2013 Belgian Invasion, The Day Before Departure and Brussels Day 1

Here is the newest series for Metal Trek, the 2013 Belgian Invasion. In this series, you get a first person perspective on Brussels, The PPM Fest, and even a night in Düsseldorf, Germany.

I feel I need to explain why the blog has been delayed as I tried to get it up and running earlier. For starters, when I came back, I had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on, as well as launching a new series for Channel 13 called Spurious Harmonics which has been long overdue. Also, I had a number of technological delays as my computer and my cellphones Micro SD Card were not on speaking terms, and Blogger.com and Firefox were having a similar quarrel.

I will try my best to update the blog as much as possible, but as always, there might be delays due to life's usual obstacles.

For the first post, it will will be about the day before leaving for Europe and the first day of travel. Onward, to the 2013 Belgian Invasion \m/

A tradition I have before embarking on major trips is to go to Rock N Roll Ribs. It is located in Coral Springs, about 1 hour north from where I live in Miami. For those who don't know, one of the owners of Rock N Roll Ribs is Nicko McBrain (if I need to mention who this individual is, you are reading the wrong blog), and as one can expect, it is a Iron Maiden Theme Restaurant. While themed restaurants have a tendency to draw a red flag, this one is a MAJOR exception to the rule, as the food is excellent, with a degree of quality that place it in a league beyond majors. UP THE IRONS FOR GOOD CHOW!6!6!6! \m/

To give you a first person perspective what this rib-house can deliver, here's a photo of a plate I ate some time ago. Forgot to take the recent one, sorry =C . The primary purpose for the traditional part of my exodus to Rock N Roll Ribs is in case something happens to me during my trips, at least I got a good final meal.

This is Heavy Metals equivalence of The Walking Dead.

I have been to Rock N Roll Ribs at least 6 - 7 times, and in all those times, I never saw Nicko McBrain, as he is a very busy individual (mainly due to touring), so the last person I ever thought I would see in this place would be the beat of the beast himself.

As I finished paying the bill, I was getting up the table when I heard someone with an English accent from behind me saying "going so soon mate?". I knew nobody in my immediate area had an English accent, but as I turned around and saw Nicko McBrain standing in front of me, the excitement of meeting someone who has influenced my music exceptionally was one of those moments that I will never forget in a long time and very exciting, as I had the chance to strike a short conversation before leaving his well reputed establishment. Many thanks Nicko \m/

With the final meal in my stomach, it was time to head home to do some final preparations before leaving.

The following day was the first step in this journey was about to be taken as I left my house.

With the car parked in a garage, I made my way to the Metrorail to go to Miami International Airport.

The memories come roaring back...

At the Swiss Air desk waiting in line to be checked in.

The plane waiting to take all of us in the air. I think considering the recent meeting with a Metal God, the song "Aces High" would be very appropriate. I'll even settle for "Tailgunner".

Once I arrived in Zürich, Switzerland, I had about an hour and 30 minutes to catch my next connecting flight, but there were major distractions that almost made me miss my flight.

In case your wondering, they were the size of volleyballs.

Lindt's lesser known, but equally effective Sprüngli, was also at the airport. At some point, I need to give their products a chance, considering what I managed to see in a span of 15 seconds.

The main event of the airport was the bigger Lindt Chocolate store, and the fact that I had to make major decisions within the time span of 15 minutes as to which chocolates I had to take was tough as I had to go with the flavors we normally don't have in the USA. It also didn't help they had a ice cream shop inside the store, and considering the potential crossover of their chocolate and ice cream, it was a match made in Heaven (or Hell, depending on your view). At least I had a chance to get a free sample of the ice cream the clerks inside offered.

Making my connecting flight by a mere 30 seconds (no joke), I caught my next flight to Düsseldorf. Once I arrived, I took the train to the Düsseldorf HBF (Train Station), and waited for the next train to take me to the Köln HBF.

Thankfully, there was a vending machine to keep me occupied.

Once I arrived at the Köln HBF, I waited for my next train that would take me to Brussels. One thing about this day is that it was all about getting to my final destination, with plenty of planes, trains and automobiles, meaning, it was gonna get exhausting. As I walked around the Köln HBF when I happen to spot something I never thought I would see in Germany, and this something would help a great deal in the next couple of hours.

While waiting in Köln for about 3 hours and walking around the train station, I came across a huge church, the Cologne Cathedral, outside. It was so big, I had to take 2 pictures do to the awkward angle I had to work with.

I was typing away on my tablet looking for a Metal Club nearby with the hopes of squeezing some extra innings when 2 things happened; 1) the night clubs were either too far away or not opened and 2) I was beginning to get drowsy as my eyes suddenly began to close and my head tilted forward without my permission. As one can expect from the drowsiness, it can sometimes make you do things you normally won't do, and that's where the aforementioned Dunkin Donuts comes into the picture. I normally don't go to American Fast Food Restaurants when I travel abroad, but the curiosity (and a much needed cup of joe) got the better of me as I wanted find out how different Germany's Dunkin Donuts was to its American counterpart. The coffee was definitely the same, but the doughnuts were another story. The usual selection were there (Glazed, Boston Creme), but than there were these guys that were different. I don't remember very well which ones I ordered, but from what I read on the German Dunkin Donuts website and from my own memory, they were the Nougat Creme, Nougat Vanilla and Strawberry (Special Note to my German readers, if you recognize the correct doughnuts in the beneath picture, please let me know so I can update accordingly. Danke!).

With the "mutant" doughnuts and very needed cup of "kaffee" consumed, I awaited my next train to take me to my final destination of Brussels.

Upon arriving to Brussels, the city welcomed me the only way it could.

Once I arrived to my hotel, the Ibis Brussels Airport Hotel, I had to shave, take the obligatory bath, and a quick nap due to the excessive travels, but what awaited on the opposite side of my room was a omen from the Nectar Gods themselves.

I will say that I had A LOT to drink on this trip, and while only a select few beers will be displayed in this blog, there were plenty more than what will be shown. The reason for the selective choices? These are the Most Metal Beers I have encountered during my trek to Belgium.

La Guillotine Beer, a Belgian Pale Ale. What makes it Metal? It's a freaking guillotine, the device used to take peoples heads off. I believe no further explanation on its Metalocity is needed. The beer stands at 8.5% ABV, making a decent middleweight, with a clean yet strong taste, with a hint of sweet.

My first night in Brussels was unfortunately uneventful, but the hotel bar helped a great deal in recuperating a potential lost night with the beers they had stocked. The best part of this is that I have a room completely to myself instead of a hostel and having strangers crash in unexpectedly (almost).

To be continued...