To anyone who loves babies and small children: You might reconsider that after 8 hours on a plane with a dozen of them all screeching, screaming and crying nonstop. It was the Symphonée aux bébés, in full stereo surround sound.…
Dinant la merveilleuse
It’s been comfortably cool and crisp here all week… except for today, the last day of my trip, when summer decided to arrive with a vengeance. Hot sunshine was our backdrop as we ventured south to the town of Dinant.…
Time travel
Bokrijk, in the eastern portion of Belgium about an hour’s drive from Brussels, was our daytrip for today. The best way to describe it is sort of a Flemish version of Upper Canada Village. Basically, it’s a museum where they’ve…
Rubens and boats
One of the nice things about staying in Brussels is that it’s so centrally-located, meaning that most of the country is easily accessible within an hour’s train ride or so. Today, we took advantage with another daytrip, this time to…
Rest day
I’ve been going pretty much nonstop since arriving here in Brussels last Friday. And before that I was working all week. So it’s been a while since I took a break, which is why, when Marie and Yannic got up…
Picturesque Bruges
“Pretty as a postcard” was how I’d heard Bruges described. I can now say, with some assurance, that it’s true. Today I headed out early and took a daytrip to Bruges, a beautifully preserved medieval town and world heritage site.…
Chocoholic’s paradise
An early start today, since both Yannic and Marie had to leave early for work. I metroed into the downtown area with Marie, and after she left for the office, I set out to accomplish my day’s business: a chocolate-tasting…
Wanna buy a castle?
Sunday is a quiet day in Belgium. Most shops and places close for the day. That, and the rainy weather we woke up to, made it an ideal day for us to take it easy and transport the Sunday Brunch…
Festivals and fests
Marie has been telling me for ages that Leuven is her favourite city in Belgium. Last night and today, I got the opportunity to see why. Yesterday after dinner, we piled into the car and drove the twenty minute distance…
Fighting the jetlag
I made it here to Brussels this morning after one of those typically awful Air Transat flights full of screaming babies, fasten-seatbelt-turbulance lockdowns, arctic-level freezing cabin temperatures, and maybe 15 minutes of sleep, if that. I was tired this morning,…