Atomium pictures

I've been a bit slow in getting these added, but here are some pictures from Saturday, when Chuck, Sue, Carl and I went to the Atomium. I mentioned it in a previous post about things to do in Brussels, but basically it's a HUGE model of an Iron crystal that was built for the 1958 Expo, or World's Fair. It's magnified 165 billion times, and it really is big. The neat part about it is that the whole thing is accessible inside (though at €9 the admission isn't cheap), and it has some nice views of the northern part of the city. The "tunnels" that go between the large circular areas leave you feeling a bit "off balance" because you're moving at an angle, but that kind of adds to its futuristic feel. If the Atomium were to be built today it might not be considered spectacular, but in 1958 this must have been an incredible sight; even the elevator was the fastest in Europe at the time it was built!

Anyway, it's another item we can check off our list of things to see, and we can now tell our visitors about it and let them decide for themselves whether they want to go in, or just admire from the outside! Thanks Chuck & Sue, for helping us add to our tour guide qualifications!

More snow

I mentioned in the last post that I took a picture from our back window after last night's snow. Well here it is!!

Dinant, Namur and Let It Snow!!!

Yesterday was a holiday here in Belgium (Easter Monday), so Carl had the day off from work. Chuck and Sue are in Wallonia right now, so we decided to take a train south to Namur, where the four of us met up and together went to Dinant for the day.

Dinant is a small town in the southern Ardennes region of Belgium. It's in a beautiful setting, nestled between the Meuse River and the surrounding cliffs and hills - this is the hilly part of Belgium! At the top of one of the cliffs is the Citadel, a large fortress originally built in the 11th century that overlooks the town. We climbed the 408 steps to the top (there's also a cable car, but we decided we could use the exercise), where there are incredible views of the valley and guided tours of the Citadel grounds. It was a really interesting place, and has been the setting for some pretty brutal battles stretching all the way from the 1400's up to World War I.

After the tour and a "beer break" in the Citadel's café, we took the cable car back down the cliffside, where we went to one of the brasseries in town for a late lunch. The food was GREAT, one of the better meals we've had in Belgium in fact. While we were eating it also started to snow, and it has been snowing off and on from then until now, in Dinant, Namur and Brussels! In fact, it's snowing even as I write this! Last night we got about 1 1/2 inches (close to 4 cm) after we got home, and it was one of those really pretty snows that coats everything. I took a picture of the view out our back window this morning - so pretty! This is the first (and probably will be the only) time we've had accumulating snow this winter, so even though I'm ready for Spring, I'm glad we got one good snow before the warmer weather arrives.

Anyway, after lunch we returned to Namur and walked around a bit, and of course took one more beer break. With all these beer breaks you might think that we were getting a bit saucy, but we were definitely pacing ourselves and savoring the excellent beer! In each region of Belgium there are distinctive beers that are often available only locally, and since all four of us are amateur beer connoisseurs, we really enjoyed sampling the local offerings and sharing them amongst ourselves.

After our final beer break we walked back to the train station - in heavy snow of course! - and took the train back to Brussels and home. Chuck and Sue have one more day in Wallonia, but tomorrow they'll be here in Brussels until they fly home Sunday morning. I think they're having a really good time despite the weather, and we hope it will continue here in Brussels!

Pictures:
#1: The town center from across the river, with the Tower of Notre Dame (the big church) and the Citadel in the background)
#2: No, Carl and Sue aren't performing an acrobatic feat here - this is one of the bunkers in the Citadel that was bombed during World War I, and as a result was shifted a good 23-30° off center. It's a very odd feeling to stand in there, throws off your balance entirely!
#3 and #4: Views from the Citadel, overlooking the town and Meuse River
#5: Chuck, Carl and I playing in the snow in Namur!

Brrrr!!!

We're having a bit of a cold snap here in Belgium, and over the past several days we've seen our share of rain, small hail and even snow, interspersed with short "teases" of sunshine - sometimes all in the same hour. The weather here can be STRANGE!!

Unfortunately the lousy weather coincides with the visit of our friends Chuck and Sue. We had hoped that the warmer temps and occasional sunshine that we'd had for several weeks would continue while they were here, but no such luck! They're taking it in stride though, and we enjoyed an overnight visit with them in Bruges on Friday/Saturday. Today they headed south to the Wallonia region, and tomorrow we will meet them in Dinant to spend the day with them and visit that town - for more on Dinant, read my post from January 31st. We're excited as this will be our first visit to Wallonia, and hopefully we'll be able to take some good pictures despite the weather! On Wednesday they return to Brussels to spend four nights here before heading home. They are our first guests and we are excited to show them our new (if temporary) home!

In other news, we have booked a trip to Switzerland in late April. We'll visit Geneva and Lausanne, and will also take a train to Fribourg to finally meet my "blog buddies" MizK and Kasia (you'll find links to their blogs on the right of my page). The three of us met online through our blogs and I can't wait to finally meet them in person, along with their spouses!

Well that's all for now - I hope to have some photos and commentary on Dinant for you tomorrow night or Tuesday though, so stay tuned! Oh, and Happy Easter!

We did it!!

Today was the big day as far as our marathon training is concerned. It's the longest training run we do to get ready for the race, and it's 32 km (20 miles), so it's a big deal and the date has been looming on our training calendar for some time. Well we did it - YEAH!! Although it wasn't easy and our leg muscles are pretty sore - you'd laugh if you saw me try to get up after sitting down for a while - we feel great overall and are thrilled to still be injury-free! We now head into the final 3-week "taper down" phase of the training, with about as much confidence as two first-time marathoners can have of their ability to finish.

Race day is Sunday, April 6th, so keep an eye out for a celebratory blog post and hopefully some pictures (if I'm able to get someone from our University of Kent group who isn't running to take some with my camera). In the meantime, I've got a couple of amusing "after" photos from today. Carl finished before me and I told him to take his own picture before showering, so that's why his pic is just a head shot - he looks tired, doesn't he? As for mine, they were taken about 30 minutes after I finished, and I was just acting goofy...I might not look tired but believe me, I was (and still am)! Safe to say we'll both sleep REALLY well tonight!

Beautiful Barcelona!

We returned from our weekend trip to Barcelona yesterday, and the word that best describes our stay there is "WOW!" What a lovely, modern, clean, and friendly city! It truly surpassed our expectations, and I would dare say that it is now one of our favorite cities anywhere. I had long desired to go there and had built it up somewhat in my mind, so I was worried that I might be a little disappointed. I was worried for no reason though, because it was just beautiful!

Here's some of the highlights:

A must-do, even if it is touristy, is to walk along Las Ramblas, a almost mile-long pedestrian promenade full of tourist shops, restaurants, street performers, flower vendors and caricature artists. It is a bit of a haven for scam artists and pickpockets because of its popularity with tourists, but we experienced no problems whatsoever. Just east of Las Ramblas is the Barri Gòtic, the oldest part of the city with narrow, alley-like streets that open onto quaint little squares. It's the perfect place to wander and "get lost" for a few hours!

The famous Sagrada Familia cathedral is another stop on the tourist trail. The outside is much more impressive than the inside, at least at this point. Even though the project began way back in 1882, it is still under construction , and from what I read it won't be finished until at least 2026 - yikes! It was designed by the famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, and it has an incredibly unique style as far as religious buildings are concerned. One façade is very ornate, while the other has a much more modern, geometric look. There's supposed to eventually be a third façade as well, but it hasn't been started yet. When you go inside you have the option of taking an elevator to the upper level for another 2 Euro, but the line was so long that we didn't think it would be worth the time.

We visited one of the most incredible indoor/outdoor markets I've ever seen, located just off Las Ramblas. There we purchased the ingredients to assemble a picnic lunch, which we enjoyed on the patio of the guesthouse we stayed in with our friends Carl and Margaret (Margaret is a fellow student at the University of Kent, and they were visiting the city at the same time).

The Parc Güell, perched high on a hill overlooking the city, was well worth a visit despite the uphill walk to get there. It was also designed by Gaudí, and combines interesting architecture, sculpture, decorative tilework, gardens and sweeping views of the city and the Mediterranean. The whole place has a rather whimsical feel to it, making it about the most unique park I've visited. We hiked even higher above the park, to the top of the hill where there is an overlook about 267 meters (800 ft.) above sea level. Gorgeous views!

There is a long waterfront promenade that straddles the city and the beach, and it's a great place to wander, people-watch and admire the scenery. There's also a good choice of restaurants and a large shopping mall.

One might not expect this from Spain, but it's obvious that this city is run very efficiently. On Friday evening around 7PM, in one 45-minute stretch I saw three city workers cleaning the sidewalks - that's three of them working individually in different places, not all together! The metro service is also about the most efficient I've seen anywhere. Not once did we have to wait more than 4 1/2 minutes for a train, and we rode it at all hours, and on Saturday.

The food, the wine - both were terrific! The restaurant prices were also very reasonable - much more reasonable than here in Brussels, in fact!

To sum it up, I would highly recommend this city as a destination for just about anyone. It's not quite as full of history as London or Rome, but what it lacks there it makes up for in atmosphere, cuisine and natural beauty.

Picture #1: The four of us out for the evening
Picture #2: View down a narrow street in the Barri Gòtic
Picture #3: The entrance to Parc Güell
Picture #4: View over the city from the top of the hill, above Parc Güell - this is the center one of three panoramic shots I took
Picture #5: Part of one of the façades of the Sagrada Familia

BIG NEWS!!

We got some really great news yesterday - Carl has been offered a four-month paid internship! It's with an organization called Post Europ, which represents the interests of postal organizations throughout Europe. The position is called Web Communications Assistant, and it will give him a chance to gain some valuable experience in a new field. He'll also be able to meet a lot of people, make some good connections and (who knows?) perhaps even secure a full-time job afterwards!!

He starts next Thursday, and will typically be working 7 hours a day, four days a week. Fortunately his new boss is a very understanding lady, who is willing to be flexible regarding our scheduled trips to Paris and Normandy. That's a relief, because we have already made non-refundable payments towards both of them, not to mention all the marathon training!

So needless to say, Carl is very excited about this new development - and we're both excited to have a little money coming IN as opposed to all of it going OUT!! :-) Perhaps we'll have a nice dinner in Barcelona this weekend to celebrate!

Odds-n-ends

Wow, has it really been over a week since my last post?? Sorry for the lull, but I guess it's been a quiet week as far as news and events are concerned. I do have some things to mention now though, so here they are!

The marathon training continues. I completed a GRUELING 18 miles (29km) yesterday, and OH MY!! I don't think I've ever felt my legs hurt so much! My calves in particular were painful towards the end. I guess it was cramping but it basically felt like someone was grabbing them and squeezing as hard as they could - not a pleasant feeling! I suppose this is how the marathon will feel towards the end, but I hope that all the excitement and adrenaline of the event will help distract me from it. Anyway, I'm feeling much better today and still have no injuries to speak of other than general soreness, a few small blisters and some chafing where my sports bra has been rubbing against my skin. Nothing serious, so I'm plugging away with less than five weeks to go now! Carl is doing fine as well, but unfortunately some nasty stomach issues interrupted his run yesterday. He's feeling better now though, and is still on track and looking forward to the big day. The biggest training run of all is Sunday the 16th, after that it tapers down as we lead up to race day. It's the home stretch, thank goodness!!

We're off to Barcelona this weekend, so keep an eye out for a report and pictures - we've never been to Spain before and we actually have some friends going there with us, so we're very excited!! We also have another trip planned that I don't believe I've mentioned yet, to Normandy the first weekend of May. It's a group trip being coordinated by our French instructor, and it was such a good deal that we couldn't pass it up! It's a three night trip and will take us to Beauvais, Rouen, Bayeux, Mont St. Michel and of course the D-day beaches.

Spring is on its way here in northwest Europe, a few trees are showing the first sign of leaves, and a small (I think maybe cherry?) tree in one of the yards behind our apartment has some lovely pink blossoms, which I've photographed and added here. The days are getting longer, a major improvement over the 8-hour days of December, and the first signs of Spring are all around! With that, it looks like the visitors are beginning to arrive as well. Our friends Chuck and Sue from Portland will be here in less than two weeks, my mom and stepdad are coming for two weeks in May, and it looks like my dad & stepmom will arrive just after that. So if any of you reading want to come and see us while we're here, better plan it soon! You can come whenever you like of course, but as far as our ability to be tour guides May is pretty full, but the second half of April, all of June and the first part of July are still open - so let us know! :-)

An Anniversary of Sorts

Today marks a small milestone for Carl and I; it was exactly six months ago that we first arrived in Brussels! We've definitely enjoyed our time here so far, but in some respects it doesn't seem like it's been that long. For instance, we don't really feel like we've discovered all of the city yet (that was obvious to me after writing my last post!), and we know for sure that we haven't yet learned enough French!! We are definitely making progress in both areas though, and having a great time in the process!

I'm sure the questions on everyone's minds are how much longer will we be staying here, and where are we headed next? Well the short answer is we haven't got the foggiest idea!!! :-) Now for the long answser: I think it's safe to say that we will be here until at least early to mid-June, but after that it's pretty up in the air. Carl doesn't really need to be here after his classes finish in April, so technically we could leave anytime after that. However, we plan to stay until either a job opportunity comes up or until our financial cushion begins to wear down, whichever happens first. We're both starting the process of looking for jobs, and we're willing to go pretty much anywhere for a good opportunity, so we'll have to wait and see what happens in the coming months. To sum it all up, this is an uncertain but very exciting time for us!

Things to do and see in Brussels

It occurred to me the other day that other than some pictures I took the week we arrived and a description of our "Car Free Sunday" outing, I haven't really described what kinds of things there are to attract visitors to Brussels. We've been living here as "locals" and haven't had any visitors of our own yet, so I'm embarrassed to admit that there are quite a few attractions we have yet to see. Despite that, I'm going to give a run-down of what's on offer for visitors.

The obvious attractions which most people are familiar with are the Grand Place and the Mannekin Pis, both of which I've photographed and put onto the blog. Beyond that however, the attractions aren't quite as familiar. So to give you an idea, here's a little list:

1-The Atomium is a gigantic space-age looking structure that was built for the 1958 World's Fair, and replicates the atomic structure of an iron crystal, magnified 165 billion times! This is one of the things I have to admit I haven't seen yet, but I'll try to get there soon and get some pictures for you!

2-Museums: there are quite a few of course, but the best-known are the Royal Museum of Central Africa (the Belgians have a rather brutal colonial legacy in the Congo) and the Royal Museum of Fine Arts. There are also a few non-traditional museums of course - one is the Belgian Center for Comic Strip Art. That's not it of course; all told, there are more than 75 museums in the city according to Arthur Frommer's website. Oh, and of course we've been to NONE of these places!

3-The European Quarter and Parliament: there aren't any museums or beautiful old buildings here (although the huge Triumphal Arch is nearby with some great views), just modern skyscrapers erected to house the various offices of the European Parliament and related organizations. It is kind of neat to walk through this area though, and as one might expect the neighborhood is also home to a few excellent Irish pubs - remember how much we like those! :-)

4-Bars and beer...I've commented on this one before, but I have to reiterate that Belgium is truly a beer country! With names like "A la Morte Subite" ("Sudden Death"), and "Le Bier Circus" (I assume that needs no translation?), the pub culture in Brussels is unique, fun and most of all VARIED! There is also a museum dedicated to beer, the Belgian Brewers Museum. Their website is www.beerparadise.be - gotta love that!

5-Dining: again I have a confession for you - we haven't been to very many "Belgian" restaurants, but I can tell you that whatever the cuisine, Belgians know how to do good food! Thank goodness we do a lot of walking and have been busy training for the marathon, because otherwise I would think that we might have gained instead of lost weight since arriving here!

6-Shopping: given our current employment status we of course have been unable to indulge in this visitor's pastime, but believe me when I say that a shopaholic of just about any kind would have a field day in this city! The Avenue Louise shopping district just south of the city center has a plethora of designer stores (if you have to ask how much, you can't afford it!), and the city center has an interesting mix of kitschy souvenir stores, elegant boutiques, shops selling traditional Belgian goods such as lace, and of course dozens of CHOCOLATE shops! You can spend a fortune or a pittance (well maybe not exactly thanks to the belaguered US dollar), but spend you can!!

Well there you have it, a brief introduction to the city we've called home for the past several months. Overall I would sum it up by saying that it may not be full of famous sites like Paris or Rome, but Brussels has its own distinctive charm, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to explore and discover its treasures!

Happy Valentine's and Travel update

So it turns out that the ubiquitous "holiday of love", Valentine's Day, is celebrated in Europe as well. However, it doesn't seem to be quite as big of a deal over here, and we are happy to not be constantly bombarded with jewelry, flower and chocolate advertisements. We're spending a quiet evening and dinner at home, but we've got a busy weekend coming up, with friends hosting a party Friday night, dinner plans with another couple on Saturday, and - what else? - a 16 mile training run on Sunday. This one is definitely going to be a challenge, but we're feeling great so far (no injuries, knock on wood!), and if we can both successfully finish this run it will do a lot for our confidence going into the last few weeks of training.

I also have an update on our travel plans. We've booked another mini-trip, this time to Barcelona, Spain. We'll fly there the morning of March 6th, and will return the 9th, so it's only for a long weekend. Still, that should be a perfect amount of time to see the city, and enjoy the warm weather (fingers crossed!), good food and good wine for which Spain is famous! I will of course take pictures and write a trip report, as always!

Ghent - Round Two

The past few days have produced some of the nicest weather we've had in months, so yesterday we decided on a whim to take a daytrip to Ghent. I went there last Fall with our friend Johanna while Carl was back in the U.S., so this was my second visit, his first. The weather was absolutely gorgeous all day long - in the low to mid 50's F, no wind and not a cloud in the sky! It made for some really nice photos compared to what I got last Fall, so I decided to post a few despite the fact that you've already seen some pictures of Ghent.

Ghent is quickly becoming my favorite place in Belgium...it's attractive, historical and friendly, but not too touristy. One thing that did disappoint this time: the canal cruise. When Johanna and I did one last September it was in a small, open-air boat and was excellent, but probably because it's winter now they weren't running those boats (even though the weather was MUCH nicer than it was in September!). The one we ended up on was enclosed and had about three times as many people on it. At times it was so loud that we could barely hear the captain's commentary, and it's hard to take good pictures through glass. Based on the three canal cruises I've now taken (two in Ghent, one in Amsterdam), I would HIGHLY recommend the smaller, open boats over the larger enclosed ones if you have the choice!

Photo #1: canal view in the old city. Right in the center you can see the canal cruise boat we took - to be avoided if possible!
Photo #2: a kayaker and his trusty companion paddling one of the canals - too cute!
Photo #3: a great little pub that I've now enjoyed on both of my visits. This is also the spot where the "good" canal cruises depart when they're running - note the covered open-air boat at the bottom of the frame.

Le Super Bowl - en français bien sûr!

We've stayed up late tonight to watch the Super Bowl - it got underway at about 12:30 AM here. We actually do get a broadcast of it at our apartment, via one of the French stations. It's entirely in French of course, and we see none of the commercials (geez, why else would you watch??), so given that and the fact that it's late, we're going to have a hard time staying awake till the end! It is pretty funny to listen to commentary of this most American of sports in another language, so I decided to record a short clip of it to share with you. Sorry it's not of the highest quality, but you should be able to clearly hear one of the commentators say "C'est magnifique!" right at the end when the Giants complete a pass. Too funny!!!

There's more to Belgium than just... (Part Two)

Today the overview of "unknown" destinations in Belgium continues with Wallonia, the southern French-speaking part of the country. This is the lesser-known region as far as international tourism is concerned, so there were lots of places to choose from! Here are a few highlights:

Bouillon: in the far south of the country, along the French border, this small town is in a beautiful setting along the River Semois. It is known both for its natural environment (lots of hiking and kayaking nearby) and for its Chateau de Bouillon, once owned by Godfry of Bouillon, the leader of the First Crusade to Jerusalem. Parts of it are over 1000 years old, and it is widely considered to be Belgium's finest feudal castle. (See picture #1, courtesy of Wikipedia - you can see some of the Chateau on the hill in the background)

Dinant: this is another town with a beautiful setting, this time located along the River Meuse in central Wallonia. As you'll see from the photos, the town center is sandwiched between the river and a 100-meter cliff, topped by a fortress called the Citadel. Its skyline is also dominated by the large Notre Dame Cathedral. Boat cruises and kayaking are both available along the river from Spring through Fall. From what I've read it can get pretty crowded in Summer, but based on the photos I can certainly see why! (See pictures #2 and #3, courtesy of Wikipedia and Trabel)

Spa: as its name betrays, this was Europe's original "health resort", and the name spa has been used to describe such places ever since. Its hot springs have been well known since the 14th century, and in its 18th and 19th century heyday it was the place to be among the wealthy and influential people of the day. It's a pretty town set in the hills of the Ardenne in the east of Wallonia, and in addition to the hot springs and spas, it also hosts the annual Formula One Belgian Grand Prix. (See picture #4 courtesy of Trabel)

So there you have it, a little 15 minute tour of some places in Belgium you probably haven't heard of before. Hope you enjoyed reading - who knew such a little country could pack so much variety?!

There's more to Belgium than just... (Part One)

If you're like I was a year ago, you probably know of a few places in Belgium such as Brussels, Antwerp and maybe Bruges or Ghent, but not much else. Belgium is a small country and isn't as well known as some of its neighbors, but since we've been here we've learned that there are a lot of really neat places in this country that we'd never even heard of. So far we haven't traveled too widely, and so we only know some of these places based on reading about them or seeing them on a map. We do hope to do a little more in-country traveling as Spring arrives and we finish the marathon training (it's time consuming!), so hopefully we'll soon be able to provide firsthand trip reports on some of these destinations. In the meantime I'll give you a preview, today focusing on the lesser-known parts of Flanders (in the north), and tomorrow on Wallonia (the south).

Most of the Belgian cities you've probably heard of are in Flanders, so there aren't as many "undiscovered" places in this region as you'll find in the south. Still, there are some places that are decidedly off the beaten path. Here's a few:

Mechelen: it's about halfway between Brussels and Antwerp, and despite significant damage during both World Wars, its cathedral, palace and other architectural gems were largely preserved. It's also in the heart of the asparagus growing region, and many gourmets consider its "fat white" variety to be the best anywhere. (See picture #1, courtesy of Wikipedia)

Belgian coastal villages: we've been to De Haan, one of the quaint seaside villages, but there are numerous towns of varying size and atmosphere. There's a tram that runs almost the entire 65km of coastline and stops in nearly every town. This is a great way of getting around, and I've heard that riding the tram and hopping on and off along the way can be a nice daytrip. (See my post from October 9th, 2007 for pictures of De Haan)

Ypres: this city is unfortunately best known for being utterly destroyed in World War I. Over 300,000 Allied soldiers died here as well, so it's a somber place, as illustrated by the numerous monuments, cemetaries and the famous poem In Flanders Fields (there is also a museum of the same name). The town was rebuilt in accordance with its original design, so despite being relatively "new", it has managed to recreate much of its original charm. (See pictures #2 and #3, courtesy of Trabel and Wikipedia, of the rebuilt old town and the Menin Gate memorial)

Ik kan een beetje Nederlands spreken!!

Sorry it's been so long since my last post...we've settled back into our usual routine and there just hasn't been too much happening lately. Oh, but there is one exception! I finally finished my first Dutch course and passed the exam with no problems, but for now I've decided to put my Dutch learning on hold. It was a tough decision because I really enjoy the language and was doing well with it, but I think it's for the best as it will allow me to focus more of my efforts on learning French. I may pick it up again in a month or two depending on how things go, but we'll see!

In the meantime, French studies have picked up again, Carl's classes are in full swing, marathon training is continuing to progress (there's a 13 mile run on the agenda this weekend - yikes!), and we are doing great over here in the the "Old World"!

Burrito night at Casa de Ervin

A lot of people said they enjoyed the post about our $27 burritos at Pablo's last Fall, and I think pretty much everyone agreed with my statement that from then on we'd stick to making our own Tex-Mex at home. Well, I've decided to show you what a typical dinner at our own personal "burrito joint" looks like, as well as what it costs.

The picture shows you what it looks like - it's a lot of food, but good stuff! We each had two small fajita burritos with rice, beans and cheese, and tonight the choice of meat was beef. It was marinated in a tomato and jalapeno salsa that our friends sent us (thanks a bunch Tim & Erica!), and the cheese is cheddar that we grated ourselves (no Monterey Jack to be found here). The rice, believe it or not, is Uncle Ben's 2-minute microwaveable Mexican rice, and it's really pretty good! Finally, we sometime splurge for the refried beans they sell in the international section of our grocery store, but they're absurdely expensive - close to €4 for one can! Instead, we usually settle for dark kidney beans - a little odd, but we haven't found any black or pinto beans, and they actually aren't too bad with it. Here's what it all costs...

Beef: €3.50 - $5.25

Beans: €.64 - $.96

Rice: €1.68 - $2.52

Tortillas: €1.73 - $2.59

Cheese: €1.33 - $1.99

Pepper & onion: €.50 - $.75

Salsa: free!

Grand total for the whole meal: €9.37, or $14.06. Not as cheap as it would be in the States of course, because the rice, cheese and tortillas are all imported, but way better than Pablo could ever manage. Boy, they must be RAKING in the profits at that place!!

Amsterdam trip report

Well our holiday season travel itinerary is finally completed, and we're kind of glad! It's great to be able to travel so easily throughout Europe and we're making the most of the opportunity to see as much as possible, but it does get tiring, and I must say we're happy to spend the rest of January right here at home in Brussels!

We had a nice time in Amsterdam - it's a very cozy, attractive city with canals, gabled buildings and people everywhere riding bicycles. Even in the rainy weather we had for the first half of our visit, there were still a number of hard-core residents riding around on their bikes, hoods pulled tight and eyes half-closed against the raindrops...impressive!

As far as sights, we visited the Anne Frank museum, which was very well done and quite moving. How a young, vibrant teenager like herself (plus seven others) managed to cope with being cooped up in such a small place for more than two years is beyond me. The fact that they were only months away from surviving the war in hiding, and when she died she was only about a month away from liberation, was just so sad. Anyway, it was a place I'd wanted to visit for a long time, so despite it being a bit sobering I was glad we made it there.

We also took the obligatory canal cruise which was nice, though I found the one in Ghent to be both prettier and more personalized (meaning a smaller boat and the guide speaking directly to you, where here it was a recording and the captain hardly spoke to us at all). Most of the canals in Amsterdam also have cars parked along the edge, and some had sunken boats in them, so I just found them to be a bit less "photogenic" than the canals in Ghent, where pedestrian walkways or the edges of buildings line the canals. The water was clean though, and the canal cruise is still a great way to see the city from a different vantage point. As I mentioned a while back, we haven't done the canal cruise in Bruges yet, but we'll have to get back there and take one this Spring and see what we think of that.

Finally, the infamous Red Light district. Even if sex, drugs and booze aren't your thing, it's a sight to behold. It's seedy, raunchy, and a "sinner's paradise", but you have to see it for yourself...oh, and the people-watching is serious entertainment in and of itself! I've heard that Brussels, Antwerp and other cities have their own smaller districts, but this is the grandaddy of them all, and if you're in Amsterdam, you've got to at least wander the streets for an hour or two and see what all the fuss is about!

One last comment on Amsterdam: we were impressed by the variety of cuisine available there, particularly in the dining district known as Liedseplein, which was conveniently right around the corner from our hotel. On just one block of this street you can find restaurants featuring the cuisine of places as diverse as Spain, Uruguay, Indonesia, Japan and India. The choices were dizzying, but we were in the mood for tapas, so we ended up at a the Spanish restaurant (it was good by the way, and unlike some tapas places, a lot of food for the money). We also had a really tasty "pancake" breakfast, which I would definitely recommend! I used quotes when I said pancakes because the Dutch version is different; thinner, less "cakey" and with a seriously wide variety of available toppings! One thing is for sure, we definitely had no problem eating and drinking well in this city!

Picture #1: Carl in front of the Royal Palace in Dam Square (pronounced "dahm")

Pictures #2-3: Shots taken from the canal cruise; note the substantial "lean" of a few of the buildings in #3; that's a result of settling of the very soft ground the city is built upon

Picture #4: Canal shot taken from a bridge

Picture #5: the Prinsengracht canal - our hotel was along the right side of the picture, about 2/3 of the way down

Another trip - whew!!

I forgot to mention this previously, but before we departed for Rome we decided to plan another short trip ahead of the start of Carl's second school term, and to celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary (wow, has it been that long?), which is on Monday. So tomorrow morning we board a train for Amsterdam for a two night stay, returning Sunday morning. Not a long trip, but it should be a nice introduction to the city and a last hurrah before we settle back into the routine of classes, marathon training, etc. So have a great weekend, and look out for another trip report Sunday night or Monday! :-)

Oh, and unfortunately due to the time I've been spending helping Carl review the final drafts of his papers and preparing for my Dutch class exam (yes, I actually have to pass an exam), I haven't had time to get the Rome photos on the internet yet. Looks like it'll be next week now before that happens - sorry!

Rome trip report and photo preview

**Note: if you've already read this post, have another look at the description of photo #1. To keep things interesting, I decided to make an actual competition out of "Where in Rome were Carl & Jen on New Year's Eve?". I'm not looking for the exact name of the place, just an accurate general description of it. Post your guesses as comments in the post, and whoever guesses it right first is the winner. Here's one hint to get things started: we were NOT at an ancient site.

We're baaaack!! Okay, so I know I promised that I was going to do some posts and upload photos while we were in Rome (really I WAS!), but it didn't quite work out as I'd planned. First, I forgot the adapter I need to connect my camera and computer, so there was no way to upload the photos...duh (making a big "L" symbol on my head)!! Second, our B&B host didn't have wifi, just a hardline internet connection, and although he was willing to let us disconnect his PC and connect our laptops, we couldn't get the connection to work. I was going to do a quick post using his computer, but without any photos I just didn't think it would be all that entertaining for anyone. Anyway, enough excuses, let's get to the good stuff!

The trip was great, and it was the perfect amount of time to see all that we wanted to see in Rome, while still leaving time to relax and also take a few daytrips. The weather was not as warm as we had hoped for, but several times I considered how miserable it would be to hike through so many outdoor sights in the summer heat and humidity - that thought alone quelled most of the complaints! We had two rainy days, but out of eight days total that's not too bad either. The one unfortunate thing was that I came down with a cold partway through the trip, and a day later got either a stomach bug or mild food poisoning. Neither one knocked me down too severely, but sadly our worst day health- and weather-wise was the day we went to Pompei, which I had really been looking forward to! Still, we did have a really good time, so let me tell you more about it!

Rome
Rome is an incredible city, absolutely crammed with things to see almost everywhere you look. We're both history buffs, so this place was an absolute treasure trove! It's also a bit noisy and run down, but after several days we came to the realization that that's a big part of its charm. Anyway, here's a quick summary of what we saw:

Ancient Rome Sights
Colosseum
Forum
Palatine Hill
Trajan's Forum
Pantheon
Churches
St. Peter's Basilica
Sistine Chapel
Santa Maria Sopra Minverva
St. Peter-in-Chains
Santa Maria della Vittoria
Museums
National Museum of Rome
Vatican Museum
Other Sights
Trevi Fountain
Spanish Steps
Piazza Navona
too many other Piazza's and neat neighborhoods to mention!

Our top highlights were the Colosseum and Forum, dinner in Trastevere (the best dinner we had in Rome by far!), St. Peter's Basilica (I'd recommend seeing it last so the other churches don't disappoint!), and the Scavi (Excavations) tour below St. Peter's. This tour was pretty amazing; you have to book it well in advance as they strictly limit the number of visitors allowed, but it's well worth the trouble. It takes you directly underneath the basilica, where you can see excavated mausoleums belonging to Roman families that pre-date both the basilica and Christianity, along with the tomb of St. Peter and the various memorial structures built over it in the last 19 centuries. The progression of history that you can see in such a small (and important) space is really quite incredible.

Orvieto
Orvieto is a small hill town at the southern edge of the Umbria region. It has a gorgeous cathedral and medieval center, and stunning views into the surrounding valley about 1,000 feet below. The train drops you off in the modern town at the base of the hill, and you then take a funicular (hillside train) straight up the hill into the old town. In addition to the cathedral and view, it's also known for ceramics and its clasico wine variety, both of which we were able to partake in - meaning we bought a piece of pottery and tasted the wine! It was quite chilly the day we were there, but despite that we really enjoyed our visit and the chance to see a bit of Italy's wine country.

Pompei
This place needs no introduction - it's simply incredible. I may be a bit biased because I've been wanting to go there since I first read about it as a child, but I think anyone would agree that it is THE place to go if you want to see the best preserved evidence that exists of daily life in an Ancient Roman town. Not even lousy weather, a cold and an upset stomach could ruin it for me!
A sidenote about this trip: some of you may have seen the recent coverage of riots in Naples over the tons of trash that have accumulated in the streets. Well it's not exaggerated! We took a train to Naples and then switched to the local commuter train "Circumvesuviana" to get to Pompei. Even from the train windows we could see piles of it in many of the residential streets. It's a very sad situation that I frankly have trouble understanding, but I guess inefficiency, corruption and the mafia have such an influence there that this has been an ongoing issue for some time.

Anyway, we're tired and ready to spend some quiet days and nights at home, but we had a lot of fun and we really feel that we can now confidently say we've "done" Rome!

Here's a few photos to "whet your appetite", but due to the sheer number that I took I plan to upload them onto a photosharing website and will add the link to a subsequent post. That will take me a few days since I'll need to add captions (so you know what you're looking at), so in the meantime you'll see:

1- Two "happy" Americans in Rome on New Year's Eve - the first person who can guess where we were wins a box of Belgian chocolates! Oh, but Carl's sister and my brother are ineligible, because they already know! :-)
2- Two "cold" Americans in the Colosseum on a rather chilly day!
3- St. Peter's Square with the basilica in the background
4- The Duomo in Orvieto
5- The theatre in Pompei, with the gladiator barracks and courtyard in the background

And we're off!!!

After much anticipation, we head out VERY EARLY tomorrow morning to catch our flight to Rome, and we should be on the ground in the Eternal City by about 8:30 CET. I've done a lot of research and have things pretty well planned out, but I've also been sure to leave time for just wandering and doing whatever comes to mind. We'll take two daytrips, one to Pompeii (and Sorrento if time allows) a few hours south, and the other to Orvieto, about 90 minutes north - we figured it would be nice to get out of the city for a few days and see a little bit of the rest of the country.

We will have internet access while we're there, so I'm taking my laptop and plan to upload some photos along the way...so be sure to keep your eyes out for more blogging and pictures!

Oh, and I almost forgot...

Happy Holidays and Aachen photos

Merry Christmas!

or

Happy Hanukkah!

or

Happy Kwaanza!

or

Happy Festivus?!?

Oh geez, Happy/Merry whatever I guess!!

One never knows what to say on one of these blogs, when the reader could be celebrating anything (or nothing) really! :-) Anyway, we're having a nice quiet Christmas morning here in Belgium, me organizing photos and writing blogs and virtual Christmas cards, and Carl working on his papers (of course). We may head over to a friend's place later, but otherwise we plan on a quiet day at home.

Last night we got back from Aachen, Germany so here's a little "trip report" from there:
Aachen is a very pretty city of about 250,000 people in extreme western Germany, right at the border of both Belgium and the Netherlands. It's best known for being the home to Charlemagne, as well as the crowning place of most of the kings and queens of the Holy Roman empire from the 900's to the 1500's. The Aachen Cathedral, parts of it dating from about 800 AD, is the biggest attraction, and I've included some photos of the outside and inside here. The large gold box in one of the photos is the shrine of Charlemagne, and is said to contain his remains. Charlemagne's throne, where the coronations took place, is unfortunately not on display to the public. Pictures never really do it justice, but particularly the inside of the cathedral was beautiful.

Our main reason for visiting Aachen when we did was the huge Christmas market they hold there every year. The 23rd was the last night for it, so we were happy to make it there in time to enjoy it for a few hours before it closed. It was a lot like the one in Brussels, but a little bigger and obviously with a German flair. After wandering around the market and the medieval center for a while we had a yummy German dinner followed by a visit to an Irish pub. It's become a bit of a joke between us that somehow, no matter where we go, we always seem to end up in an Irish pub! :-) Anyway, Aachen is a lovely city, and we look forward to going back again soon!

Update on Belgium's political crisis

There have been some recent developments in the situation facing the Belgian government, so I thought I'd take a moment to catch everyone up since I'd talked about it previously. The following BBC article (again, I don't see any mention of it on CNN, MSNBC or FOX news) gives a pretty good and concise update, so here's the text:

Belgium gets emergency government

Rival parties representing Belgium's Dutch and French-speaking populations have formed an emergency government, ending six month of deadlock. The government of caretaker Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (who lost elections in June but stayed on as caretaker) will stay in office for no more than three months. It is then set to hand over power to Christian Democrats and Liberals - the winners of elections in June.

The two parties have so far failed to reach a deal, prompting fears Belgium could split along linguistic lines. The Liberals and Christian Democrats won 81 of the 150 seats in June's elections. But their efforts to form a government have floundered in a dispute over greater regional autonomy - broadly favoured by the Dutch-speaking Flanders region but opposed by the French-speaking south.

Belgium's King Albert II earlier this week asked Mr Verhofstadt to form an interim government. "The prime minister has unblocked the situation," a spokesman for Mr Verhofstadt said of the decision by the Christian Democratic party to join an interim government. The interim government now faces a parliamentary vote of confidence on Sunday. Assuming it passes the vote, it will remain in office until no later than 23 March next year.

On Saturday, thousands of trade unionists took to the streets in Brussels, complaining about the political stalemate and rising food and fuel prices. Last week, the European Commission warned that the political paralysis was beginning to affect Belgium's economy.

Holiday "break"??

Carl's winter break has officially begun, but there's a catch: he has three major essays of 15+ pages each due when his classes start up again on January 14th! I guess that's how it goes with a condensed, one year MA program - even your "breaks" aren't really breaks. That's okay though, he's making some good headway and is on track to have two of the three essays completed (and the third researched) by the time we leave for Rome on New Year's Eve. That way he'll only have one of them to finish after we return. That's the plan at least, we'll see how it goes!

On tap for this coming week: a 10 mile run today (should be fun in the current freezing temperatures!), our last French class tomorrow, my last two Dutch classes of the year on Tuesday and Thursday, and an overnight trip to Aachen, Germany next Sunday! Believe it or not this will be my first time leaving Belgium since we arrived here (not counting the U.S. trip to get my visa), and I'm excited! Thalys, one of the inter-city European train companies, has a train that takes you there in only 90 minutes. Aachen is not only the closest German city to Brussels, but it also has a Christmas market that's supposed to be nice to visit. I paid another visit to the Brussels one yesterday, but I'm looking forward to seeing a German version of it. Keep an eye out for a trip report with photos next Monday! After we return from there we'll stay close to home in order to allow Carl to get his work done, then it's off to Rome!

Birthday report

So as I said before my birthday was Sunday, and overall it was a very nice day. The run to Waterloo went well, although we ended up taking a slightly different route that was a little shorter than the planned 9 miles - what a bummer! :-) The weather held for us though, and while we didn't see the giant commemorative battle statue (it's evidently well south of the town), Waterloo itself is very pretty. We'll have to add it to the list to go back and see on a nice day. The view from the top of the statue is supposed to be great on clear days, so we'll try to time that one.

Later in the evening we headed downtown, where a friend took this nice shot of us at dinner. Lately for some reason I don't tend to like very many photos of myself, but this one turned out pretty well so I thought I'd post it. After dinner we wandered around the Christmas market and ran into a few other friends. It was fun, but once again the rain returned and made it not very pleasant to be outdoors, so we called it a night and went home. I hadn't really thought of this before, but this was the first birthday I've celebrated outside of the United States. All in all it was a nice one!

B-day Run to Waterloo

So my birthday is this Sunday, another year gone by - my how time flies! What am I doing to celebrate, you ask? Gee, I figured why not take a little jog to...oh, I don't know, maybe Waterloo? I'd love to say I'm just kidding, but unfortunately I'm not! Our marathon training group usually does our runs on Sundays, and this week is a 9-miler, just about the distance to the town that was the scene of Napoloen's famous defeat.

I shouldn't complain actually, because despite the weather predictions not looking so great, it should be a good time. After we finish the run we plan to meet at a pub/cafe for lunch and refreshments before hopping a bus/train back to Brussels, so I'll have a nice group to celebrate with. Plus, it'll be cool to see the place and the huge statue that commemorates the battle - which of course is set high on a hill with 226 stairs to the top (that info. courtesy of Wikipedia). That ought to be fun after running nine miles! Not sure if we'll do that trek or not, but regardless it'll be neat to see. Too bad I can't bring my camera (no WAY am I running 9 miles with that thing around my neck!). Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend - I'm sure mine will be both enjoyable and memorable! :-)

Plaisirs d'hiver/Winter Pret

Both of the above phrases mean "Winter Wonders" which is the name of the Brussels Christmas market and festival. We checked it out for a few hours last night, the first of what I'm sure will be several visits this month (it runs through the New Year). It's a huge event, taking up a big portion of the city center with temporary shops, food stalls, an ice skating rink, ferris wheel and merry-go-rounds. The Grand Place is also lit up in appropriately grand form, with an amazing display of constantly changing lights set to music. I got a decent shot of it which I have uploaded, but photos don't really do it justice - it was just beautiful!

Hopefully we'll be able to pay a visit to at least one other Christmas market this month. Just about every city of any size has one, and each city usually gives it its own local flair. It's such a neat concept - I wonder why the U.S. doesn't have these??

Oh, and Lyndsay, if you're reading, I finally got to try some glühwein...it was tasty, and just perfect for warming us up on a cold, damp evening!

A Tale of Two Lanuages

I've been simultaneously studying both French and Flemish (Dutch) for a full 8 weeks now - whew! Balancing the two has been challenging at times, but so far it's gone pretty well, and I plan to continue studying both of them for at least two more months.

Observations so far: Dutch is pretty cool, kind of a cross between English and German. Some of the pronunciations are challenging - for instance, "G" and "CH" are pronounced somewhat like the sound of a hissing cat...an easy sound to make on its own, but not so easy to incorporate into your regular speech pattern. It shares a lot of similarities with English that make it somewhat easy for me to learn, but I have a feeling that it's going to get more complicated as time goes on, particularly when it comes to grammar (that's where the German influence comes in). Oh, and this is kind of funny; one of our German friends described Dutch as sounding "cute" to him, because it resembles a softer, simpler version of German. However one wishes to describe it, I like it!

French - now here's an interesting language. I've finally begun to master the pronunciation, to where I can usually determine how to correctly say a word upon reading it. Learning the grammatical rules is another matter, because while it's not that complicated on the surface, French grammar seems to have even more exceptions than English! There is a huge emphasis on aesthetics, making it a very melodic, pretty language to listen to and speak...on the other hand, that means it tends to favor beauty over consistency, making it a bear to learn! I do like it though, it's just been a little harder than I had expected at the beginning.

I doubt that just one year here will make me fluent in either language, but I'm sure gonna try! That brings me to the internal debate I've been having...I think that I definitely need to continue with French, because it's by far the most spoken language in Brussels and a good one to know for life in general. Should I continue with Dutch however, or focus more on trying to perfect one language rather than becoming a mediocre speaker of both? Another thing to throw into the mix - there are also cheap Spanish courses available through one of the universities here, which would help me refresh some of my rusty knowledge of that language. For those who don't know, I studied Spanish for years in high school and college, but to my regret fell just short of becoming fluent. I've always felt like I left Spanish sort of "unfinished", so this may be a great opportunity to finally reach a level of fluency in that language.

So that's my dilemma, and I really am undecided about what to do! Any opinions or suggestions out there?

Happy (slightly belated) Thanksgiving!

I'm a day late, but Happy Turkey day everybody! It feels different being overseas where it's "business as usual" on Thanksgiving day, but we did celebrate with a large gathering last night with a bunch of students from Carl's program. Most of us were American, but there was also representation from Canada, the UK, Australia, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic - so it was Thanksgiving with an international flair! We enjoyed a potluck style dinner with turkey and all the fixings, and it was excellent. I'm definitely hitting the gym today to work off all that food I ate! Silly me forgot to take my camera, but several people were taking photos so if I receive any I'll be sure to post them.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

Pablo the Belgian Mexican

This past weekend we finally got around to trying the most popular Mexican restaurant in Brussels, Pablo's. The restaurant's website proclaims: "Our food is so authentic that many ex-pats from the United States keep coming back, as well as others who appreciate this level of quality and authenticity."

Generally speaking, we agree - sort of. As you can see in the photo, they've definitely got the decor right, and while it wasn't the best Tex-Mex food we've ever had, it was good. The only problem - it's freakin' expensive!! I ordered a basic chicken burrito with rice and beans, and it was €18. At the current (all-time low, ouch!!) exchange rate of about $1.48, that works out to $26.64...for a BURRITO!! The total bill for our two dishes, two beers and tip came to a whopping €48, or about $71! Unbelievable - and it goes without saying that no matter how much we're craving it, we cannot afford to "keep coming back" like the website says. We'll just have to settle for the Mexican meals I put together at home, which will taste even better now knowing how much cheaper they are than the alternative! :-)

Rome-ward Bound

Exciting news: we've just booked the plane tickets for our first big trip since arriving in Europe, to Rome for New Year's! Our flight leaves early in the morning on New Year's Eve, and we come back on the morning of January 8th, so the trip will be just over a week. We plan to take our time, soaking in everything Rome has to offer for the first five nights, then we'll probably head down to the Naples/Sorrento area to visit Pompeii and see some other sights in the area before coming back to Rome to catch our return flight.

We chose to go to Rome for a few reasons - first, it's one of the great cities in Europe and we didn't want to miss it. Second, it's the low season there and once New Year's is over the crowds (and prices) should be quite a bit lower than at other times. Finally, it's far enough south that it shouldn't be too cold to enjoy things. It won't be beach weather by any means, but as long as we don't get a cold snap we should see temperatures in the mid-50's, or higher if we're lucky...and after the past few downright chilly weeks in Brussels, that sounds wonderful! :-)

I know some of our family and friends have been to Rome before, so if any of you "veterans" have any suggestions for places to visit (or avoid), areas to stay in, etc...by all means do share them! I'm just starting the work of finding our lodging and planning our activities, so there's definitely time for me to incorporate your recommendations into our plan.

The things we miss - and the things we don't!

Despite the relatively easy time we've had adjusting to life in Belgium, there are undoubtedly some things that we do miss about "home". On the other hand, there are nearly as many things that we really don't miss at all. Here's a rundown...

Miss
-Family & friends (of course!)
-Good, inexpensive Mexican restaurants
-Gatorade, especially as our marathon training ramps up
-Having more spending money (as long as we're being honest...)
-Dishwasher/washing machine/dryer (again, just being honest!)
-A couple of American TV shows, but not too many
-Twizzlers in the movie theatre (it's the little things...)

Don't Miss
-Driving (we've surprised ourselves with this one)
-Strip malls and parking lots (goes along with driving I guess)
-Fast food joints in every neighborhood (except maybe Chipotle - see Mexican restaurant reference above)
-Tipping - it's so much easier here because you really only tip for a few things
-The "rush rush" way of life - slowing down a bit has been great for our health!
-Americans; don't take this the wrong way, it's just that it's been great to meet people with backgrounds and perspectives that are different from our own

The Belgian divide

I apologize that it's taken me this long to get this post published, after promising it more than ten days ago. It's a complex subject, so composing my thoughts into a post that wouldn't turn into a long and boring lecture was quite a challenge. Let's hope I've succeeded - here goes!

As one might expect, since moving here we've learned a lot of things about Belgium that we didn't know before, and the politics of the country have been particularly interesting. Although I've known for some time that Belgium was a multilingual country, I truly had no idea that the divisions ran so much deeper than that.

The country is composed of two main cultural groups: the Flemish in the north, who are Dutch speaking and comprise about 59% of the citizen population, and the Walloons in the south, French speaking and about 40% of the population. A small number of German speakers live in the eastern part of the country, and Brussels is officially bilingual and also has a large number of non-citizen residents who speak a myriad of mother tongues. The country was only established in 1831, and so while the two groups have lived side by side for centuries, they have only shared a government for the past 175 years or so - not very long when you consider the length of European history!

On the surface the two groups have a lot in common; the majority share the same religion (Roman Catholicism) and a similar history of domination by other groups (Romans, Hapsburgs, etc.). They also share credit for many of the things for which Belgium is known - chocolate, great beer, and of course Belgian waffles (though the way they're prepared differs between the regions). It really is a place where north meets south in terms of western European culture, and the result is quite intriguing.

However, in a lot of ways they live completely separate lives; within Brussels, for instance, the comunities operate separate schools, so even Flemish and Wallonian children living in the same neighborhood do not go to school together. The political parties also operate completely separately according to language, adding even further to the divide and making political progress slow and painful. The Flemish economy has also been significantly stronger than Wallonia's in recent decades, and many Flemish are increasingly frustrated at what they see as forced subsidization of the Walloons on their part. Lastly, the Flemish tend to be more free-market oriented, while generally speaking the Walloons have stronger socialist leanings. The result is a host of political differences and few areas of agreement.

So what does this mean for the future of Belgium? At several points in recent history (including now) these divisions, and smaller political arguments resulting from the underlying resentment and separatism, have threatened the existence of the country. The latest crisis (which has essentially shut down the national government entirely) has been going on for over 150 days since the June 2007 elections. Thus far there are few signs of progress towards a resolution, and I'm seeing more and more news articles begin to consider the split-up of the country as a real possibility. On the other hand, since we arrived here we've seen an impressive number of Belgian flags flying from windows and balconies throughout the city in a show of citizen solidarity, so it's really hard to say what's going to happen. An 11th hour compromise is a possibility, but from what I can see it certainly won't come easily.

One final observation: I'm quite surprised at the complete lack of coverage of this situation by the U.S. media. On my recent visit to the States I watched a lot of news programs, and I constantly monitor several American news websites from here...and I have yet to see even a single mention of it! It's rather disappointing that I can get multiple daily updates on the Britney Spears trainwreck, but not one word about a major political crisis affecting the country that hosts not only the EU government, but the NATO headquarters, of which the United States is a key member. It makes me wonder what else goes on in the world that we don't hear about? Sorry to go off on that tangent - I don't intend to turn this blog into a political soapbox, but I find it a little embarrassing that I was completely ignorant of this situation when we arrived here, and would likely still know nothing about it if I weren't living here. Kinda sad!

Here it is!

The picture is a little fuzzy, but here's what all the hassle has been for - a sticker small enough to fit inside one page of my passport! It's an important sticker though, because it allows me to remain here legally and to obtain my identity card...though that'll take another 6-8 weeks, thanks to the slow progression of the Belgian bureaucracy. That's one thing we've learned for sure - NOTHING happens quickly here when it comes to the government or services like utilities, cable and internet. For instance, we were lucky to have our internet and cable up and running within 10 days; others we know have had to wait 4 to 6 weeks!!

Anyway, let's just say that we're both thrilled to have finally completed this part of the process, and to be able to focus on other things, like figuring out the French language! :-)

It's on its way!!

Happy Halloween!!

Just a few hours ago I received word that my passport, with the visa sticker inside, is on its way to me via UPS overnight!! After months of waiting and worrying, and waaay to much expense and hassle, this saga is FINALLY coming to an end! Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to upload a photo until I get back to Belgium next Monday, but I'll be sure to put one up on the site then, so everyone can see what the big deal was all about!

Also on tap for next week, a little history/current events information about Belgium's political and cultural divisions. It doesn't get much coverage at all here in the States, but Belgium has had (and continues to have) its share of disagreements between the Flemish and Walloon communities, and it's been interesting for us to learn more about what's going on. More on that later!