Mussels in Brussels

Well, I am a couple of weeks late with this post but better late than never. I was lucky enough to go on a group trip with the Association of American Women of Aberdeen to Brussels. The organizers, Lisa and Sherri, did a great job, with plans for a couple of tours, a day trip to Bruges, and a really nice group dinner. We flew in Thursday via London Heathrow where we had enough time to do a little bit of shopping and being a group of women we took full advantage. We arrived in Brussels and took the very efficient train system to the center of the city. Our hotel was just a few steps from St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral. Which is where we began our tour with our guide Johan. He was extremely knowledgeable and told us a lot about the military history of each of the places we visited. We went inside the cathedral and I was very impressed with amazing stain glass windows, the sculptures of the 12 apostles and an incredible pulpit carved with impressive decorations.

We then continued on up the hill which apparently is where the rich used to live, the poor lived at the bottom of the hill. In fact these days it is very similar...

The architecture in Brussels is very impressive, the variety of styles and colours are really worth seeing. We continued on into Brussels park by the Royal Palace. The park is reminiscent of the parks I've seen in France, it was a really nice peaceful park with large paths, fountains and huge trees. The peace was disrupted a little by the invading parrots, apparently they were introduced somehow and are now taking over and moving out across the city. The Royal Palace was our next stop, it is the working Palace for Belgian royalty, they have another palace that they live in. We moved on and saw some more sights, more parks, more intriguing buildings and a really neat clock that plays a song at the top of every hour with a statue of a well-dressed man in a top hat ringing the bell with his cane. By this time our stomachs were growling and there happened to be a waffle van close-by. We made Johan take a break from our tour so we could have a snack. The waffles are really tasty, they are warm, with little chunks of sugar in them.

Next we stopped at the Grand Savlon, a square that seemed to specialize in chocolate shops, Johan gave us the run-down on the different brands. It was at this point that I made a mental note to come back here and buy a sample of each brand of chocolate to determine which was the best.

Manneken Pis is one of the major sights in Brussels, if you don't know what it is, it is a small bronze statue of a little boy that is peeing into a fountain. There are many legends to why he is there, but of course the central theme is a urinating child.

We ended our tour at the Grand Place, the major square, it is the home to some really incredible buildings and every 2 years it hosts the carpet of flowers, from pictures I have seen it looks really cool.

The next day we were off to Bruges, Johan arrived with a bus to whisk us there. We took a little detour to see where the royal family lives, and a stop at the Atomium, which was built for the 1958 World's Fair.

We arrived in Bruges and Johan was again full of great information. We walked through the Begijnhof, it is a group of small white houses that was founded for the daughters of wealthy families. It was similar to a convent in that there were no men allowed inside, except the priest for the little chapel. The women did not take vows and were allowed to leave and get married, if the opportunity arose. They worked with the poor people of Bruges, doing good deeds, etc. It was a very peaceful place. These days there are a few Carmelite nuns that live in a couple of the houses, and the other houses have been made into low-income housing.

Another stop at a waffle place for a snack and we continued on. Walking through a tiny alley that was at one time the "red-light district" of Bruges. And then for something completely different, we went into Onze Lieve Vrouwkerk, an interesting church that houses a Michelangelo sculpture of the Madonna and Child.

We were then booked in for a canal tour, so we all hopped on the boat and were given a fantastic view of Bruges from the canals. Similar to Brussels, the architecture in Bruges is amazing and varied. After our canal tour we went walking again, we stopped at the Burg Square, with the different styles of architecture represented. Then on the Grote Markt, Bruges' big square that is home to a belfry, that is 83 metres tall. Again a nice square that is lined with restaurants and cafes.

That was the end of the tour of Bruges and we were left to our own devices. Time for shopping!! I first stopped by the best lace shop in Bruges and found some beautiful hand-made lace (Johan gave us a tutorial in determining if lace is hand-made or not). Johan had also given me a tip on a great shop called the Beer Temple where I found some unique beer glasses for Rik and of course the matching beers. Last stop was a shop full of Belgian tapestries. Nice stuff, and I found a nice souvenir of the Begijnhof in tapestry form.

Louise, Holly and I took a break from shopping and sat in the sun and enjoyed a raspberry beer on the square. We stayed there until it was time for dinner, where we met up with the rest of the group. Lots of goods were shown off as it seemed that everyone else was successful in their shopping excursions as well. We had a lovely dinner and found our way back to the train station and caught the train back to Brussels. The train system in Belgium is very impressive, very efficient and reasonably priced.

The next day a group of us went back to the Atomium to take the elevator to the top. It was a gorgeous day and the view was quite impressive. Nice, but not sure it was worth the 11 euros to get in. To continue the theme of slightly cheesy tourist attractions - Mini Europe was next. It was a bunch of miniature famous buildings and landmarks. Louise and I had fun pushing the buttons that would make stuff move and light up. It's good to act like a kid every once and a while... But Mini-Europe did inspire me to travel more and see these places, full-size.

We had a nice lunch at a greek restaurant and headed back into Brussels city centre. We happened upon the Pride parade, it was crazy busy and wasn't really a parade because they weren't moving anywhere. The music was so loud and it wasn't really our scene so we decided to go shopping instead. Yes... more shopping. Then it was followed up by going to the champagne bar before dinner. It was really nice to sit with everyone and chat over a glass of champagne.

Sunday was our last day in Brussels, We all split up and went our separate ways. I really wanted to walk about the city and revisit some of the places we went to see on our tour that we kind of breezed by. Luckily my friends Louise and Sherri came along with me and we had a great time. Some shopping and a coffee in the square was a nice end to our trip.

Our trip home was a little nerve-wracking with an ash cloud coming towards the UK but luckily we made it home just fine.

I apologize for the writing in this post, Rik's writing skills are far superior to mine, don't worry he'll be back on soon...

Semi-regular living ...

Although the title of the post may make it look

like this will be an advertisement for some kind of bran supplement, I'm actually going to try and catch up on a couple of weeks of non-posting. We've struggled to get back into our regular routine post-vacation and blogging has been the sacrificial lamb.

It all kind of tumbled out of control when we got back from France. Fiona had been fighting a cold the last few days in Paris and by the time we got home it had completely blown up on her. She was proper sick and we had arrived back to a home with no food in the cupboards or clean clothes in closet. So after a short day in the office on Friday, I spent the first part of the weekend stocking up, cleaning up and washing up - while doing my best to make sure my stubborn patient didn't jeopardize her recovery by claiming everything was fine and attempting to help. I guess to no one's surprise I came down with the bug on Saturday night and spent the next two days flat on my back in bed. Although we both were most of the way over it by the end of the week, it's been a tough nut to crack, leaving us a little too drained to do much of anything at the end of the day.

We also had picked up an addition to the household on our return. Having kindly agreed to dog-sit Casey while we were away, our friends Todd and Erin had asked to take in their dog Sidney for a couple of weeks. Although I'm not sure Casey would agree, we liked having Sidney in the house. A miniature Schnauzer, she fits perfectly on your lap while you're watching TV, all the while emitting the dog equivalent of a cat's purr. We look forward to having her around again. We'll just have to break it to Casey that she'll have to share "her" people.

By the end of the week we were well enough to be looking forward to a May Day long weekend. This one was going to be packed full of all sort of new experiences as well. On Friday we went to the house of some Dutch friends who were hosting their annual Koniginnen Dag party. Koniginnen Dag is an annual holiday in the Netherlands where they celebrate the Queen's birthday. Apparently they've been running one for the past 8 years, each year inviting more and more people. This year I think the total was somewhere up around 75, with a good mix of locals and Dutch expats. Wearing of orange was mandatory, and having seen some pictures of the previous years, we went all out to comply. It was only when we arrived at the party that we realized we had only really gone half-way. The party itself was great fun and we met lots of new people - which is always good, but especially now as we have another large group of ex-pat friends and acquaintances that are being shipped out in the next few months.

The colorful costumes initiated conversation with the driver in the taxi ride home. He thought all the Dutchies had gotten together to celebrate Raymond van Barneveld's win at the Professional Dart's League event held in Aberdeen the day before. Fiona and I had tried to get tickets to this event several months ago, only to find it sold out. It turns out that Barney put on quite a show, including a nine-darter and the crowd nearly carried him out on their shoulders. As one of the few players who can consistently beat the English big names, Barney is especially popular in Scotland. The driver gave us a full run-down of the tournament and we're now a little more determined to get some tickets for the event next year.

Saturday was spent recovering from the festivities. We wandered downtown to go through the international market, replenishing our supplies of hagelslag, fresh fruit and French cheese. The temperature dropped again as we got home, with a little bit of accompanying rain, setting the stage for a nap-filled afternoon.

That evening we went down to the theatre to see our first opera - La Boheme. I think we were both a little nervous, unsure of what to expect and whether or not we would be bored to tears. But it turned out to be quite a nice experience. The overhead translation made it easy to follow the Italian lyrics, and the modernized set made it relevant. It was a lot more theatrical than either of us expected. Although I don't think we'll slot it in as a regular fixture in our calendar, I wouldn't hesitate to go again, especially if the topic/subject is of interest.

The holiday Monday was spent in the garden store and the yard, putting in a host of new plants and planters. We don't have total control over the yard, which we kind of miss - the most in-your-face example of an ex-pat's inability to "put down roots" - but we were determined to work with what we could. We filled in some empty spaces in the flower beds - a rhubarb plant so that I can spend the summer eating Fiona's apple-rhubarb crumble, as well as several herbs to fill in an old planter and a lavender plant to remind us of Provence. We also bought several planters and are trying some vegetables from seed - carrots, beets and beans amongst others. Hopefully they'll amount to something. But the garden looks good now, with some springtime weather having finally coaxed the daffodils and tulips up out of the ground. Small shoots are sticking out in the raspberry patch, threatening to take over a good section of the yard. The shrubs are greening and every day something new seems to be popping up. With this being our first spring/summer in this house, we're excited to see what it all becomes.

Somewhere in here we managed to squeeze in a little film study as well, catching Clash of the Titans at the theatre and the old studio epic, Cleopatra, with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, at home. Clash was a little disappointing for me, with some of the pseudo-3D effects really bringing it down. While I don't mind 3D when the movie is specifically shot that way (Avatar) modifying a movie in post-production to add it in never works. They're starting to show some of the more important football games here in 3D at certain pubs. 3D TVs are now for sale. True 3D is starting to feel less and less like a passing fad now. I wonder if people felt the same way about Cleopatra in its day as we did about Avatar? It was supposed to have been groundbreaking as well. I love those types of old movies - huge sets fabricated for one or two shots, thousands of extras, classic actors hamming it up a little, three hour run times - everything you need to while away an afternoon.

Wednesday we were back at the theatre for a pretty good ballet rendition of Romeo and Juliet. Great music - I was wishing I could have introductory music like Pappa Capulet. It did represent the last of the suite of tickets we bought early in the year. We'll have to dive back into the listing to see what we can see in the coming quarter. Perhaps a little more modern music?

On Friday we were back downtown, this time on the third floor of the Tiso outdoor supply store learning all about sea kayaking from a guy named Gordon Brown (yes, given the fact that Prime Minister Gordon Brown had just been chucked out on his ear the day in the election the day before meant that all the obligatory jokes and references were made.) We were part of a small group - 8 people - who managed to demonstrate what a small country Scotland really is. Everyone, although they had never met before, somehow knew somebody connected with someone else in the room. It was odd. When it came time for our introduction, we prefaced it by saying that we would break the trend, not knowing many people in Scotland. We told them we were from Canada, at which point Gordon said it was indeed unlikely as the only people he knew in Canada were in a small town in Ponoka - where I used to go for spring break vacation as a kid, visiting the farm of family friends.

Having seen some great videos and convinced that sea kayaking would be the best way to see a lot of Scotland, we hit the water in Peterhead harbour with group the next day at 9:30. It was a fantastic experience. We started in a sheltered part of the harbour learning turns and basic paddling before setting out past the first breakwater just before lunch. After lunch we crossed out further into the harbour, where the wind and waves were becoming more of an issue. We skirted a breakwater where a half dozen seals promptly threw themselves in the water not more than a dozen feet away. They tailed our group for a while, trying to figure out what we were up to. One surface a few feet in front of one of the group's kayaks, and when he got wind of the imminent collision promptly dove back down with a splash that nearly knocked the poor girl out of her boat. We managed to make it out to the harbour mouth, where the wind was creating some pretty good swell before we all sensibly headed back to the sheltered area to practice rescues and rolls. While I was a little too knackered to try the rolls, Fiona was brave enough to give it a go. So we're now sore and stiff in places that I wasn't even aware had muscles in them. But we had a great group, good instructors and a fabulous sunny day - so no complaints. I think we might even try it again.

Bonus item: a couple of stitched panoramas from the vacation - Lake Geneva and the Plage Notre Dame on Porquerolles.