#Bruxelleslife Lessons: Sept Mois Plus Tard and more life-lessons, not Brussels-style

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, 18^th 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!

#Bruxelleslife Lessons- Matters of the Home

Bienvenue à Bruxelles-life or #bruxelleslife, which I think will be the slogan I will adopt during my time in this interesting land. It’s been just over my first 90-days and as usual, I apologize it has taken me longer to report my resettling than intended. Who thought that getting on a one-way train under the English Channel with your possessions arriving a week later, diving into what might be one of the world’s largest start-ups, training for a marathon, and navigating how things work in a city where you thought you could half-speak the language doesn’t leave you feeling like the last thing you want to do after assembling Ikea furniture for hours is write to your family and friends. Rather, I have a newfound understanding of how Bridget Jones ends up sleeping on the couch in her comfiest of pyjamas with an empty bottle of rosé on the table beside her; except in this mental picture you can exchange couch for cozy nest of a bed, bottle of rosé for a little bottle of Chouffe and imagine that I am pining for familiarity hence supplemented by binge watching inane American comedies #yuppielife

My travel buddy, Mr Mice, waiting to board the Eurostar

And trying to navigate at Gare du Midi

Okay perhaps a little bit dramatic for effect, but really, not far off. What I mean is, don’t feel sorry for me. Everything is so far so good. My new apartment feels like a home and Brussels has a great energy about it! So, let me tell you how I started off.

#Bruxelleslife lesson #1: Housing

Brussels is a melting pot of a city- diverse in nationalities, culture, and architecture, and when you’re wandering around trying to decide where you would like to rest your head at night, there are abodes to suit most. You can choose so uber-trendy that you’ll feel like an extra in a Sci-Fi series at where I like to call Futurama-corner hosting l’Homme de l’Atlantide (Man of Atlantis) and Apple. Alternatively, if you’re torn between epochs, then Boulevard de l’Empereur is the street for you where 12^th century meets the 21^st .

However, most of Brussels is Art Nouveau/ 50’s tile mash-up in style where ornate balconies lie next to exteriors channeling the design of the interior of a public swimming pool- I really mean the interior of the pool! I live on such a street and I live in the latter leaving me with massive balcony envy! Again, don’t feel sorry for me because it’s all about location, location, location. I’m living in the top floor of a simply tiled block, I have a quirky interior, a fantastic neighborhood and views of the balconies that I love.

Balcony envy across from my flat... and ps, behind that wooden door is an alley to a parking lot. and yes, people actually  park there... story for another time.

My less glamorous frontage circa 1950's swimming pool tiles.

Having spent a couple of days looking for places to live, I was drawn most strongly to where I am today and interestingly after unpacking my books one day, I’m just around the corner from where Audrey Hepburn was born (I’m a massive fan and have a lovely souvenir book of her life). Perhaps I was feeling the great creative energy of the area in which she developed into the woman she turned into.

Rue Keyenveld 2017

Rue Keyenveld 1930's

Looking for Tiffany's (which is around the corner)

#Bruxelleslife lesson #2: Bureaucracy

So once you find your potential abode, the process is similar to renting anywhere else: make an offer, ask for a discount, wait for the offer to be accepted, and sign your nine year contract. What?!?! Oh yes, so although Brussels seems like a normal Western city, it’s quirky. Belgians are quirky, and one day I will have enough material gathered to attest. In the meantime, I’ve signed my nine-year rental agreement with both parties knowing full well I’ll never last that long there and initiated the moving process. Essentially, the penalty fees are lower and you get more apartment for your money when you sign the long-term paperwork vs. a 1-yr or 3-yr option.

There are three more important steps in keeping unemployment levels down, I mean when moving, in Belgium.

1) ensure that the landlord has your name registered on the apartment buzzer to prove you are living there, because…

2) you must wait for the police to visit you at your new apartment to ensure you are legit so …

3) you can register at “the commune” (town hall, which is more like a neighborhood hall), pay a fee, and get an identity card.

This government wants to know who is where, and with the problems last year, I’m not surprised. Although, they say the real reason is to make sure that the services are appropriately distributed in the area, such as waste collection of ONLY the specific government-issued-for-purchase garbage bags. At least the service is twice weekly.

#Bruxelleslife lesson #3: Moving

Moving on to moving, and building on bureaucracy, of course there are some extra steps when moving in Brussels. Although I do mean that many of the Art Nouveau buildings come sans ascenseur so there are literally many steps to get your crap upstairs, I actually mean there are steps to avoid the steps.

In my first week in Brussels, I kept seeing these signs on the street- they look somewhat like no-parking signs, but people were still parking by the signs for the most part. Hmmmm??? Well, hmmmm until it was moving day! Apparently, these are no parking signs, usually in pairs, spaced about 30 meters apart. They say the days and times in which you are not to park between the signs to allow larger vehicles, such as moving trucks, to park when required; and in my case, to allow the two moving trucks for my stuff on my move-in date. But wait, I didn’t have two trucks worth of stuff? Ok, 50 pairs of shoes, but that only took two moving boxes.

So how do you get your belongings up three flights of narrow, winding stairs to your nest of an apartment? By using one of the trucks which as a lift and in through the windows- cool, hey?! Everything in the window… well, everything if I had one of the lovely balcony apartments with big French windows (yup, that’s what flat-envy sounds like). In my case, mostly everything came up the lift in through the window except of course the mattress and mastermind chair. After a few stair reps and hours of care and attention from the moving company, it was my turn to get to work and get unpacking.

I won’t bore you with the details of the several Ikea trips where the only foreign language I have managed to excel at is scandi-flat-pack; however, I can assure you though that my empty space is transformed into what is more than a showroom. 

Feeling comfy and cozy and with 85% of my nest complete, I have managed to get out more than a few times and see some sites of the city. I’ve also been back and forth to the USA, Turkey and the UK many times, and importantly have hosted my most special man. I’ll save the travel stories for another time; in the meantime, here are some pictorial reasons for you to come and visit! See you soon!

Atomium- one of Brussel’s most iconic structures apart from the peeing mannequin and the Grand Place. It was designed for Expo 58 and hosts exhibits within the atoms of the structure.

Parc du Cinquantenaire- one of my main running parks commemorating the 50^th anniversary of Belgian independence in 1880

Cafe culture= foodie heaven! So many cute cafes dotted around each neighborhood selling fantastic, trendy, quality food and drinks.