The weather around here, like Nashville, is quite unpredictable! The forecast for the weekend will change from sunny and 40 to snowing and 20 in a matter of hours. The variability of the weather and the general lack of sunshine here makes me really appreciate the sun when it does come out. I never realized how much the sun could brighten my day! All this to say, I took full advantage of the two mostly sunny days we had this weekend.
Backing up a little - work is going really well. I may have said all of this already, but everyone in the office is great! A lot of them are young and fun, and I really think that helps me enjoy my work even more! It is also quite amazing how multi-national and multi-lingual the office is. There are few Belgian nationals - many of my coworkers would claim some other country as home, and there are only 3 people in the office that only speak English (I am one of those - although I am trying to work on my French). To see some of their impressive bios, go to: http://www.amchameu.eu/AboutUs/Secretariatmembers/tabid/129/Default.aspx and click profile under any of the pictures (mine will be up soon). I am mainly working on a guide to the European Parliament that includes contact details and basic biographical information for all 736 members of the parliament (MEPs). I have also gotten to start some work on articles for our quarterly newsletter, including an interview with the US Ambassador to the EU. I will also be writing a couple articles for the website.
This week included a sushi dinner where I got to meet some of Kate's friends which was really fun! Overall, it was just a busy and exciting work week though that seemed to fly by. On Friday night, Anastasia and I met up with Claire (the intern for the Ambassador) and some of her intern friends to hang out. We ended up at Delirium - a bar that is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the number of different beers that it serves. I had some Kriek (pronounced "creek") which is a cherry beer that was actually really good.
Claire and I headed out on Saturday to Bruges (which can also be spelled Brugge). It is a great medieval town about an hour train ride away from Brussels. The train ride was really pleasant and a nice way to see some of the countryside. We got into Bruges and started to navigate our way towards the center of the city and a lunch place that our guidebook recommended. About 5 minutes into our walk, it started to snow really heavily - so much for the sun! About half an hour later after a few wrong turns and a few nice views of Bruges, the snow finally stopped. We then found our "lunch place," that turned out to just be a bar...but that was ok, because we walked down the street a bit and found an even better place. We had a 3 course meal (soup, cannelloni, and chocolate mousse - Belgians really know how to do their chocolate well) for only 12.50 euro! We wandered around the city a little and admired the two main squares along with a cathedral/church that has a Michaelangelo sculpture in it (see my pictures for more detail). We did search a while for what the guidebook promised to be an authentic laceshop, but never found it - then we started to doubt the guidebook. After about 5 hours of wandering and admiring, we decided to head back to the train station while it was still light out. Bruges is called, "The Venice of the North," and I entirely understand why. It has beautiful canals, brightly colored houses, Medieval plazas, and confusing cobblestone streets, just like Venice. It was really enjoyable to see!!
On Sunday, after church, Claire and I took advantage of another sunny day to see the Atomium. The Atomium is a large-scale model of an iron molecule. It was built as a part of the 1958 World's Fair - an important World's Fair, as it was the first one after WWII. You can visit, via escalator, elevator, and stair, 5 of the 9 spheres that make up the structure. The top one offered a panoramic view of Brussels, including Mini-Europe (a park at the bottom of the Atomium that has scale models of all of Europe's major attractions). The other spheres had special exhibits giving a history of the World's Fair as well as an expo on modernism and the 50's. I have to say it was a neat place to visit, but I don't have plans to go back there like I do to go back to Bruges.
There is still lots for me to see in Brussels, and I am very excited to learn more and more about the city that I am living in! Things here are starting to feel more normal, and I am feeling much more comfortable navigating, cooking, eating, shopping, and generally living. I still miss the sun and everyone at home, but everything here is feeling more familiar.
This weekend I am headed off to Paris!!!! I am going with Kate and some of her friends, and I am so excited!!!! I am sure I will have lots of pictures and exciting stories from my adventures there, but in the meantime, enjoy all of the pictures from this past weekend - there are quite a few!
Love you all!!
p.s. I changed the layout of my blog a little bit - mostly so you can see the pictures bigger!
Hey Em - Ellen and I also found our Brussels guidebook to be less than accurate. It was like the addresses didn't even exist! We finally found the chocolate museum we were looking for, but it wasn't anywhere near the address given. The Atomium looks so cool, but I can't find Big Ben!!! Give me a clue at least. It all looks so interesting, and I wish that I could see it up close and in person. The best line in your blog was that you had had "a busy and exciting work week that seemed to fly by". That is something that, even here at home, is a true blessing, and it shows that you are becoming so much more comfortable with your friends and your surroundings. Sounds like you're getting lots of exercise with all the walks, stairs, and adventures you're going on. So eat all the chocolate and waffles you want! Love you - take care of yourself.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog and seeing how you 'write' your story. There's always a little part of you that I see differently than when we skype, so I'm glad that you are taking the time to blog. And what a fabulous archive of your trip. It's such a blessing that you are getting more and more acclamated to Brussels. What an incredible opportunity. Your memories will be overflowing for many years. And who knows where this whole experience will lead you for the rest of your life. Love you so much. MOM
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