We flew out of Las Vegas on Tuesday on Condor Air… I’d never heard of them but I managed to score two tickets to Frankfurt, Germany for $290 a piece…. Yeah, it wasn’t how I wanted to go but I was burning days and I was itching to get across the pond. The airline is managed by Thomas Cook and the price is about the only thing…. Well, maybe leg room, that makes the low cost fare, a budget compromise.

This airline was simply amazing! I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was most certainly not what we got. They have four fares tiers, the lowest was the economy and besides the 10 hour flight length, the only con I felt was the leg room for folks like Steve who are vertically endowed.

A pillow and blanket were resting in my seat at my arrival. The attendants were very welcoming and kind. The first meal service, yes, I said first, was a hot meal of penne, basil, and tomato sauce, a warm roll, a very tasty coleslaw salad and a chocolate mousse that was to die for! We had our choice of non-alcoholic drinks with the meal and there was no extra surcharge. Every seat had an entertainment system with TV shows, movies and music available for free using your own headphones or you could purchase more movie choices for a nominal fee or a pair of headphones if you didn’t have your own. The second meal service was breakfast before landing. We were served a rolled up slice of turkey and two thick pieces of cheese, another warm, tasty and extremely fresh roll and jam, and slices of cantaloupe and pineapple. Absolutely delicious!

The flight length was very tedious, and by the end of the flight, which took us into Wednesday, I was constantly watching the interactive flight screen which showed the plane’s position during the entire trip to see how close we were to Germany. I tell you I was so happy when we landed at 10:30am local time, but not as happy as Steven was! That poor man endured a 10 hour flight with about as much leg room as he had on the Frontier flight and he was sitting inside by the window. We were both exhausted when we got off that flight! One lesson learned was there will be no more cheap flights when flying with my 6’ hubby. We’re going to have to pay for leg room!

I stopped and withdrew some Euro from a bank machine… the dollar exchange rate was listed at $.89 Euros to the US dollar, but Navy Federal showed that the actual rate given was $.77. But I didn’t care because now I had funny, square and colorful bills in my pocket.

Going through German customs was simple and fast… once we found it. We thought there wasn’t any at first. You could roam around the area were debarked at which included shopping and eating places, but they caught up with you before you could get out of the building.

“Madame, where are you going?” asked a young German customs agent.

“All over Europe,” was my reply.

“Okay,” he said and stamped my passport. He didn’t even bothered to ask Steven’s but just stamped his book and sent us on our way.

We said our goodbyes to our new friend Eugene, as he was traveling north to see his son. And we headed to the train area, trying to decide where we were going to go. We bought a 10-day EurRail Pass for the both of us, which allows us to travel into 31 countries over a flexible period of two months. My hope was to travel to as many countries as we could while being totally flexible. We decided to go to Luxembourg. I’ve got family there and I’ve never been, but somehow while examining the train schedule, we ended up listening to a well-meaning German citizen because Steven thought he knew what he was talking about, and took a train I knew I didn’t really want to take. But, this is an adventure, so I went with the flow and that’s how four hours later, we ended up in Brussels, Belgium.

I quickly made a reservation in a cheap hotel located close to the train station, Bruxell-Midi, one of three stations located in Brussels. The Hotel des Deux Gares was in a more depressed and dirty area of the city, but it was a short walking distance from the train station and it was only $43 a night. The room itself wasn’t bad, but at just 53meters, it was very tiny and unfortunately came with no a/c. The bathroom had a shower with no enclosure, so showering totally drenched the entire bathroom floor!

We were truly exhausted after flying for more than 10 hours, and then enduring a 4 hour train ride. All I wanted to do was take a nap but it was already late afternoon, and I knew if I laid down I’d sleep for hours and wake up late at night and be starving with no idea where to get food and I was excited to see the city. So, after dropping off the packs, I talked Steven into trekking down to the city center to see the Grand Place, a good 20 minute walk. The walk there took us further into the neighborhood and it was depressing. Garbage on the streets, smashed glass in the bus benches, the horrible stank of humans reliving themselves outside. We were in what seemed to be a predominately Muslim area. Several restaurants had nothing but men sitting around socializing with not a woman in sight. I asked Steven what he thought they would do if I sat down at an empty table and asked for a soda. He wasn’t interested in trying.

But when we got closer to the Grand Place, the view was amazing! The immense size of the medieval marketplace was astounding and the architecture of the historical square was absolutely breathtaking, surrounded by guilded buildings and their stunning statues. I was in awe at the sight, and excitedly tried to get Steven to feel the same excitement at the craftsmanship of the 14^th century square but all he wanted was a coffee. Various restaurants surround the square, housed in the lower portions of the ancient buildings. We spotted a Starbucks, ordered drinks and sat outside, with me continually getting up to take more and more pictures. The majority of the buildings had been damaged thru different conflicts so the buildings standing are mostly reconstructions from the 18^th century but still just as important as the originals. I learned that it’s been designated as a World Heritage Site and is considered the most beautiful square in Europe.

After our refreshments, we walked around a few of the streets, looking at all the chocolate, linens and other touristy items. I sampled some delicious Belgium chocolate and wanted to bring lots home, but I feared it wouldn’t last on our adventures, so if I do, just know that it came from the airport!

It was getting late so we started back towards the hotel and then we came across the Manneken Pis statue which had lots of tourists taking picture with it. Steven had no desire to let me get a picture of him with it, but then he probably couldn’t because of the shear amount of tourists surrounding it. Across from the statue was a chocolate shop with one in the window, posing with waffles and chocolates.

A half hour later, we were safely back at the hotel and ready for bed. It was so hot in the room and the only air was the little amount that entered in at the top of the opened window. It made for a restless and hot night, but the bed was really comfortable and it actually got a little nippy in the early morning.

Up next, the Eurostar through the Chunnel to London!