Borrowed Angels

Song: Like A Sad Song – John Denver
Quote: So many different places, a million smiling faces.
Mood: peacefull.

Woke up at a quarter to 8, even though we had set the alarm for 7:30 am. Quickly showered and dressed and sat down for breakfast at half past 8. The showers were pretty good, but pretty weird as well. They had those time save buttons on them. Like, you press the button and the shower will spray water for 10 seconds. How am I supposed to shower in 10 seconds? I can’t even get my hair wet in 10 seconds. The showers were dirty too, well the floor was dirty. There was no edge to keep the water in, so the whole floor got soaked. Looked like a kiddie pool. My breakfast was a sad orange juice and a sandwich I had bought at the Starbucks the day before. Since I am lactose intolerant, I couldn’t eat the cereal, coz they only had regular milk. They also had white bread, and white bread contains milk as well. I was just glad for the Starbucks sandwich, or I would have left mighty hungry (and I am known for a pretty big apatite).

After breakfast we walked down the mountain and in search of the metro station we had agreed to meet Lisanne at. They had told us to go right when we spotted the cathedral. But we didn’t know if we had to go right before or after the cathedral, so we went there first to take some pictures. Then we slowly made our way around it, still taking pictures, and walked past a river (the Seinne?  I don’t know…) Then we spotted the metro station… turns out, if we had just kept walking straight on from the place we were taking the pictures of the cathedral, we would have walked straight in to the metro station. Ah well… we knew where it was now Quickly bought our day seat for the metro and walked in to a pharmacy to see if they sold the stuff I had forgotten. Nope… the pharmacies in France only sell meds and stuff. It’s not like a Boots or anything. Lisanne had texted that she would be a bit later, so we decided to head over to the lunch room next to the metro station, to drink some coffee (any sane person would start the day with a good cup of coffee) and wait for her to show up.

When she did, we finished our coffee and talked about whether we would visit the cathedral on top of the mountain first, or if we would visit the old part of Lyon. We went with the old part of Lyon. First went back to the cathedral, which was now open. So we went inside so I could get my mom a rosary We spent a lot of time looking at the stores there. We walked in and out of one store, then saw that the next store was awesome too, so we went in to that one too. We also saw a lot of those little music boxes where you have to turn the handle for the roll thingy to start turning. And the roll has these tiny little points on them that hit the “strings” which gives you the melody. Well, I have no idea what they are called, but I love those things so much! I always feel strangely nostalgic when I play them. I had to buy one for my dad that plays My Way (it’s a song by Frank Sinatra that my dad and I sing a lot). After a lot of stores, we went in search for a good place to eat. But it was either too expensive, or they only had bread… which meant milk, which meant I couldn’t eat. But then we found a little bakery that also served bread and pastries without milk Those I could have! So we had a lovely lunch… next to a bunch of Dutch people >_<

After lunch we went to Wonderland. It was a mini arcade place and they had DDR! Dance Dance Revolution rulez my life ^_^ I also won two plushies in one of those crane machines. I gave one to Ilse and one to Lisanne . When we were done playing we took the metro up the mountain to visit the cathedral there. We didn’t go inside that one, just went to look at the view next to it and the crypte they had underneath it. Then we had our own little photo shoot at the bottom of the cathedral steps   Took the train down again and another one to the newer part of Lyon, where we went shopping again, hahaha. Actually didn’t really buy a lot. Just went in and out of the stores mostly. We went to a square we had seen from the top of the mountain. They had the letters ONLY LYON standing on it. They were pretty big iron letters. So I proposed another photo shoot, with Lisanne and Ilse as my models I took pictures of them standing inside, underneath, behind and in front of those letters, so I could use them in my photoalbum to spell out ONLY LYON again. They were more than happy to help me accomplish that While there, we found this awesome store that sold natural products like bath oils and ointments. They also had scientific stuff like telescopes (big ones for looking at the stars and planets) and massage chairs. Ilse and Lisanne both took one of those chairs and sat there for like… an hour or something. I’ve never been much for massage chairs, as they usually hurt me. So while they sat in their chairs, relaxing to shiatsu massages, I continued browsing the store. I found these little stressballs that Lisanne was searching for and I bought Rhea a little gift. I also bought this glass bulb where you can grow lotus flowers in. And since those or some of my favourite flowers, I just had to buy it. (Hey, I should be able to buy myself a gift too right? Since most of the times I only buy other people gifts.)

When Ilse and Lisanne were done in the chairs and got the things they wanted, we paid for it and left to go in search of clothing. I really don’t think I’m one for clothing shopping. I’m more the type of person to go in to a store, look for what I need. Try it on, and then leave. But hey, the girls loved it, so I could coup with it I think I watched them go in to 20 different stores and try on dresses and skirts and shirts and then end up not buying it. When we went in to the H&M, I foun d the msot adorable things for my nieces and nephews. So I bought that, and some lipgloss and body spray they had on sail for 1 euro After H&M we went to MonoPrix, which is like a French version of the Primark, but more expensive. I only bought two nailpolishes and some Neutrogena whipes.They did have a stand for MAC’s Helly Kitty make up collection. I was thrilled, but kinda not when I saw the price. I can’t believe it’s so expensive. WHY does make up have to be so expensive? We had a look up stairs too, sw some tiny tiny baby outfits (size 46? o.O that’s babydoll size…it’s the size I had when I was born, because I was born prematurely)

But that we started to get rather hungry, as it was already half past 8 in the evening, so we took the metro to this Sushi place that Lisanne knew. While waiting for the train, a part of my camera came off and roled down on to the rails O_O I don’t know why it came off, it just did. It’s that little cap you use against sunlight. Which rather sucked, coz I had only had it for a week. I first had to look around for an ATM  as I was low on money, but after walking around 3 blocks, we couldn’t find anything. So Ilse and I headed back to Lisanne, whom we had left behind at the restaurant. Dinner was great! Ilse and I had the same menu, which consisted of miso soup for starters, then a bowl of chinese cabbage, which they had prepared in such a way that it was rather spicey. I loved it! And I really don’t like cabbage. Ilse and Lisanna didn’t really like theirs, so I ate theirs too xD (I told you, I have a big appatite). After the cabbage we got the sushi, I think we had like 6 or 9 pieces of sushi, some grated ginger and wasabi. I love ginger and wasabi, but Ilse and Lisanne don’t. So I had theirs as well. I used up all of the wasabi on my sushi. Only two pieces had a little TOO much wasabi, so it kinda burned at the back of my throat. But it was okay. Just took a sip of my drink and I was fine. After the sushi we got 4 skewers of chicken with a bowl of rice. I ate almost all of the chicken, except these little meatballs that I really didn’t like. But the rice… it was just TOO much! I was so stuffed I couldn’t eat anymore.

After dinner Lisanne told us we were invited to go to a party with her, it was a party of one of her collegeas. But Ilse and I were rather tired and we had agreed to meet up with Lisanne again the next day, so we opted out of the party and went home instead. The way back wasn’t as hard to find as we had expected. It was rather easy. The walk up the mountain wasn’t as bad either, it only took us like 10 minutes, but that was mostly because we were taking pictures. The waterfall we had seen on the way down, was now beautifully lit up with blue lights. So we stopped to take pictures, when suddenly this strange Indian guy came to stand with us and started talking to us. He started talking to us in French and when we didn’t respond, he talked in English. He asked where we were from and Ilse said Holland. Which was a big mistake… He then saw the need to tell us everything about himself and how his brother lived in Holland too and how he went there and learned a little Dutch and yadda yadda yadda and bla bla bla. Ugh… I don’t like guys like that. I don’t start talking to you, don’t tell me your life story. I don’t need to hear it, okay? And besides, it’s late, it’s dark, you’re creepy. Can you blame me really for not wanting to talk to you? He followed us up the mountain, telling us over and over again that we didn’t need to be afraid of him because there were camera’s everywhere. He pointed them out to us like 10 times. Then he started talking about “food” we didn’t know what he wanted. Something with “l’amagne” it only hit me a minute later or so that l’amagne is Germany in French. And the food he was talking about, he meant football. He was cheering for Holland when the world cup was on. Great for you, but I don’t like football. Please go and leave me alone -_-

Well, we finally got rid of him. His house was a few doors down the road from the hostel. He even invited us in saying he had a big house. EEK! NO!! F*CK OFF LEAVE US ALONE!! >_< Ack!

Song:  I will always love you – Dolly Parton
Quote: We went to France, can you believe it?
Mood: Excited

We slept in today. Well if a quarter to 9 is sleeping in For me it is anyways hahaha. Then we got dressed and repacked our suitcases. Ilse and I went down for breakfast (cereal with soy yoghurt! YAY) and after that spent a little more time on the internet. Then we had some coffee and her mom made lunch and then it was time for us to go to Rotterdam central station. Ilse still had to cancel her return ticket to the Netherlands, as she was going to London instead. We also booked our tickets to Brussels, as that was where our plane was leaving from. We first had to take the train to Brussels Central Station. Our compartment was filled with Spaniards that didn’t have a ticket. When we were on the train to Brussels CS, they said over the intercom that we had to wait on platform 5 for the train to the airport. So we waited… and waited… and saw 5 other trains pass by and still no train to the airport. So we asked, and the guy told us the train was leaving from platform 3. We had 3 minutes left. So we ran up the stairs and there was no immediate stairs down to platform 3 >_< we had to walk like 50 meters for the stairs… We arrived on the platform and there wasn’t a train yet. I looked further down the platform and there was a train standing there so I asked Ilse if that was the train we had to take. We ran towards it… and it left.  We missed the damn train because the stupid people gave us the wrong information in the train. So we went to ask again and they said the next train was leaving from platform 5. WTF?!?!?! So we walked back. Saw the other guy we had asked about the train before sorta making fun of us (FU man, FU) Luckily we were on time now to get the train to the airport. It was a good thing that the train ride to the airport only took 15 minutes. I would have hated to be late. I hate being late >_<

At the airport, we first hit the Starbucks. They had this new Frapp lemon green tea. It was rather good too.  Since we had already checked in on-line, we were able to go straight to the gate. But we only knew it would be gate A, but not which number. So we looked around the shops  they had there. I was in search of a toothbrush, a razor and deodorant. Three things I had forgotten. I missed my toothbrush the most. Turns out, none of the stores n Brussels Airport even sells these things. So we ate and drank some more *more Starbucks!!* and then the screen said we had a gate number, so we walked towards it. Bad news approached us quickly. There was a half hour delay with the plane. So we waited… and waited… and waited… and the half hour delay passed us by, and there was still no plane :O turns out, it got lost or something. The stewardess had to call in to check where the plane was xD All in all, we had an hour delay, leaving from the Airport. BUT, we did arrive half an hour earlier than the hour delay. How weird is that? Must have had the wind in our tails or something.

Having landed, Ilse and I stepped in to the Airport, expecting a passport check. There was no such thing o_O so we walked towards a door we thought was customs. But as soon as we stepped through it, we were outside and Lisanne was waiting for us. I swear she was gonna cry, she was so happy to see us hahaha.  Also met one of her coworkers, who was to be our driver towards Lyon He was a Dutchie, but they spoke a lot of French together. My French is pretty much non existent, so I had no idea what they kept talking about. They took us to a restaurant that they had eaten at before (apparently, quite a few times because the owner approached them like an old friend would). I had a starter of carpacchio without cheese, followed by some duck and a fresh fruit salad for desert.  It was pretty good too!

After dinner, we desided to go in search of the hostel we were sleeping at. It wasn’t in a place that was easy to find though. Turns out, we were half way up a mountain, hahaha. We walked in to the hostel and they had West Side Story playing, so I sang along. And then as we were checking in, we somehow ended up talking about Dianne Pilkington and the 39 Steps. The guy behind the counter looked up at us and was like “the 39 Steps? That’s a movie” and I told him “I know, but we are talking about the play that’s playing in London ” Then it was time to say goodbye to Lisanne, only for the night though, coz we agreed to meet up again in the morning so we could spend the day together.