Another hour long walk through the RRH Park.
Went to Avenue Louise for some shopping while Kevin did some job hunting. Nothing extremely exciting... some pants, some shirts and a pair of shoes!
Drinks at the cafe and another pizza dinner!
The most interesting part of the night? Apparently some creepy French man said that I was worth 3 camels. I think I'm worth at least 5...
xoxo
Kat
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Day Three: To Market To Market We Go...
Today the city is on strike. Yes I mean the whole city.
The basic breakdown is this: There are only two unions, so when one goes on strike the other does in support of the first union. So The Union of Transportation went on strike and so the rest of Belgium went on strike in support. Basically. So besides a few laundry mats, some cafes and a restaurant here and there, nothing is open. Thankfully that is just for today!
Woke up, made and ate banana pancakes and then took Maddy on a walk through the Red Riding Hood parks. It took just over an hour and when I got back the people in our Cafe kept asking if I was freezing? Dont they know how cold it gets in Alberta?! Maybe it was cold and humid here and maybe it was snowing, but really! It can be -30 in Edmonton... I am burning up here!
After a quick stop back at the apartment, Maddy and I wondered down to the markets, about a block away from here. So amazing! There is Italian food, African food, Thai food, fresh fruits and veggies, a million different meats and cheese and so much more I can hardly remember! Needless to say fresh baguettes and brie was my dinner tonight... Yum! Stopped back at our cafe for a few (too many) glasses of wine, and raspberry beer and now am back in the apartment, booking my trips to Paris and London!
Early day tomorrow for some downtown Brussels shopping... My train for Paris leaves on Thursday!
Love,
Kat
Woke up, made and ate banana pancakes and then took Maddy on a walk through the Red Riding Hood parks. It took just over an hour and when I got back the people in our Cafe kept asking if I was freezing? Dont they know how cold it gets in Alberta?! Maybe it was cold and humid here and maybe it was snowing, but really! It can be -30 in Edmonton... I am burning up here!
After a quick stop back at the apartment, Maddy and I wondered down to the markets, about a block away from here. So amazing! There is Italian food, African food, Thai food, fresh fruits and veggies, a million different meats and cheese and so much more I can hardly remember! Needless to say fresh baguettes and brie was my dinner tonight... Yum! Stopped back at our cafe for a few (too many) glasses of wine, and raspberry beer and now am back in the apartment, booking my trips to Paris and London!
Early day tomorrow for some downtown Brussels shopping... My train for Paris leaves on Thursday!
Love,
Kat
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Day 2 (technically speaking...)
I say technically because Day One hardly even happened.
I arrived in Brussels safe and sound, minus one suitcase. Apparently Air Canada decided it would be better for one to stay in Edmonton and send the other with me to Brussels. Luckily the suitcase that made in was the one with all my stuff! (The other was packed full of Canadian goods such as salt and vinegar chips, clamato juice, cookies and deodorant) So while I was relieved to have all my things I was also slightly terrified that I was about to be arrested for smuggling Canadian goods into a foreign country. Luckily, chips and deodorant are the least of their worries, the customs guard I attempted to throw myself at the mercy of informed me. Apparently they have other... ahem... stuff... to worry about. Whoopsie.
So an hour after arriving in Brussels, I left the airport. With promises to send the bag (with NO chips and cookies missing!) to the address I provided, the customs guard was finally rid of me. I met Catherine once I left customs and she was relieved to see that I hadn't been arrested or kicked out of the country already.
We took the train to Catherine and Kevin's apartment in Saint Gilles. A cute area of Brussels with parks to walk in, cafes to drink in and hair salons to NEVER go in (a fate Catherine had to learn the hard way a few months ago.) So, after reuniting with Maddy, unpacking and having a drink in Cath and Kev's cafe below their apartment, I fell into a deep coma that lasted until Kevin came home with dinner (pizza) and resumed immediately after. So ended Day One.
On to today! or Day Two...
Started out the day sleeping in, and so unfortunately we missed the Sunday market (good thing I'm here for two more Sundays...). So after having a quick coffee at a cafe down the street (the only one open near by on Sunday) we headed off to the park to walk Maddy. The parks here are amazing... they remind me of what I imagined the forest being like in the story of Red Riding Hood. Huge and green with amazing paths, trees and bushels of holly everywhere. We walked for over an hour through the parks and then stopped in a very "hip" looking restaurant for lunch. It apparently becomes a club at night so it was very interesting looking in its restaurant form, purple walls and silver chandeliers all over... not quite the usual look of a lunch spot.
It feels very strange to me every time I come here (or any other European city) to walk around on a Sunday when nothing is open. A cafe here or a laundry mat there, but really everything else is completely closed for the day. So after a stop at the local butcher for chicken and a little shop for some veggies, we are back at the apartment cooking dinner. (Catherine is cooking roast chicken, potato's and veggies... I am just drinking wine and pretending to help while "blogging" away). And now its time to finish our Harry Potter marathon.
Good night!
xoxo
Kat
I arrived in Brussels safe and sound, minus one suitcase. Apparently Air Canada decided it would be better for one to stay in Edmonton and send the other with me to Brussels. Luckily the suitcase that made in was the one with all my stuff! (The other was packed full of Canadian goods such as salt and vinegar chips, clamato juice, cookies and deodorant) So while I was relieved to have all my things I was also slightly terrified that I was about to be arrested for smuggling Canadian goods into a foreign country. Luckily, chips and deodorant are the least of their worries, the customs guard I attempted to throw myself at the mercy of informed me. Apparently they have other... ahem... stuff... to worry about. Whoopsie.
So an hour after arriving in Brussels, I left the airport. With promises to send the bag (with NO chips and cookies missing!) to the address I provided, the customs guard was finally rid of me. I met Catherine once I left customs and she was relieved to see that I hadn't been arrested or kicked out of the country already.
We took the train to Catherine and Kevin's apartment in Saint Gilles. A cute area of Brussels with parks to walk in, cafes to drink in and hair salons to NEVER go in (a fate Catherine had to learn the hard way a few months ago.) So, after reuniting with Maddy, unpacking and having a drink in Cath and Kev's cafe below their apartment, I fell into a deep coma that lasted until Kevin came home with dinner (pizza) and resumed immediately after. So ended Day One.
On to today! or Day Two...
Started out the day sleeping in, and so unfortunately we missed the Sunday market (good thing I'm here for two more Sundays...). So after having a quick coffee at a cafe down the street (the only one open near by on Sunday) we headed off to the park to walk Maddy. The parks here are amazing... they remind me of what I imagined the forest being like in the story of Red Riding Hood. Huge and green with amazing paths, trees and bushels of holly everywhere. We walked for over an hour through the parks and then stopped in a very "hip" looking restaurant for lunch. It apparently becomes a club at night so it was very interesting looking in its restaurant form, purple walls and silver chandeliers all over... not quite the usual look of a lunch spot.
It feels very strange to me every time I come here (or any other European city) to walk around on a Sunday when nothing is open. A cafe here or a laundry mat there, but really everything else is completely closed for the day. So after a stop at the local butcher for chicken and a little shop for some veggies, we are back at the apartment cooking dinner. (Catherine is cooking roast chicken, potato's and veggies... I am just drinking wine and pretending to help while "blogging" away). And now its time to finish our Harry Potter marathon.
Good night!
xoxo
Kat
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
4 Days until the Adventure begins!
First off: Thanks for reading! I promise to try and keep this "Blog" entertaining (even if it means getting myself in some shenanigans here and there... sorry Mom!).
But seriously, as I sit here in the midst of packing a giant suitcase full of everything in my life that I will need for the next month (Cali excluded... feel free to shed a tear for me), I realized that none of this will really be any fun unless I can share it with you! Actually that is not entirely true... it is still going to be pretty fun and amazing regardless! But please subscribe, read and (hopefully) enjoy!
I can not wait to see you when I get home!
Love always,
Kat
But seriously, as I sit here in the midst of packing a giant suitcase full of everything in my life that I will need for the next month (Cali excluded... feel free to shed a tear for me), I realized that none of this will really be any fun unless I can share it with you! Actually that is not entirely true... it is still going to be pretty fun and amazing regardless! But please subscribe, read and (hopefully) enjoy!
I can not wait to see you when I get home!
Love always,
Kat
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