the station I got off at even if I got off at it the first time. They realised I wasnt getting off the train at the station they were at, went to the other station, saw I wasnt there and went into the pub to see if they had seen me. Yes they said, hes on his way to the police staion.
After a short drive we get to the house which is full of crystals and a lovely energy. Tatianas mum owns an organic health food shop, which has taken off in Europe far greater than it has in Australia. They make me at home, we spend the evening chatting and have an early night as they get up at 4am to go to the store, and the next morning are going to the organic food warehouse to buy supplies for the shop. I ask if I can come along. At 4 the next morning we drive an hour to a huge warehouse filled with everything you would see in a supermarket but all organis, down to the dog and cat shampoo, and every kind of food you would normally see in a supermarket. It is cold enough at 4am, but in the warehouse it is 0 degrees to keep everything fresh and for the next é hoursd I freeze in there, not having dressed to spend the morning in a giant freezere. When Merlene, Tatianas mum, hqs finished, we go to the store and I help unload, pack shelves, put things out, do dishes, whatever I can think of to help. Tatiana is heavily involved in a natural foods program run by a guy in Italy who is visiting Belgium and she has arranged for a reflexology and consultation for me which is very sweet, and very painful, he really gets in there. After the session we have lunch there, the first of many wholly organic meals which are all surprisingly wonderful. We drive back to the shop and Merlene gives me a lift to the house. I am so tired I fall asleep in the car. I call Beck at Jackies and at 6pm go to sleep and dont wake for another 11hours.
On the 9th I call Jett for his birthday. This is the day I knew I would be feeling most like wanting to be home on the whole trip. It is wonderful talking with him and we are both excited about him coming out to the USA to travel with us for a bit and visit Disneyworld as his birthday present. Tatiana and Merlene have already gone to the shop and at 1pm Tat comes home and we catch the train to Antwerp, walk the city for a while, have a huge lunch at an organic restaurant, visit the terraces that have been built along the river and give a great view of the city. We walk back to the train station and have dinner with Merlene and a lovely evening chatting and another incredible organic meal. The 10th I surf the web in the morning looking at tickets to Prague where I am planning on going next. I cacth the train back to Antwerp to buy a bus ticket for Prague for the 12th, and out of curiosity ask where else they have buses going to that day. The woman gives me a list of cities, and on the spur of the moment I decide to change my plans - to get to Hungary via Croatia and Romania rather than Czech and Slovakia - and I buy a ticket to Zagreb in Croatia instead of Prague. I buy gifts for Tat (headphones for her computer) and Merlene ( a Beth Orton CD she mentioned) and catch the train back. Now I need to research my new plans. I get on the web, look at Croatia (no visa required) and Romania (visa requird but there is a Romanian embassy in Zagreb which I will have to stay in until I get the visa). I also look for transport from Croatia to Romania and Hungary and find a discount airline that has flights for less than the bus or train and I book them online. I also book accommodation for the first 2 nights in Zagreb. New itinerary set.
The 11th I spend the morning on the web again looking for accommodation in Miami because Qantas wont let me book Jetts flight to meet me there unless I have an address they can take him to in case I dont turn up at the airport. Qantas have a fantastic unaccompanied child system where they will meet Jett at the gate in Sydney, take him through customs, wait at the boarding gate with him, keep an eye on him during the flight, take him off the plane in LA and wait with him for the connection to Miami and escort him to me there. Having already travelled to travel with me in Asia and back, Jett is comfortable to do it this way, although he would not have been if this was his first trip. That afternoon Tat and I go to explore Antwerp again, visiting the less touristy suburban areas and finding a fantastic Spanish tapas restauarnt for another huge lunch. We get home at about 8, all sit and talk and watch TV and exchange gifts ( they got me a wooden pyramid block with magnets inserted that is meant to assist with fatigue while travelling). I stay up late updating the blog and finish it the next morning, my last day in Belgium. Tonight I cqtch my 24 hour bus to Zagreb in Croatia and begin my journey through Eastern Europe, back to Spain, to Jett in the USA and back to my Beck. Its all fantastic and will coninue to be, but still cant wait to see them again.
posted by flamethrower77 at 12:58 AM
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