Arrival in Europe!!

Today I arrived in Europe! It took two flights: Seattle to Copenhagen and Copenhagen to Brussels. Both flights went very smoothly with almost no turbulence. Passport control was easy, it consisted of the customs man asking me why I needed a visa and stamped the passport. Customs was even easier, after grabbing my bags, there were two exits: one for people with an EU passport and one for non-EU passports. As I walked towards the exit I realized that there was no guard or checkpoint, I just walked out. It was very easy! After “customs” I walked downstairs to the train station, pretty easy. I got a “free” ticket (my rail pass covered the train) and only had to wait about 10 minutes until the train came. Taking the train to my station, Gare du Midi, should have been really easy, however I was unaware that the signs at the train stations are ½ French and ½ Dutch (Belgium is bilingual) so I read the Gare du Midi sign as Gare Zuid (Apparently Zuid is Midi in Dutch) and promptly realized my mistake after pulling out of the station and seeing a French sign indicating Gare du Midi. I was able to get off at the next station and along with two German girls who made the exact same mistake as me, managed to get on the next train in the other direction. After getting off the train I found my way to the hotel, only backtracking once. I checked into the hotel problem free. After cleaning up and resting for a bit, I went out in search of dinner. I found a neat little “snack” place about two blocks from my hotel. After that I came back and went to bed!