Final thoughts, final days

Today is my last day here in Europe. I know I kind of abandoned my blog a little bit during this last week, but to be honest I've been too busy to really put in the effort that it deserves, and that I feel you deserve as the person/people reading it! Thank you to everyone over the last three weeks for all the emails and Facebook messages, it made being so far away easier, especially during the few times it seemed a little bit lonely. I'm also amazed at how many people followed this blog! Today it reached 400 page views which is wayyyyyy more than I ever could have imagined... Is it really that boring back home??

So maybe now you want to hear about my last week in Brussels. Unfortunately due to the fact I ran away here a week earlier than planned, I had less money than originally anticipated and so had to skip my mini-trips to Amsterdam and Krakow. All that means is I'll have to come back again! So instead I explored more of Brussels. This week I had much less of a touristy time and experienced it more like a local, going to the market, daily walks with Maddy, evenings drinking and socializing in the cafe and even one night making dinner for Catherine and Kevin (spaghetti a la Kathleen!). I know, that last one is pretty shocking for those of you that know me well enough!
 

Yesterday I took the metro to a part of Brussels I had never been to before, Uccle, and walked around for a few hours. I ended up at a giant cemetery were there were about 50 people gathered around taking pictures. It turns out this is a famous cemetery (famous in the Brussels sense of the word) known as Dieweg where Herge, also known as Georges Remi, the creator of Tin Tin is buried. Apparently he is a pretty big deal being originally from Brussels. I then went into the cemetary to take a few touristy pictures but it was very very creepy. Many of the tombs have cracked and you can see inside them in places, and to be honest I've seen enough Exorsism movies to know better than to want to stick around in there for very long.

Today I took Maddy on our last morning walk through the park. The same one I described in my first blog as the Red Riding Hood park, although now it feels more like the Harry Potter forest! The rest of my day will be spent packing and getting ready to go home tomorrow and then I'll take the metro downtown to meet Catherine when she's done work for a final shopping spree (for her... I'm poor remember?)

But now the sun is finally out, of course as soon as I'm about to leave its getting warmer here, so it's time to get on with my day. I can't wait to see everyone when I get home and give them the less censored version of my trip! Well what did you expect? My mom is reading this blog... I can't tell too many crazy stories! Plus what would I have to talk to you about if I wrote everything here?

I hope to see you for a drink at The Pint downtown on Friday night!

Lots of love
Kathleen

 "So buy me the ocean to take me anywhere but here..."

Week Two: Mind The Gap!

Last week it was a million degrees below in Brussels (maybe I'm exaggerating, but still!) so I decided I needed a break from the cold for a few days. While it was warmer in Spain, it was cheaper, faster and easier to go to London... plus it gave me a chance to practice my British accent and hunt around for my future husband, Prince Harry... Oi!

London Day 1: Arrived in London around 10am and went straight to my hotel to unpack. Luckily my room was ready early so I was able to settle in and head out for the day. The Kensington Close Hotel is in one of the prime areas of London, right near High Street, only a 2 minute walk to The Underground and only about a 10-15 minute walk to Notting Hill. Unfortunately Hugh Grant doesn't live at the house with the blue door... I checked.

High Street Kensington is super trendy with about a million different stores, but I controlled myself for the first day and instead jumped on one of those double decker tour buses to figure out where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see. The most interesting part of the tour was not seeing the typical touristy things that I already knew about, but instead the interesting things I didn't. Driving past the flat where John Lennon once lived with Yoko Ono, or the school where Elton John went, along with Baker Street where the fictional apartment of Sherlock Holmes is, to name a few.

Jumped off the bus at the River Thames, where the London Eye is located to take some pictures of it, Parliament and Big Ben. Decided against waiting in line to go on the Eye because it was a two hour long cue and with my slight fear of heights it might have not been worth it. I went on the Eye when I was last in London 6 years ago, and spent the whole 30 minute ride terrified and nauseous. Doing that once is enough for me! Walked around that area for a few more hours until I was too cold to walk anymore.

My "Swimfan" moment

"Ummm I'm a big fan!"

Went back to my hotel to warm up in the hot tub for a little bit, got ready and then headed to the hotel bar for a glass of wine before finding somewhere to go for dinner. Little did I know I was about to make a new friend! If you have never watched the American X-Factor I suggest you google Josh Krajcik. He was the second runner up on this season (season 1) and has an amazing voice. (While you're at it you should also look up Astro and Chris Rene... also from X Factor and also phenomenal). Anyways, Josh sat down beside me at the bar and started up a brief conversation and it took me about 5 minutes to figure out who he was... I knew I knew him from somewhere but couldn't place him for the first while. Had a glass of wine with him and then decided that I was far too dorky and Swimfan-ish and that I would lose all my cool points if I stayed around much longer, so headed out for some dinner (Italian) and headed to bed early so I could have a productive next day!

London Day 2: Instead of being productive I spent most of my day in bed. The cold I've been battling for the last week was at its very worst and I spent most of the day ordering room service, hitting up the hotel steam room to try and sweat out my sickness and watching overly-expensive movies on the Pay Per View. I finally got up enough energy to go out around 6pm, had dinner and went to the movies to see War Horse. I went back to the hotel feeling a bit lonely and homesick so I called home for some words of wisdom and love from my Mama. It helped, as always :-)

London Day 3: Feeling healthier and happier, I headed out early for the day. Started my day at Madam Tussauds and met some new friends: Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Tom Cruise and of Course I finally tracked down my future Husband, Harry. Don't we look nice together?

From there I headed over to Westminster Abby. Unfortunately you can't take any pictures inside the church which is too bad because it is really amazing. The church is, of course, huge, but also so beautiful inside. Westminster is not only where William and Kate where married but also where all the past Kings and Queens are buried, and the tombs are such detailed works of art. It really is something else.

 

The outside of Westminster Abby

After taking a tour of the church I jumped on the tube and went to the National Gallery for a few hours. After that I headed over to Leicester Square to see about scoring some cheap theater tickets. It was pretty easy. For 30 pounds I got a great seat to see Wicked that night, my favorite show of all time! I saw it when I was in New York this last October and ever since I've had the soundtrack on my iPod and play over and over it in my car. After getting the tickets I headed over to Oxford Street for some shopping. I obviously needed a new outfit for that night!

All dolled up for a night out

London Day 4: My last day. After checking out of my hotel I went for a walk around Hyde Park and all the way to Buckingham Palace to take some pictures. After that I got on the tube and went to Harrods. Sigh. When I die and go to heaven, I think I'll go to Harrods. The store is filled with all my favorite designers that I could never afford: Chanel, Louise Vuitton, and Burberry to name a few. And that's really just a slight few. Tiffanys, Dior and Dolce oh my! I spent a good three hours just wandering around Harrods, picking up a few gifts for people at home, and then walked over to Harvey Nics for lunch before going to Kings Cross to catch my train back to Brussels.

More pictures to come later.

Back in Brussels now! While London was amazing I'm glad to be back with Catherine, Maddy-Bear and even Kevin too! Tonight we're going out for dinner and drinks, maybe downtown, so it should be lots of fun!

xoxo
Kat

Days 7,8,9 and 10

I returned from Paris on Thursday night feeling extremely content and full of ideas, so I spent the majority of Friday morning writing, brainstorming and taking breaks to walk with Maddy around Saint Gilles. The walking didn't last too long though due to a heavy downpour of SNOW! Now it feels like home.



I've never been a major fan of anything winter, including snow. Unless I am spending my time in the mountains (which due to my busy schedule I usually am not) I never really see the point of snow. It's cold, it's wet and usually comes along with minus 30 temperatures. But here, in Brussels, it's beautiful. Seeing the fresh snow covering the old buildings, churches and cobblestones (careful! Slippery when wet) really is something else...like something out of an old fairy tale maybe?


Went to the cafe for a few glasses of wine and socialising on Friday night, then went with Cath and Kevin and their friends Ana and Etienne to an Italian restaurant for dinner near by. The food was unbelievable... I can honestly say that short of actually eating in Italy this was some of the best food I have ever had! I am pretty sure even most of my Italian friends back home would be impressed. The food was so good that we have actually eaten different things from that restaurant the last three nights in a row. Thank god for all the long walks with Maddy or I don't know if I would fit on the plane to come home in a few weeks!

Town Hall

Maison Du Roi

Flower Carpet

Cath and I in the Square

Spent Saturday exploring all over Brussels. Cath and I went to downtown Brussels and wandered around, then to Grand Place which is a famous square in Brussels. It is very touristy and is where the Town Hall and "Breadhouse" are located. The Breadhouse was formally known as Maison Du Roi (The Kings House, although no king has actually ever lived there). It was renamed the Breadhouse sometime at the beginning of the 13th century, when three indoor markets were built on the northern edge of the Grand Place; a meat market, a bread market and a cloth market and stayed that way until 1959, when it became more of a tourist attraction. Every two years in August, an enormous "flower carpet" is set up in the Grand Place for a few days. A million colourful begonias are set up in patterns, and the display covers a full 19,000 sq ft. The first flower carpet was made in 1971. In 2010 Grande Place was voted The most beautiful square in Europe. How's that mini-history lesson for you?

Freezing!

We then continued on to Rue De Baillai, which is a famous shopping area in Brussels, and spent some of our hard earned Euros and then jumped on the tram to come home. Unfortunately after the massive snowfall we had a massive temperature drop which made it hard to explore too much without losing feeling in our fingers and toes (regardless of how many pairs of new boots we bought!)



Spent Sunday mostly relaxing, watching TV and reading thanks to my new friend The Cold that has taken over my throat and sinuses. I had planned on going to London for all this week but delayed it a day because I've been so sick. Spent today walking around and exploring more of Saint Gilles and decided I feel better(ish) enough to go to London tomorrow!

Still not ready to come home. Ever.

Love,
Kat

Day 6: Bonjour Paris

I decided to spend a day exlporing downtown Brussels. Lets call the segment Kathleen VS The Brussels Metro. I had an old lady feel up my breast (I'm guessing she was checking if I had money in a pocket there?), two men get into a fist fight with a punch barely missing my face, and watched an old (high) polish man walk up to an unsuspecting woman and scream in her face "Bitch". Maybe that woman was me. And maybe I cried a little. Regardless, I was proud of the fact that on my first attempt at taking the Brussels metro by myself, I made it downtown and back, without getting lost (phew) and minimal damage... just the damage to my wallet from shopping. 

Moving on... to Paris.

Paris is my favorite city in the whole world. This is my fourth visit there but it is the first time I've explored the city by myself. I arrived at Gard-du Nord, the train station, and started my day. I walked for just over an hour until getting to Notre Dame where I sat and took some pictures. I then wondered over to The Latin Quarter, my favorite area of Paris for some lunch. And offers of more than camels.

Can I ask what it is about french men and blondes? After 4 marriage proposals, offers of money, jewelry, trips to Milan, apartments in Rome and anything else my "leeeetle blonde heart" desired, I decided it was time to move on. I've seen the movie "Taken"... I know how this ends, and lets face it not everyone has Liam Neeson to save their asses.

One cab ride later I arrived at The Eiffel Tower. Looking up at it, it was hard to imagine that almost 6 years ago I climbed to the top. Yes you heard me. I took the stairs (I was 18 years old and following a cute, athletic boy... wouldn't you?). After watching me snap a few pictures, an American man approached me and asked if I wanted my picture taken in front of the Tower... yes please. After taking a picture with my camera, he then brought out his own saying he was a "well known" photographer in LA and asked if I would like to "pose" for him. No thank you... but seriously NO. He then asked if I would instead like to go back to his hotel room for a "Photo Shoot". So I made a run for it. I found a cafe to hide in and recover from another near "Taken" experience. Maybe I watch too many movies or too much Dateline "To Catch a Predator" but seriously? I'm blonde, not an idiot.

It was about this time that I realized I was exhausted and freezing, I had been wandering around for almost 4 hours at this point, so I decided to venture over to Alexandre De Paris, located at Avenue Matignon, near the Champs-Elysees. The salon is beautiful inside. The color scheme is white and gold and everyone there was so classy, wearing all black, mostly suits. I got a fabulous blow out and was told by multiple stylists how amazing my blonde hair color is (Thanks Cassie!).
Would I like some hair with my volume? As a southern belle I am shocked to say I was schooled when it comes to big hair here. I feel a bit like a 1960's french bombshell. Its lasted almost 24 hours now and is still as big as it was when I left the salon. Although I did tame it a bit when I got home... Merci!

After my appointment I wandered around Avenue Matignon, which is VERY swanky. Full of amazing art galleries, and shoe stores that are art galleries in themselves. I love shoes but I'm not sure I would ever spend 1000 Euros on a pair.

I made it back to Gare-du Nord 30 minutes early for my train. It was 30 minutes late. Let me remind those of you who know and tell those of you who don't, Gare-du Nord at this time of year is freezing and at every time of year not exactly the safest place in Paris, so I decided to have a glass of wine at a cafe near by. After watching a mouse run across the floor, I payed for my (untouched, totally full) glass of wine and decided to freeze it out at the train station for an hour, reading French Cosmo (apparently sex tips are the same in french as they are in english) while standing with 20 other people around a teeny space heater. The train finally arrived and I made it through the chaos to get on and was back in Brussels around 9pm. Just in time for dinner.

Tonight is a Friday night in Brussels. I can only imagine the trouble I'm going to get into this weekend.

Love,

Kat