Monday 22 June 2009
Highlights: Visiting the Atomium

The transit stop at Madrid turned out to be interesting, first I didn’t correctly fill out the arrivals card and the border control just let me in anyway without me having to fill one in.  However at the same time an African was getting the third degree, profiling in action I expect.

The second thing is i got into the airport at 3.30 am local time and it turns out that aside from McDonald’s everything was shut including the Lounge, until 6 am. The few people airside like my slept on the provided chairs.

At 9.30 am I boarded the Iberia flight to Brussels. On arrival at Brussels I was extremely happy to find my bags again waiting for me, thank you Iberia. On Inge’s advice I took off to the city via the airport train and somehow found my hotel, Hotel Bloom which is a very upmarket place. While walking around Brussels I came across the window sex workers, on the train trip I also saw them, but on my walk they were knocking on their windows to get the attention of men while at the same time walking right in front of their window were Muslim women in burqa clothes, a surreal scene.

At around 6.30 pm my good friend Inge arrived from her job and took my on a car ride to the Atomium, created in the 1950s it still looks very futuristic. We had an enjoyable dinner nearby with Inge ordering for me; soon I had some Belgium beers (including a ‘white’ beer), some muscles and waffles with cream, very nice indeed. We started setting plans for Inge’s visit to Australia in October which I’m already looking forward to. After the GPS kept sending us around in circles Inge returned me safely to my hotel, with me promising next time I’ll stay in Belgium for longer so Inge can show me more of this beautiful country.  Inge you are a very special person.