Jul 02, 06 | Brussels to Ferrara

Two days ago I realized very clearly the geographic trap surrounding Belgium. In the morning Paddy and I traveled into Brussels to tour and get reservations for my long trip to Ferrara. Unfortunately, every train down to Paris was full until Sunday and every train into Germany was booked until the end of the World Cup. I was trapped on all sides. This was disappointing for two reasons. First and foremost, I would not be able to see the Flaming Lips. Secondly, Belgium is pretty cool, but definitely not as exciting as other places I would be able to see in the time I was going to have to spend there.

So after the poor news, Paddy, being very sympathetic, led me to a street cafe where we pondered the dilemma. Various escape routes included plane (clearly too expensive), having Paddy drive me to Paris (something which I really did not wan Paddy to have to do), and waiting it out (something which I did not want to do).

Following our meal we returned to the station and spoke with yet another employee about getting reservations. This time the lady was much more helpful. Somehow while seaching for tickets she was able to do what the first attendant could not and booked me the entire way from Brussels to Ferrara, with an overnight stay in Paris. I did, however, have to pay extra for the ticket. I am not sure exactly why, but I wasnt going to argue. At any rate, the extra money was definitely worth the trip and the concert.

I got in to Paris around midnight. By the time I got there, most everyone in the hostel was asleep, including my two roommates: Miguel, and older man from Spain, and another American who was pretty quiet.

My night, however, was not quite over. You see, somehow between Brussels Midi and Brussels Central, I was able to lose my Eurail Pass. Luckily, I did purchase the protection plan, so all I needed to do was find a police station and file a report. Then I would get reimbursed for any other tickets I may purchase. However, finding the police station at 1am in Paris was definitely not a simple task. It seemed everyone I talked to seemed slightly baffled, not because they did not understand what I said but because apparently the idea of going to see the police at 1 am is unheard of and, frankly, kind of lame. In fact, two girls I talked to on the street came right out and said, “We do not like the police. Neither should you. Come dancing instead.” And though dancing in a knee brace would have been an interesting challenge, I had to get back to the hostel before it closed for the night.

I only slept for about 3 hours before I got up and showered and started to make my way to the station for my 8 am train down to Milan. The train ride was long, but really not very bad at all. It was a pretty nice train and the scenery was even nicer. Towards the end of the trip we were going straight through the Alps and the views were amazing. I took pictures, but it seems getting the pictures online is going to be difficult until I arrive in Utrecht on the 16th.

After Milan I headed to Bologna and then to Ferrara. Ferrara is a very nice, fairly quiet town. It is very Italian, in that I was one of the few here with blonde hair. I waited for about an hour and then met up with Devin and his CERN crew. It was very nice to see such a familiar face in such a foreign location.

The concert was amazing. It is hard to describe how happy I was when it was going on. It took place in the courtyard of an old castle in the middle of town (complete with a moat). Everything about it was just great. I took lots of pictures, but again with the difficult to get on the web thing. Afterwards we hung out in front of a large cathedral with about 200 other youth. It was like a very large party, though everyone was very calm and just kind of hanging out. There, we met two people from Fort Worth who are headed to Rome today around noon. They offered me a free place to stay, so I decided to take advantage and head to Rome with them.

This is where I am now, waiting to leave for Rome. I am having a fantastic time, despite any snags with rail travel. I really miss ice water though.