As things go, rather slowly.

I thought it was a Hispeed train that was supposed to take me to the airport in Brussels yesterday but nothing much like it happened at all. For part of the journey I was on a very rickety old train and the part that I spent on a modern train was not done at rapid speed at all. Nevertheless, little by little, I did get to my destination after what seemed like a rather slow journey and I even got there early by being able to carch one train earlier than I had expected too. 

That turned out to be a good thing because when I got to the arrivals at the airport it turned out that my friend Judy's plane had already landed and disembarked and she was waiting for me by the exit. She was unsure of whether or not the person she saw was really me and did not want to approach me until she was really sure. After all, we had not seen each other for 20 years. I did recognize her from the photo she had sent me and we quickly made the connection.

So started our long journey back on the train and we did finally after enough patience arrive in Maastricht where it was cold and drizzling and where we took a taxi to get home. By this time I for one was in desperate need of a cup of coffee because it had been a while and I made a strong pot full and I have to tell you that we were much revived subsequently and got our second wind. Good old caffeine does do wonders for a weary traveler.

Since then we have done an awful lot of talking, while Judy did need some time to rest and catch a couple of hours to sleep to come to her senses after not sleeping on the plane. But the rest of the time we have spent talking about every subject under the sun because we have a lot of catching up to do. Luckily, we have the same political and sociological leanings so we do pretty much see eye to eye. She is not a middle of the road American and has a very broad point of view. I am well informed enough to talk about anything at all. 

We watched television in the evening and since the coalition parties have come to a governing agreement, there was a lot of that being discussed and I had to do a lot of translating and explaining which led to more discussion. It is interesting to explain your political system to an outsider and it makes you re-examine a lot of things you take for granted and you do realize that you are lucky living with the system that you do.  

Going to the airport by train is one way of getting there but I prefer getting there by car because it is much quicker and it would cost you the same amount of money in gas and parking fees. You never do feel like you hurry up and get there quickly by train although everything is very well run and logical and the stations are new. I sippose going up and down in one morning is a little bit too much of a good thing too. 

Today we will go downtown and make that area unsafe with our presence. Judy has only seen the biggest square on television during a preformance of a show of André Rieu. That is where Café Monopole is and I am sure we will strike down on the terrace there for something good to eat and drink.