Liege, Belgium

Well, I didn't do much traveling this weekend, but I took a day trip to Liege in Belgium. I had read somewhere that German is one of Belgium's official languages, but it seemed that the spoken language was French, and the only French phrase I know is "I am dead" (I don't know how to spell the French words). I only know that because Sarah C. taught it to me. Anyway, I was unable to communicate properly, so it was really good that I decided to stay for only Saturday. I think I should still start at the beginning, though.

So I woke up around 7:30, in order to get to the 8:30 train. I had seen a Cuckoo Clock in Cologne which I wanted to buy, since it was priced very reasonable, considering the prices I saw in Heidelberg and Salzburg. So I took a detour to Cologne, and found the shop I had seen the clock in, and bought it. It is a really nice looking clock, and they sent it to the states for me, too. On my way back to the station, I saw one of those Silver people, and decided to put some spare change in the cup placed in front, and as soon as I did, the person started squeaking at me! It was hilarious. I am glad I did that. So after that, I caught a train to Aachen, a city on the border of Belgium and Germany, and then to Liege. I got off the train, but since the train station was under construction, it took me probably 30 minutes figuring out how to leave it. I finally had to follow a man who I was fairly sure was leaving, too. As soon as I rounded the corner, I realized that I wasn't in a very good part of town. I didn't feel that I could take my camera out in that area, so unfortunately, I don't have very many pictures of Belgium. Most of them I just thought were pretty buildings. Anyway, I started getting really hungry, but the first restaurants I saw were pretty highly priced, so I waited, but after walking around for an hour, I still hadn't seen anything else, so I just went back to the train station area and got a pasta plate.

That was a very interesting experience. I walked by the restaurant and saw they had a menu in the doorway, so I took a look, and decided what I wanted, but I don't speak French. I had forgotten what I wanted, so I asked the waiter for a menu, but he only spoke French. I asked if anyone spoke German or English, and he motioned a bit annoyedly, and got one of his colleagues. He realized I needed a menu, so he got one for me, and after that it was mostly pointing at the menu showing the first guy what I wanted. It was a very rich pasta, and it kept me from having to eat for the rest of the day. of course, I ate a 3 in the afternoon, which was a very late lunch.

Other than lunch, all I did really was walk around, taking pictures. I saw something really strange walking back to the train station, though. There was a naked lady in a storefront window. At first I thought she might have been a nude model, posing for an artist, but later down the same street, I saw another lady in a shop window in very skimpy and risqué lingerie. I came to the conclusion that prostitution must be legal there in Belgium, and that the ladies were selling their wares, so to speak. I told you I wasn't in a good part of town.

I got back on the train to Aachen, and then on the train back to Cologne, I started talking to to guys who spoke fluent German (they were from Africa, which is why I didn't refer to them as Germans) and understood about 90% of the conversation! I have been making tons of improvements.

That was my weekend. It wasn't as packed this time, but I think I needed that, after traveling so much lately. Hope you enjoyed reading it!