A night's travels

I ended up stuck in Lille and in Brussels (not at the same time, as these are in two separate countries), calling friends but not having any salvation, crying my eyes out in despair, almost ordering a taxi with three other strangers for the humane price of 16 euros each, considering playing out different taxi drivers against each other, until all of a sudden the train to Leuven flashed up on the announcement screen and I ran up the stairs, accompagnied by ecstatic bouts of laughter, spent a train journey discussing Belgian politics in English with a Wallon software engineer who wanted to practice his English and has a vintage online clothing shop and finally arriving at my old dorm at one o'clock in the morning, where three of my old hallmates welcomed me, before setting out for a bit of true Belgian fried food and a nightly stroll, followed by a solid night's rest and a wake-up to Belgian morning.