Metro, Tram and Subway Confusion in Brussels

The unplanned day of my Eurotrip

Day 2 Europe

From Porte Mallot Paris, I boarded Flixbus to Brussels. Flixbus is the cheapest option to travel from one city to another in Europe. It's around 15-25 Euros. Buses usually start on time, so reach the bus at least 15 minutes before your departure. And be ready to present your passport to the driver while boarding. Good thing about Flixbus is getting on-board wifi(300 MB per device) and washroom( I was very happy to know that). You can book a Flixbus ticket from FlixBus or GoEuro website/app.

It took three and a half hour to reach Brussels. Bus dropped me at Gare de Nord station, Brussels around 8.35 pm local time.

At the station I was confused between 2 types of ticket vending machines. I took a risk and randomly chose one machine and took out one ticket and asked local folks, how to reach Schuman where my friend was staying from a year. I faced language issue there but after wasting sometime I met a very kind and helpful guy with his little cute daughter having deep blue eyes, resting in a stroller. He had trouble with English but somehow he communicated, "Follow me". I blindly followed him and took change of 2 modes of transportation(subway and tram) and 3 lines to reach Schuman. I would advise you to take hard copy or download soft copy of full public transport map of every city you visit. Otherwise you would land up wasting lot of your precious time.

Subway in Brussels

After getting off the tram, I searched my friends' location. The adventures were automatically happening everywhere as I didn't purchase any connectivity plan. I was on locals and free Wifi. I was interacting with so many people all around and I was loving it. After walking for 5 minutes I met 2 girls, who directed me to my location using their phone. Soon I heard a shout from top of a building. And I looked up, it was He waving his hand, welcoming me.

I entered his flat at around 9.30 pm and I was astonished to see that it was still daylight. After refreshing myself, few of his friends joined and we had a blast at night. We had several talks on how to have more fun in Europe. They told me about their fulfilled fantasies in Amsterdam. And I was very much thrilled after hearing some of their stories. We had a full Indian meal including my favorite Paneer dish with Roti and Rice. It was ordered from outside. After filling my belly, I laid down on sofa and sleep swiftly embraced me a natural cool breeze of around 15 degrees.

Brussels tram, subway, metro map for your help

I am an early riser, woke up at 7 am and took a hot water bath. Today was a champions trophy 2017 cricket match between India and Pakistan. Although I am a great fan of cricket,  for me exploring Bruges was more exciting than watching this match. Mind-boggling thoughts of exploring Brugges were hovering my head.  So I packed my bag and said good bye to friends who were still in deep sleep. At start, I didn't have a plan to tour in and around Brussels. Moreover none of my friends gave good reviews for any place out there except Atomium,

It was around 7.30 in the morning, I reached Schuman metro station. After reaching the metro station, I was totally confused about which ticket shall I take to reach Brussels Midi railway station where I could get a train to Brugges. I took out of  metro. At platform, the time for next metro train was flashing as 10.30 am. It was already 8.30 am by my watch and I totally pissed off. Keeping my agitated mind calm, I returned to a vending machine for an alternative. By God's grace, a white bro on bicycle came to my rescue. He checked my ticket, and said "Oh man this is metro ticket,  go via subway, currently subway frequency is good". He opened the subway entrance gate for me using his own card. 

On reaching Midi railway station, another hurdle came my way. I see no counters for tickets and there were only 2-3 folks roaming around a whole big train station. These vending machines were allowing only credit card or coins to take tickets. Unfortunately my credit card was not working there and didn't have enough coins (14 Euros). Now I really was downhearted. I relaxed, seated for 5-10 minutes and started thinking about a solution. Remembering one of my friend line "Every problem has a solution, You just need to think differently". I came out of platform and searched for Wifi. "No free Wifi". So there are Pros as well as Cons of not having connectivity on phone. Luckily I got a paid wifi for whopping 5 euros, I purchased the internet plan and booked ticket from raileurope. And finally I felt very relieved at the same time felt excited.

Now you would be curious to know about train journey experience and  above all that what happened in Bruges, How was it! Well next post will come soon this time.