After an early start Thursday, a train ride to the tube station, a tube ride to another train station, and a stressful morning getting through security, we made it on our train to Belgium!  The train ride was only about two hours long, and we spent a lot of it in the dark (traveling under roads and the English Channel).  As we hopped off the train, we were quickly reminded that this trip would be a little different from here on out: for the rest of the trip, we will be in countries that speak little English.  Brussels is a very diverse city, and has signs in Dutch, German, and French.  Laura brushed up on her French, and managed to find the signs directing us to the tram to our apartment.  We managed to get off the tram at the correct stop (which ended up being extremely crowded, and very difficult to navigate with our large suitcases), and walked a short distance to the apartment building.  A nice guy named Gregorio buzzed us in, and we were shown to the flat on the ninth floor of the building.

We rented the flat through a guy named Andris, who left us a warm welcome and told us to make ourselves at home.  The apartment is a cozy place, and we love the views of the city from the ninth floor!

A warm welcome note from Andris... along with a map and some chocolate!

The view straight ahead...

the view to the left...

...and the view to the right!