Brussels

Customs--I get the impression that unless you're African or Middle Eastern (Europeans are just as racist as Americans. Don't let anybody tell you different) you're pretty much in.

Baggage--Oh yeah, on with this Sh*&. We pick up our bags (all of them... I almost forgot my guitar at the gate-check getting off the plane. Thanks Anne). Get a baggage cart and wander around a while looking for the train. Find train. Now comes the ticky part--we have to, somehow, get all these freaking bags onto the train. Then we have to get them off the train to transfer at Brussels Nord. Then get them to the next track. Then get them on the next train. There are WAY more than we can possibly carry... So we sort of do it in trips. Belgium folks are pretty obliging when it comes to helping with getting them on the train, luckily (OK. Sorry I called you racists but it's true). After much hassal, we get on our train bound for Maastricht.

The train ride was probably about an hour and a half. I spent most of the rid listening to iPod. Also took a few very uninteresting pictures of the Belgium countryside, perhaps the most uninteresting pictures ever taken in the history of photography.

Arrive in Maastricht. Unloaded bags. Dragged bags to inside of station. Now, for some reason, we had it in our minds that Anne would trek off to find the office for our apartment and I would wait with the bags. It's about 1:00 p.m., Maastricht time, making it about 7 a.m. New York time. We had both pretty much been awake since 7 p.m. the day before, mind you. So Anne heads off and I drag the bags into the stations cafeteria or dining area. I order a cup of coffee, which almost immediately puts me into a coma. Since I'm now Guardian of Our Stuff, and since I'm not used to, you know, trusting people, I do my best to stay awake. I read for a bit, which of course doesn't help. Luckily Anne isn't gone too long and we grab a cab to the apt. WHY DIDN'T WE JUST TAKE A FREAKING CAB THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE I can't really figure out. In any case, we had finally made it.