Too-many-months
post last blog, and seven months into my BruxellesLife, it’s time to summarize my
comings, goings, and observations about this betwixt land. Let me tell you
about the rolling greenery, caressed with natural hedgerows, and quaint
villages with low-beamed, 18th century houses… next to the village
chippy. Oops, wrong country. Or perhaps the vast greenways leading to the
heavily populated urban centres where people from all over the world travel to
take selfies in front of the metropolitan architecture. Nope, still almost
talking about Brussels, but actually not.
Although
Belgium offers both of the above scenic statements; in actual fact, I have
spent nearly as much time out of Brussels as I have in the city the past months. Appropriately then, I’ll give you an update, but not in regards to my
#BruxellesLife.
Where have I
been and where will I start?
Well, I
haven’t really been able to shake off the English way of life and tend to spend
most of my travel time under the English Channel. Between visiting my UK based
counterparts for work, and my favourite English citizen, I haven’t successfully
managed to run away completely… I think I always prefer the out-and-back
anyway, and running has certainly been the theme of my time spent over the
summer.
I was lucky to
see two of the most iconic events of the year, and take part in one ourselves…
Okay, we’re
taking the video here, not taking part, and by iconic events, I actually mean
that we ventured to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, home to the World
Athletics Championships to watch Mo Farrah win his 10,000m world title for the
last time (and to see Bolt run one of his final races). Of course, it wasn’t
all Farrah and Bolt… we also saw the Women’s 800m, Men’s High Jump, both 4x400
relay events, and more (too much more based on the stumbling across the Annual
World Naked Bike Ride).
Feeling pumped
and inspired by how easy these athletes make it look on the track, it was time
for all of my summer running training to be put to the test in the second of
only two races I completed in 2017. This is the other reason that I don’t have
much to provide in the way of a #BruxellesLife update because I spent any free
time in Brussels that I had running… in fact, that amounts to just around
1000km and 90 hours of running. Yup, that means it was marathon time!
Marathon Major
#2 of 6 complete after purchasing my Berlin spot through a running/ holiday
company called Running Crazy. These guys were great! They arranged everything
for us to the tee, which allowed me to spend what little free time that I had
training. Solo training this time around meant that I wasn’t as fast as I was
when I ran London, but still fared about where I aimed. I think that’s what I
love about running- it’s entirely reliable. You get out what you put in. Work
hard, stick to the program and you get results, which works for this little
achiever.
Where else
have I been apart from the parks of Brussels, well pre-marathon I managed to
tick off a new country from the list: Welcome to Turkey! One benefit of working
for a new company, is that you can visit new company locations! New company
locations also enable new sightseeing opportunities, so after work we took to
the streets of Istanbul to check off all of the typical touristic demands: the Grand
Bazaar, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia, and of course boat tour of the Bosphorus
complete with Belly Dancing show and food poisoning! Uh Oh! It was definitely a
case of my food-science-brain told me not to eat the weird looking jelly that
had been in the sun all afternoon, but I went ahead and ate it anyways! Thank
goodness the hotel we were staying in was nice!
Post-marathon
was the best trip of the year- USA for some coast-to-coast consumer research
complete with a quick visit in NYC with my sisters and Little Miss Adalynn. Oh
yes, I’m officially an Auntie and I would like to declare unbiasedly that Adalynn
is officially the cutest ever!
My trip
started off in San Francisco where I was able to enjoy the west-coast sunshine
and walk the interior coastline of San Francisco taking in the sites along the
way. Onward to Chicago, where I actually visited earlier in the year (pictures
from the summer) to take in the Millennium Park, and of course, The Bean. Oh
and on the way, I did manage to find a little treat in many of the major stores
across the USA- MY CHOCOLATE! Yup- that’s my chocolate on shelf at Walmart,
Target, and other major retailers. Green & Black’s Pure Dark Chocolate … I
AM the Taste Specialist who has “expertly crafted this dark chocolate using the
delicate character and soft texture…” #smugmuch
Finally, my US
trip finished off with some quality time with my sisters in New York. It was
one of those things where you pipedream for years “yeah, we should just meet up
somewhere” and it finally happened. We spent our first day pounding the
pavement from Central Park via Times Square down to the 9/11 Memorial and back
up to the Top of the Rock for a sunset view. Day 2 we crashed the mall. Day 3
we spent out at Coney Island on a 30°C day! And as all things come to a close,
we spent our last day together on the HighLine and Chelsea Market soaking up
the last of the sun before Leanna, Nadia, and Adalynn returned to wintery
Edmonton and I returned to grey Brussels.
The best thing
about our visit was that it was impromptu-ish, I hadn’t planned to come home
until Christmas, and it was super special to be able to spend those few days
with my family on a bit of a whim. I realise in my life, that although I have
an introverted preference, I definitely prefer to share the journey with one or
two (or in this case three) of my MVPs. On reflection, times where I get to
share the fun, adventure, and experience are the times that I am most happy and
satisfied. So to close, this entry, and the year- I’d like to say how grateful I
am to have those who support me in my life around when I have needed it this
year. I’ve had a lot of change and many adventures and I am grateful to have been
able to share the experience with you.
Bring on 2018!
There is certainly more to experience!
