Brussels, Belgium - July 30, 2004
Okay this is a basic sum up of Brussels. I didnt get a lot of time to spend there, but Ill just add what I did see. Excuse me for skipping apostrophes as I cant seem to find a key on this Austrian keyboard to type them.
First off, after Ireland I went to Brussels in Belgium. Intersting city as it felt like very urban and compact. There was also a very international population. Africans, Asians, Europeans, etc. I didnt expect it as its the only place Ive been to in Europe so far that wasnt overwhelmingly caucasian. I felt a little bit like I was in some slice of New York City.
I walked around Brussels quite a bit, and there were also quite a few good restaurants of many varieties. I dont know if it was because Id been in Castellon Spain and Seoul Korea and it took me by surprise as some other options existed, or if they really did have a lot. It was good though.
I should also add that I went back to the US for a little while as well. Michigan and Nevada. Its nearly election time, and I wont say much here about it as Ive decided Im a bit exhausted of American politics. I am following it extremely closely however. Las Vegas was great though. I should comment on it more, but Im writing on a Brussels topic, and dont really have the interest to create a Las Vegas topic as well. Basically Im surprised that Michigan is overwhelmingly Republican and Pro-Bush during my visit, and Nevada was the exact opposite - very anti-Bush. I say this because the top 10 CD sales in Nevada had a lot of anti-Bush messages and the newspapers and bathroom walls and taxi drivers, and just about everyone you can imagine. Michigan seemed to be the opposite. Very pro-Bush, etc. I guess the strange this is that Nevada is perceieved to be REpublican-oriented whereas Michigan is Democrat-oriented, and theyve seemed to shift. I think its because the population of Nevada has shifted drastically with a huge influx of Californians and Mexicans now making up their population. (Hence a shift to Democratics). Whereas Michigan remains middle America which seems to have taken a hard shift to the right in the political sphere. Anyhow, thats all I want to say about that. Ill watch in November who Nevada and Michigan voted for to confirm this feeling or observation.
Back to Brussels. I wont go back. Nice place, but felt almost exactly like being in the U.S. Like any typical urban center, although hardcore Europeans would kill me for saying that any one of the many "beautiful" cities of Europe might compare to those awful American cities. But there you have it, just my impression. I didnt get much else time to explore Brussels so I dont really know what things I might have missed around the edges however.
Next Journal Entry in France:
July 31, 2004
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