The Blog

So I apologize for not yet posting the remainder 3 things about Belgium that I love. I unfortunately cannot at this point because all of my things are packed away and all of my photos deleted off this computer. I am getting ready to leave my apartment to go spend the night at a friend's house who is driving me to the airport tomorrow morning. It is so crazy for me to think that here I am on June 26th getting ready to start a month long adventure. The past 10 months have flown by and as I look back I can't believe all the opportunities I had and all the exploring I got to do. I hope to write and post some pictures in my blog as I travel, but I can't make any promises as I am relying on the kindness of my friends. For those who don't know I am traveling to Switzerland, Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), Portugal, and Sweden. Quite the adventure.

I suppose it would be a complete shame if I wrote about the wonderful places of Belgium and neglected to mention the town of Brugge which seems to be one of the most visited towns in this country. It's many canals and ancient buildings make it a desirable place to see and photograph. It is like walking back into time and seeing things as they once might have been--complete with modern day burger joints, french fry stands, and hordes of confused tourists. While I tend to be somewhat annoyed and overwhelmed by tourists, I can't help but see the reason this town attracts so many of them. I would not want to deny anyone the chance to see such a beautiful town and take such a unforgetable boat ride. Also, one of my favorite statue is located there. It consists of two monks holding one another up and is outside some buildings that used to be a religious hospital. I love the emotion that it captures, and it just reminded me when I saw it that as humans we are forced to rely on other humans. We all tread similar paths and it helps if you have someone to lean on along the way.

Literally right across the street from where I live is a garden and an old abbaye. From what I can gather the garden has been there for a long time , founded by Cisterian monks in the 13th century, and was originally surrounded by forests instead of the homes and apartment buildings that now surround it. It is a quiet escape from the busy city that surround it and it seems to almost have a peace left over from when the monks spent their time their in devotion and diligence. There is an art school in it's buildings now, and one buiding houses the Belgian branch of National Geographic. I still have not had a chance to go into the church itself as it has weird hours and I always seem to arrive at the wrong time for entrace. Hopefully I am able to do this before I leave. I have spent a lot of time though wandering around its gardens though, by myself and with Clarence playing ball and running up and down all the stairs. It also has a fish pond and if the weather is nice after his school we go and look at the fish and sit in the sun.

Those who know me best should know that I am obsessed with flowers. I love the vast varieties of flowers that exist. It is amazing to me that there are so many possibilities out there. So many colors, shapes, and smells to admire. They never get boring to me. The Royal Greenhouses in Brussels holds a fascinating collection of flowers and plants. The collection is truly fit for a king. The greenhouses are only open for a few weeks in May when everything is in bloom and at it's best. Because of this the greenhouses tend to be overly crowded which was somewhat obnoxious at first, especially since the only time I had to go was on a weekend when it was especially busy. The walk takes you through several greenhouses on the royal property as well as outside to view the beautiful palace and lake and also the Japanese pagoda. I cannot imagine being able to spend my days wandering around all that beauty with a book and a notebook. How special it would be to throw your parties inside the greenhouse; eating, drinking and socializing among such gorgeous flowers. The gardeners who tend these greenhouses truly are artists as everything is arranged in such a way as to compliment every flower and it's color and shape. I am really sad that I only got to go once to such a beautiful place and it isen't very likely that I will get to go back since it is hard to go in the few weeks that it is open. Still I have over 100 pictures from my day there to remind me of all that beauty.

One of the things I have been most impressed with during my stay in Belgium is the escalators here, a wonderful advancement in procuring a green environment. If you walk into a metro station in the States you will hear the buzz of the escalators going up and down. If you walk into an empty metro station at night you will hear silence. How can this difference be? It is not that the Belgians do not have escalators, it is just that they have rigged them to only go when someone walks onto a platform in front of it. What a brilliant idea! Escalators that go on and off with only the light tap of a foot. Why can't we have these in the United States? Probably someone will try to burst my bubble by saying that it takes more energy to turn the escalator on and off then it does to leave it on. Don't do it. I prefer to be bumbiling happy every time I walk onto an escalator pad to turn it on.

The following picture I have called "Now where is that big atom again?"
One thing I tend to do really well is getting lost and for me it has really become a purposeful state. I choose to get lost sometimes because it leads you to places you would never have discovered otherwise. I do recommend a few things though for those who seek to get purposefully lost:

1. Leave plenty of time. An hour or two here or there will not suffice. Have no impending appointments.
2. Wear good walking shoes. Sore feet does not help the situation
3. Be sure to bring your camera or you will regret it...you WILL find something unusual.
4. Take a map just in case, but don't refer to it till absolutely necessary (absolutely necessary: being followed by shady looking characters who have weapons or seeing the sun set more than once)

I have entitled this blog 'visitors' when really I should have just entitled it 'visitor' since only my dad has come to visit me from home. Wait! I take that back, my friend Shawna, who is now living in Switzerland came to visit me too! Either way, having visitors from home has been so nice. When my dad came it was so nice to see someone from home and have them experience a little bit of what my life is here. It can be difficult to live a life totally separate from the people back home who I love so much. I can tell them about my experiences and the places I see, but it is never the same as having them here to show them what I am talking about. I love that my dad now knows what I am talking about when I say the Royal Palace, and knows the bus I ride almost every day. He met the family and the kids that I work with and now has a special glimpse into this part of my life that no one back home will. I am so grateful he was able to come and visit me. It makes living away from home so much easier when the people from home come and visit. When Shawna came to visit it was so nice to talk about Pittsburgh and home with someone who understands. You need that little bit every now and again.

I have only been to Tervuran once and unfortunately do not think I will have the time left to go again. It is a beautiful little town with a big park. It is not far out of Brussels, you can catch a tram there, and it is such a nice escape from the city. I wish I had known sooner about it's beauty and peacefulness and I would have gone a lot more. There are so many beautiful places in Belgium if you will just take the time to discover and enjoy them.

There is a lot of graffiti in Brussels. It took me awhile to notice actually...it wasn't until my American friend commented on the amount that I begin to realize that there really was graffiti everywhere and the large majority of it was REALLY BAD. Someone just writing their name here and there with ugly colors. Every now and then though, when I least expect it, I find some hidden art work like this one in the picture. I think the same artist must do it because it is all pretty similar. I found the one in this picture beside a garbage can in Place Rogier. It is an interesting picture and helped to make my day a little more interesting with it's randomness.

Those who know me best probably know that I am not inclined to anything that involves a large amount of physical exertion. I would not use the word lazy to describe myself because I consider myself a hard worker, but I am extremely non-athletic and tend to be a wuss when it comes to working up a sweat. I try not to complain much in other areas of my life, but I find it difficult not to complain when I am working up a sweat, struggling to breath, when not necessary. (sport is entertainment?) That said I am very proud of the progress I have made here in Brussels with biking. While I do not, and probably will not ever, call myself an avid experienced biker, I am proud of myself that I have dusted the bike off and attempted to use it on a more regular basis (even though I am still complaining a great deal as I huff and puff up hills). I have just returned from biking to meet my friends for coffee and biking back and I feel so accomplished! What would have been a 20 minute ordeal on public transportation (walking to..waiting for...walking again) took me 13 minutes on bike! Not only that but I have now exercised for the day! Nothing like that well-earned sweaty body smell that declares to the general public for the rest of the day: I exercise! (and also generally dislike people which is why I didn't shower afterwords choosing to retain this wonderful smell until the end of the day) I am glad that I had a bike here to use and even happier that I have wonderful friends who force me to use it! Pittsburgh I am ready for you and your terrorizing hills!

In case you didn't know it, Belgium has a seacoast! And that seacoast has a sandy beach and a friendly little boardwalk. A few weeks ago a friend and I got the train and arrived at the coast about two hours later. I was ecstatic to be able to take a train and be at a coast in just two hours...this is the closest I have lived to one! It's nice to just get up and go spend the day at the beach. Once at the coast we rented bicycles and biked about 15 km down the coast enjoying the scenery and the sun. European beaches are really interesting to me compared to the ones at home because they put so much on the actual sand--all these little house, lawn chairs for rent, and children's play things. There is much more color and random things to see, sometimes it reminded me of a carnival. I just loved the chance to be at the beach, soaking up sun...

I have fallen a day behind it seems...
First off I can't take credit for this photo, I found it on google image because I couldn't find a good enough one in my own. One of my favorite museums I have been to since being here is the Music Museum here in Brussels. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing on the outside, but the inside is a wonderful interactive experience. When you enter the museum they give you a pair of headphones and as soon as you walk in front of an instrument in the museum it gives you a sample of the music that intstrument plays. It is wonderful! You could spend hours just walking around and listening. It is almost as much fun to listen to the music as it is to look at all the old and beautiful instruments.

Oh dear me, Belgian waffles. Possibly one of my biggest weaknesses here in Belgium is these little yellow vans that strategically park themselves all over the country, omitting that buttery smell of goodness, tempting me to count out one euro fifty in exchange for their beautiful waffles. A plain waffle you ask? Yes, a beautiful plain waffle wrapped in a little white tissue paper, steaming hot right off of the iron. There are two types of waffles here in Belgium...the Brussels waffle and the Leige Waffle. Forget the Brussels waffle which is probably the waffle that most tourists fall for because it looks more traditional with it's large rectangular shape and covered in chocolate or strawberries or cream or all three...the best are really the Leige though, so good they can be enjoyed plain. I believe the secret to the Leige waffle might lie in the balls of butter they distribute throughout the batter. These balls seem to explode in the waffle creating these little pockets of gooey goodness and forcing the sugar to the outer edge where it forms a nice comfortable crunch. Hungry yet? I know I need a waffle now...

On the edge of Brussels there is a unique site to be seen. By catching a ride on tram 23 you can slip past the greyness of the city and find yourself surrounded by the greenery of Laeken and suddenly a tall red Japanese pagoda appears. It seems a little bit out of place here in rainy Brussels, but I love the contrast that it provides. The buildings house the Eastern Art Museums which I have not gone into actually, for me it is enough to enjoy them from the outside. These are one of the many architectual feats created during the reign of King Leopold II who is a difficult king to understand. During his reign in Belgium he had many beautiful things erected such as these pavilions, the pagada, two beautiful palaces, and some of the most amazing greenhouses I have ever seen. However his rule over the African Congo was far less than good and you can't help but wonder at what price all these beautiful things were made. Perhaps this is a deeper historical question than I can dare to answer.

Brussels, just like most European cities, is full of countless cathedrals and places of worship that serve as a reminder of Europe's very religious history that seems to slowly dwindle away leaving only these large, unavoidable buildings to serve as reminders. I love these cathedrals and love wandering into them to see the interior. I always like to think how much money, work, and devotion had to go into making such a place. To think of the poor who may have gave a few of their pennies in order to have a place of shelter to pray, a building that might increase their faith when they pray to God to provide for them. Were these cathedrals really about the religion they supposedly housed or were they more statements of certain people who wanted to prove what man could build? Religion is passing out of style in Europe and the cathedrals become older and older with cold chairs and just a few lit candles. They are filled with tourists and their cameras and it seems only little areas are partitioned off for the seriously religions to pray in.

The first picture is of the Saint Michael and Saint Gudula Cathedral, which is my favorite in Brussels, the second one is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart which I don't find very appealing. The first cathedral is very traditional with it's stained class windows and intricately carved alter pieces. The other is a more modern approach that felt to me like an uninviting Catholic girls' school. Perhaps the second was attempting to create more of an artistic statement than the first choosing to use an Art Deco approach on the interior. You can probably guess which the last picture belongs to out of the two...

Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday, I was feeling really ill and so could not muster the strength to write a new blog. I warned you about this when I started this series though! One of the exciting things about Belgium that I must mention is that it is the birth land of everyone's favorite blue animated friends--The Smurfs! Or if you'd rather the Schlumpfs, the Pitufos, the Schtroumpfs, or the i -puffis. All different names for what we Americans know as the Smurfs. It's also home to Tin-Tin who I am not as well aware of, but it seems to be a claim to fame here. This photo is of my friend Erin attempting to sneak a photo with a very lovely blue smurf and Santa Claus. Does anyone else remember the Christmas episode of the Smurfs where they sang, "goodness makes the badness go away, goodness makes the badness go away, when there's goodness in your heart, oh the badness cannot start, goodness makes the badness go away!!" Oh Smurfy goodness.

Believe it or not, but I actually love my little attic room and it's charming 'wall of hats'. It has become my haven away from the rest of the house and gives me a place to escape to in the evenings and afternoons. My bed is super comfortable and the curve of the ceiling gives it a homey feeling. There is a lot of white everywhere, but I have gotten used to it I guess and have put up lots of pictures to remind me of home and the people there. If you want to see more pictures of my room you will find them in posts from August or September I believe when I first arrived here...before everything was an absolute mess!

I think one of the factors in whether you love a place or you hate a place is the friends that you make there. For me, being in Brussels has given me some of the best friends a girl could ask for. Maybe it is because the majority of us are here for the same reason, to be au-pairs, so we are all going through many of the same things day-to-day. When I need a night out of the house or an early cup of coffee, my phone is full of various people to call who will come out and listen to me complain and share in my small victories. My friends here have become my family for the year as they have shared all my ups and downs, gone with me on new adventures, and even shared all the major holidays with me. I could probably write a lot in this entry and be very sentimental, but I don't feel the need to elaborate. If I was really being fair I would give each person their own separate entry and relate to you the way in which they have been a part of my life here. It's enough to say that each of my friends are probably my #1 favorite part of Belgium.

Lately there have been an enormous amount of beautiful roses and flowers blooming around the city. Walking in different neighborhoods, these beautiful flowers can be seen in the most unusual of spots in an array of different colors. Hurry past and they are easily missed and they pass without being appreciated and admired. The just seem to grow and crawl where ever they please almost and it is difficult to imagine that someone planted them all and cares for them--they seem to be in control of themselves. So many times I have wished that I had my camera with me so I could capture all the colors and all the loveliness, but I usually don't and anyways, I already have a lot of flower pictures that I don't yet have any plans for. Flowers are never as nice on film though because you can't capture the smell, and that is part of their charm. I am sure this won't be my last blog about the flowers here.

It would be a shame to write about 35 different things about Belgium and not to mention this sculpted masterpiece that attracts thousands of tourist every year. Mannikin Pis is a Brussels' landmark. Any city that you find yourself in that makes a statue of a peeing boy a must see tourist destination must be an interesting city. Countless tourists roam the streets just hoping to see him dressed for the day, his usual posture taken, to have their photo taken with him. The truly fortunate tourist will arrive to find him peeing beer with an attendant happily filling cups for the thirsty. This little boy probably has more outfits than I do seeing as people from around the world give him clothes as gifts. Not only do people send him clothing, but they go to great lengths to capture him in different items, such as chocolate sculptures, bottle openers, and key chains. How did this little boy come to be? There is no one that can truly answer that question, though many have tried. It is best not to question, but just to enjoy the humorous invention of those in the past.

Judging from my banner picture, it might seem pretty clear that one of my favorite things that I have seen in Belgium is the bluebells that grow in a forest in Halle, a small town that is close to Waterloo (Yes, the place where the battle took place). I almost didn't go that day because I hadn't been feeling well and was having trouble getting myself out of bed, I had even told my friends no the first time they called. Laying there staring at the ceiling I decided I had to get out of bed to see such a phenomenon and I am so glad that I did. The bluebells were gorgeous filling out the forest floor. Tall thin trees reached up towards the sky and provided the lighting that would make this scene perfect. The bluebells formed a blanket of light blue and seemed like something out of a dream, something you wish existed in real life but though couldn't. Their blooms only last for a few weeks and then they die to wait another year to grow again. I wish I could see this every year, but know that I might not get to see it again, unless I plant bluebells in my own forest.

I am preparing to walk to Place Flagey to meet some friends for a coffee which means I will have to walk by these beautiful ponds. I think that I live in one of the more beautiful spots of Brussels and find something calming in my surroundings that I don't find in many other parts of the city. I have spent a lot of time walking around these two ponds. When I was working every morning because Clarence wasn't in school, we would walk around these ponds and watch the ducks and the swans. When the weather is nice everyone wants to get a spot sititng on the grass, with a cold beer in hand and a book or a guitar in the other. It is such a wonderous spot that leaves a lot of room for imagination. The trees around the pond are always changing, just a few weeks ago the buds on the tree were a beautiful bright pink and little pink petals fell to the path making it feel like one was walking through a type of fairy land. The picture was taken in Autumn when the leaves were changing color and falling from the trees forming another gorgeous picture. What an amazing spot to do some day dreaming in.

My calendar is now set to June and now that little square with those four letters stares up at me constantly from the 26th, "DONE". After that I see Switzerland written on the next square. I can't believe my time is coming to an end already and I amazed at how quickly the last year has gone. I thought that living abroad a year was a long time, but now that I have (almost) done it doesn't seem so long at all. Seems like it went by in the blink of an eye. I know that there were days/weeks even a month or so, that I thought that it would never end, but now that I am nearing the end I have forgotten those and remember back to all the busy times full of exploring and being with friends. My calendar seemed filled with more exciting things then when I had been home and in University--instead of impending finals and papers to be written it was filled with trips to be taken and social events to attend. My life here was so different than what I had been doing at home and I wished for time to hurry up or slow down for different reasons than I had at school.

Ghent is another one of my favorite cities in Belgium. Tucked in between the busy metropolis of Brussels and the tourist swarmed town of Brugge lies this little gem. I love Ghent because it has a lot of the charm that Brugges has--beautiful buildings and lovely canals--without the massive amounts of tourists trying to navigate narrow streets. It seems like a city that thrives on more than just the tourist industry and seems to have a younger, hipper population. I have been there four or five times now and each time it amazes me and seems just as beautiful each time.

One of the best known things world wide about Belgium is that their chocolate is the BEST. Do I agree? Of course! Can I say anymore on this subject? Of course not! It's wonderful that is all you need to know and you probably even know that already!