Brussels, so far

This whole "blogging" thing is quite new to me - but here it goes...

I've been in Brussels for almost 2 days, and its been both terrifying and amazing. Terrifying, because I am in a place where I know NO one, have no place to live, and where my french only allows me to keep a broken conversation with someone. Amazing, because it is a beautiful city.
Yesterday was my apartment search day. Sent out what seemed like a MILLION emails, and made a ton of phone calls asking about renting a room for a year, all of which led to no luck. Feeling frustrated, I  dropped the apartment search for a bit, and decided to go take a walk. La parc du cinquantenaire was a two minute walk from where I am staying, and turned out to be absolutely amazing! Apart from seeing the many groups of friends having fun together (...not nice when you are alone...), I had a wonderful time looking at the beautiful trees, and the great arch.  Then decided to go roam the streets of Brussels, where after about half an hour I realized I had NO idea where I was.  Came upon all these streets blocked off to cars for a "garage-sale" type flea market, where everyone had old, unwanted things to sell for cheap, sprawled on blankets all over the streets! It was really amazing - WHY does this not happen in Canada? After wandering for quite a bit longer, by some miracle I ended up back at my street.
Got home, DREADING the apartment search again, and found out that a friend had just landed in Brussels! So we decided to meet up in "Le Parc du Bruxelles" and go  for dinner. Left the apartment, and walked back to the fantastic park I was at earlier, with the idea that this was le Parc du Bruxelles. The two of us ended up in COMPLETELY different parks. My friend had to borrow someone's cell phone to call me, and after trying to find each other by the fountain, I realized that I was in the wrong park. Finally, I arrived at the actual Parc du Bruxelles, where I met up with my friend who had met a group of Finnish people drinking wine in the park. Stayed and chatted for a while, then we decided to make our way to the centre (downtown-ish) of Brussels. The streets were oddly quiet for a Friday night, and when we started to think that we were way far from the area we had planned to be in, we turned a corner onto a series of narrow streets lined with restaurants, cafes and bars! It was amazing! So many people, so many lights, so many sounds! We ate dinner there, and afterwards went exploring the streets. Some festival was happening, and so at around 11 they set off fireworks! It was the most amazing light show, and having seen it from a bustling street in the middle of Brussels made the experience 10 times better!
The next thing that happened may have been one of the most incredible experiences I have had, ever! Walking further and further through the streets of Brussels, we turned a corner onto another narrow alleyway, and walked into a large opening. I stopped, looked around, and realized that we were standing in the middle of La Grand Place! I can't imagine having seen it for the first time any other way! It has been called one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, and I definitely believe that (not that I've been to many squares in Europe... but I feel like this one would beat them all!). It was beautifully lit for the night, and there were so many young people sitting on the ground all over drinking their bottles of wine! We ate waffles covered in chocolate and ice cream there (my GOD were they good), and at around 1:30 decided to go home.

So this has been my time in Brussels so far. I am crossing my fingers that tomorrow I will find an apartment, so I can finally start to feel a bit more at home in this city.  Wish me luck!
Missing everyone terribly.

A bientot,

Sarah
 xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo