Oops ... Went to Gent

I had yet another embarrassing misadventure today.

After rolling out of bed to get onto a subway to get onto a tram to get onto an airplane, I arrived in Brussels and headed to the info desk to ask where to catch the shuttle to Antwerp. I went to the window and bought a ticket, and the ticket seller said "Go to Platform 1, it leaves in 2 minutes." 

Dashing with all my worldly belongings in tow, I got to the train on Platform 1. I had thought a "shuttle" would be a bus, but that's what the lady told me. I camped out on the train in a comfy chair with a table, the ticket man took my ticket, stamped it, and away we went. 

My itin said the trip should be about 45 minutes, so at around 50 minutes, I started to get nervous and google things. The train was headed for Gent, but having dashed onto it, I had no map, and no idea if Antwerp was on the way.

Surprise surprise, Antwerp is NOT on the way to Gent. A ticket woman came by to check tickets, took one look at mine and was like "uh oh." We were about half an hour from Gent at that point, so the best thing was to stay on the train, then go to Antwerp, a one hour journey, from there. Oy vey.

I must note that the ticket woman was incredibly nice, wrote me a note on the back of the ticket so that the officers on the Antwerp train wouldn't try to charge me, and physically walked me to where I needed to be in Gent to get on the correct train.

I can't believe I had two travel fails in a row; I'm usually pretty good at trains and such. I feel an enormous shame shadow creeping over me, but I'm trying to ignore it.

Anyhoo, I eventually arrived at Hotel Julien (right), a minimalist and super chic boutique hotel right in the heart of Antwerp. My room is small, but it has the two things I missed most in Vienna: hair conditioner and a bathtub. Am totally cool with that.

I met with a representative from the City of Antwerp for coffee, and she marked some things on my map and was very friendly and kind, even though I'd stood her up two hours prior. Then, I took a much needed shower and did a little work, because, you know, I've gotta eat. 

And eat I did. I went to Zuiderterras, a lovely restaurant with wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor windows and had a delicious dinner staring into the rain coming down on the Schelde river. Then I wandered home through the streets, taking pictures here and there. I also picked up these, because they made me laugh:

Desperados ... When will you come to your senses?