i am typing on the strangest keyboard..one that makes me feel like i just learned how to use a computer-- i actually have to look at the keys here. but moving along, we are in brussels, belgium now. before coming here, we stopped for a few hours in brugge...still in belgium. it was a tiny city--cobblestones and an old windmill. there were many tourists there--who must have known how cute it would be. it felt like a small town, very old-fashioned. still managed to get totally lost getting back to the train though. and now we are in brussels. in brugge, they spoke german and in brussels, they speak french. i know more french, well like two phrases--so thats good---although still, everyone speaks english. we are staying in a great location---right next to the "grand place" and tons of windy pathways of streets that are lined with cafes and restaurants. brussels is the headquarters for the european union, so yesterday we went over to the eu's parliament building. we waited a bit and went on a guided tour of it. later that night, had some good belgian chocolate. very good. today we went out to see the atomium, which is this gigantic monument type structure of molecules. its big and silver and shiny. about 30 minutes ago, i had a waffle. its the real deal here. the smell of waffles float throughout the city. this is a good thing. there is also a famous statue/fountain here of a little boy peeing. its called manneken-pis. saw that too. well, as the case has been, the people are very kind and i definitely like it here. we did some necessary laundry earlier and tomorrow we are getting up early to head off for lucerne, switzerland. this took forever to type and i now feel tired. love love love, jess