After landing in Luxembourg, I caught a train to Brussels. I upgraded to first class but as soon as I boarded I realized it was clearly a commuter train and there was no difference between the cars except the one I was in was basically empty. I wedged my bags up against the window and settled in. It was a three-hour ride from Luxembourg to the Central Station in Brussels. Thanks to T Mobile, I was in constant contact with my sister while she was at her hair salon and I was riding the rails.

All alone in the first class car…

I tried to stay awake and broke out my journal to pass the time. I was worried about missing the stop for the central station since all the announcements were in French. I tried really, really hard to stay awake but eventually the gentle motion of the train got to be too much for me and I passed out.

I woke up occasionally and saw random stations like this…

I was sleeping hard and suddenly realized the train had stopped moving. I looked out the window at what appeared to be a major train station and I heard the announcer speaking a lot of French. I knew just enough French to recognize the words “central station” in the middle of her announcement. I thought, “Oh shit, this must be it!” I grabbed my coat, my suitcase, and my overnight bag and ran to the door. I stuck my head out to make sure it was the right station, but there weren’t any signs. I could see the conductor on the other end of the platform start to get back on board and I didn’t want to miss my stop so I chucked the heavy bag off the train, grabbed my overnighter and my coat and jumped off right before the doors shut. The temperature had climbed to about 1 so I put on my coat and hat and looked around. The station was entirely deserted. No sign of life. At that point a text from Cyndi arrived.

Turns out I was nowhere near Central Station.

After I explained to her I was in a different station which had no signs but appeared to be very fancy, she figured out I was at the EU. She sent me a screenshot of her route to the station and it said she should arrive at 2:39. I assumed she was driving so at 2:35 I went out to stand on the curb so she wouldn’t have to park. Turns out I was all wrong about that as well. She had taken the metro to meet me. I waited outside for about 10 minutes and there was no sign of her so I went back into the empty station.

No people, no signs, no idea where I was…

Cyndi texted me that she had arrived but I still didn’t see any sign of her. She told me she was at the entrance to the station. That’s where I thought I was. She asked me what street I was on though really if there had been any fucking signs at that station I’d have been at the right one! Finally I saw her walking around a corner. I almost wept. I said, “Where is the car? I’m freezing!” She said, “I didn’t drive. I thought you were coming into Central Station and it is just a couple of metro stops from my house. We only need to walk the quarter-mile to the Metro station here because this is the only train station in the city that doesn’t have a Metro station attached.”

When we finally got to Cyndi’s house, Gil was waiting for us. They gave me a quick tour, showered me with gifts, and fixed me a snack. We had just enough time to get pretty before they took me to the Marine Corps Ball.

Cyndi thought we had a Dynasty vibe going on.

Several of Gil’s co-workers were seated at our table. There was a couple from Hungary, a couple from Poland, and a woman from Italy with her Danish boyfriend. The program was great. Of course my favorite part was when they sliced the cake with the sword.

Happy birthday, Marines!

We drank wine. A lot of wine.

Dinner was great, and that’s not the wine talking…

And then they brought out the pièce de la résistance,,,

Macaroons as big as your head.