Hello From Brussels

I arrived safe and sound after a bit of trouble getting here.

First of all, I had a great turkey dinner at Janet Lynn's sister's house in New Glascow on Sunday evening. When we left, heading toward the airport, we hit an accident in Elmsdale - and we waited almost an hour to get to the next exit. We took the long route to the airport and arrived about 9:30 or so - my flight was leaving at 10:30 - but I made it in time for boarding with not much time to spare!

Flight was fine. When I got to Heathrow (after not sleeping at all) I looked at the board of departues to find out that my flight was cancelled to Brussels. I was so tired and cranky that all I could do was cry. I found my way through London customs (they drilled me with questions - probably b/c i was in tears) and got a new ticket to leave at 430 in the afternoon. 6 hours at Heathrow was ok - I was cuddled up to a planter and got a bit of sleep - and was happy to see Dylan waiting for me in the Brussels airport.

I posted the pics of our small apt on Facebook - and for those of you not on it, it is tiny. The kitchenette (with no stove) has a bar sink and mini fridge - but we're getting along fine with it. It is easy to keep clean since there is so little space - there is no room to make a meal unless all dishes are washed and put away before the next meal. Toast and coffee at the same time is a challenge since I have to balance them both on the corner of the sink to reach the plugs.
anyway, i'm happy with it and it is quaint to say the least.

It took me 4 full days to get used to the time change - the first 3 nights I got up and played solitaire at 3am and went back to bed around 5am. The living room/bedroom/kitchen are pretty much one big room with french doors separating the bedroom, so Dylan had to deal with the clicking of me typing at ungodly hours. i think he is happiest that I am finally sleeping through the nights!

Last week i wandered around the neighborhood. It is absolutely lovely! We live across the street from a huge park, about a 10 minute walk from the small grocery store and there is a bakery around the corner. There are lots of trees and plants and it is only 5 mins away from the Metro stop. I am totally getting used to the European lifestyle of going to the grocery store every day - bakery for bagettes - i am not brave enough yet to try the cheese at the 'fromagerie' - the stuff on display in the window has mold all over it....doesn't look too tasty. Grocery bags cost 3 cents each, so i've been taking my backpack or the wheelie cart (like an old man pull cart - especially on "water days") that dylan bought when he got here. Noone drinks tap water here - so we aren't either, just in case it isn't up to the standards that we are used to (plus, dylan is addicted to bubbly water now - he doesn't drink the regular stuff anymore).

Most of the food is reasonable - we've been eating like we would at home (maybe a little healthier) except no oven, so mostly meat or fish with rice and alot of salads. There are 2 kinds of milk here (in Flemmish it's Mellech - I love saying that) - refrigerated or fresh and shelf milk. In June when we were here, we tried the shelf milk which was gross, so we've only been buying the fresh milk so far. None of the eggs are refrigerated at the grocery store which is a little odd. I put them in the fridge as soon as I get home though. When I cracked my first egg - i was disgusted b/c it has a bright orange yolk - pumpkin orange really.....they taste ok though, so i just add milk and water to scramble b/c they are really thick here. We only have a small grocery store in the neighborhood - called the GB - but we're going to a big one on the weekend. it's at the end of the subway line, so kinda far to do that during the week. we're also going to Ikea this weekend which will be fun. i need a big coffee mug!!! We only have the miniature ones that you would find in a hotel room here now.
Coffee is really strong, but i'm getting used to it. I'm looking forward to a Tim's coffee when i get home - although it will probably taste like water at that point.

The subway in Brussels has 3 lines. Dylan took me out my second night here and showed me how to use it and how to read the subway maps, so i'm an old pro now. I met him at Central Station last night (all by myself) b/c we looked at a new apt in another community. it was kinda sketchy, so we aren't taking it - even though I'm used to living in the hood in halifax. :)

We went to Paris on the weekend. We left at 315 and got the high speed train which goes 300 kms per hour. We got there in 1h20mins.
In the Brussels train station, there is a huge vending machine (a 24 hr grocery store is what they call it). Dylan got a 6 pack of Jupiler beer which we enjoyed on the train. You are allowed to drink in public places here, so ppl are always walking down the street with beer and such.

When we got to Paris, we found our way to the subway and eventually got to our hotel. Brussels has 3 lines, Paris has 15 - so there was a huge difference in getting around. It was easy once we got used to it, but a little confusing at first!
I was expecting a little city with cafes everywhere and people drinking red wine wearing berets - not like that at all - it was huge - 12 million people!! I think they were all at the subway station when we got there on Friday!

On Friday night we met up with a friend of mine from SMU, Michael, and we went over to a friends house who I went to high school with, Ryan. Ryan lives next to the Eiffel Tower, so we had a great view of it and took some pics from his balcony. we went to a party at a bar in the "moulin rouge' part of the city. It was great to see them both - familiar faces in an unfamiliar city!

On saturday we headed for the Louvre when we got up and saw the Mona Lisa along with many, many other pieces of art. There were only a few that I knew, but we enjoyed looking around. The best part was the garden at the front of the Louvre and Napoleon III's apt inside - was really cool!

We walked for many, many miles on Sat - saw the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, shopped at the markets and took in all the sights. we went to McDonalds for lunch and Dylan was pretty excited to find out that he could get a BEER with his meal (see pic on facebook).

In the evening was the World Cup Rugby game. France was playing so the city was wild with people. they had a big screen on the Eiffel Tower and there were thousands of ppl there sitting in the grass watching it. We walked around a bit, drank some wine and got some night pictures (if some of you don't know - Dylan must get both day and night pictures of every attraction).

On Sunday we wandered around to the Panthon, Jardin du Luxembourg, the saffron (sp?) and to that church featured in the Da vinci Code....and more that I can't think of. We walked up all 284 stairs to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and had a wonderful view of the whole city which was great! In the afternoon, we went on a cruise of the canal and saw all the attractions from the water. Did you know that Paris has a Statue of Liberty - we didn't - Americans living in Paris erected a replica in appreciation of the Statue of Liberty in New York (googled it) - it's just down the canal from the Eiffel Tower! In the evening we went to a nice little community near the Place de la Bastille. Our train left at 9:55pm on Sunday night - we had a busy weekend!!! and were super glad to be able to relax and sit down for more than 5 mins.

Dylan is gone to Sweden tonight for 2 days, so I am on my own! I'm really excited to have the whole love seat to myself this evening (we don't have a couch)! Tomorrow I am meeting a friend at Central in the morning and she is going to show me a few things around the city including an English bookstore - yahhhh! I've been using my french quite a bit and it is coming back quickly - no problems!

Well, that is it for now! Thanks to everyone who sent me emails and messages!
I'll keep you all posted on our adventures!