"Aaaaaah MADE IT MY-SELF."

Belgium kicks France's ass, just so everybody knows.

It's an awesome little country. I admittedly did not know much about it going into things, but the history I have learned is quite fascinating. They're a motley mix of everywhere around them, with something along the lines of three national languages and several Parliaments, and the specialize in producing the best of the foods that are bad for us -- beer, chocolate, and waffles piled high with whipped cream, strawberries, and chocolate sauce. I'd love to take a lot of chocolate home, but since it is produced using only oils and none of the waxes and preservatives American chocolate contains, it may not travel well. I will see what I can do. Thus far I have only tried the beer, which is excellent, as beer goes. I usually cannot stand the taste of the stuff, and I am a lily-liver when it comes to drinking hard alcohol. I like the fruity, girly drinks, but I had about half a large glass of a dark beer that was pretty good. I may go by the ice cream place next door and get a waffle if it's still open by the time I get down there.

OMG the song that just came down in the bar downstairs is "Precious" by Depeche Mode, and this was preceded by "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The musical taste of this bar-complex greatly pleases me. If anybody has seen the preview for the live-action Death Note movie, the latter is the theme song, and given zychi's hard-on for both L and RHCP, I'm surprised he didn't stroke out when he saw the preview. What is it with anime picking up Western music for theme songs as of late, anyway?

I am listening to Depeche Mode. In an internet cafe above a bar. In Belgium. What. Now.

We left Paris early this morning and took a tour through Brussels before continuing to Brugge. Brussels is a nifty town. There is this gigantic, metal atomic structure left from one of the World's Fairs, and a mini-Europe sort of walk-through about the size of a good miniature golf course featuring 1/25 scale replicas of landmarks from every country in the European Union. There are two beautiful buildings across the road from one another in a lush park that have been made into museums -- one Chinese, one Japanese -- that I wish I could have looked into more closely, but we were on the bus portion of the tour.

Tomorrow we have a partial-day tour of Brugge, and the day after we leave for Amsterdam. Hoo boy.

I've been trying to send my mommy an email, but the damn things keep getting bounced back. Maybe I'll have more luck in a different country.