It’s everywhere—on the grass, on the street, on the sidewalk, and, consequently, often on the bottom of your shoes! I have learned to look down when I’m walking. Perhaps this is why nobody pays attention when crossing the street.
I’m glad that the Belgians are so fond of our canine friends. I just wish they would scoop the poop!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Blaaaaggghhh!
Amsterdam and vomit have an interesting history. Legend has it that Amsterdam was first settled when a merchant sailor landed with his seasick dog. As they were looking for a place to rest, the dog vomited and that was where they decided to stay. Obviously, Amsterdam was founded by a stoner – who else would decide that the best place to stay was next to regurgitated Alpo? Phew!
Then there’s the "Miracle of The Vomit". (I am not making this up – we learned about it the first day that we were in Amsterdam. They have a painting of it in the history museum. If you don’t believe me, here are links to two websites that talk about it: http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/history/fr/amsterdam.htm?terms=dying+wool
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/amsterdam/0043034657.html)
Anyway, the "Miracle of The Vomit" was that some guy went to communion and then puked up the wafer. They threw the vomit into the fire (again, what was wrong with these people – why would you want the stench of that stuff in the church?). The fire burned through the night, but in the morning, they looked at the ashes and the wafer was still intact. Priests were told about it and the regurgitated host became a shrine at Oude Kerk (Amsterdam’s "Old Church").
Today, the vomit tradition of Amsterdam lives on. Americans and other wasted youth come to the city by the millions. We saw a guy take a bad spill outside one of the cafes after he had too much to dream. Don’t know if he inverted his stomach, but it is not outside the realm of possibility. We did have to step over some of Amsterdam’s finest tradition on our way to the park on Sunday.
You learn so much by visiting other cultures.
Then there’s the "Miracle of The Vomit". (I am not making this up – we learned about it the first day that we were in Amsterdam. They have a painting of it in the history museum. If you don’t believe me, here are links to two websites that talk about it: http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/history/fr/amsterdam.htm?terms=dying+wool
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/amsterdam/0043034657.html)
Anyway, the "Miracle of The Vomit" was that some guy went to communion and then puked up the wafer. They threw the vomit into the fire (again, what was wrong with these people – why would you want the stench of that stuff in the church?). The fire burned through the night, but in the morning, they looked at the ashes and the wafer was still intact. Priests were told about it and the regurgitated host became a shrine at Oude Kerk (Amsterdam’s "Old Church").
Today, the vomit tradition of Amsterdam lives on. Americans and other wasted youth come to the city by the millions. We saw a guy take a bad spill outside one of the cafes after he had too much to dream. Don’t know if he inverted his stomach, but it is not outside the realm of possibility. We did have to step over some of Amsterdam’s finest tradition on our way to the park on Sunday.
You learn so much by visiting other cultures.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Amsterdam
We took a trip to Amsterdam last weekend. What a great city and only two hours from Brussels! There is so much to see and do there. We only had two days so we decided to tour some historical sites during this trip. We visited the Historisch Museum and the Anne Frank House. The Historisch museum covers seven centuries of the city’s history using art, archaeological finds, and interactive displays. There is even a section on Amsterdam’s drug culture and the legalization of soft drugs. We spent three hours and still did not get to see everything. I would highly recommend this museum to anyone who visits Amsterdam and is interested in history. Look for a post from Rick about the important role that VOMIT plays in Amsterdam’s past and present. The Anne Frank house was fascinating too. It was chilling to actually be in the house where Jews hid during the war. I got a better sense of what daily life was like for these families and of how precarious the situation really was.
We enjoyed wandering the canal-lined streets and people watching, which is an event in and of itself. I wanted the quintessential Amsterdam experience so we stopped in a "Coffee Shop." Unlike, the other patrons, however, we ordered coffee exclusively. From the coffee shop, we got to witness a common event in Amsterdam—a tourist passing out. Some guy overindulged and fell flat on his face as he was leaving. He actually passed out for a few minutes and when he woke up he had to be held up by his friends. It took a while before he attempted to walk again. I thought it was pretty scary, but at least he didn’t vomit, which is apparently another common event. The waitress commented that this type of thing happens a lot and is bad advertising for them. I think I’ll just stick to coffee!
No trip to Amsterdam would be complete without a stroll through the Red Light District. I found this both amusing and disturbing, but interesting nonetheless. There is no shortage of sex shops, sex shows (the advertisements themselves are more raunchy than anything you would see in the U.S.), and sex itself). At least the women in the windows were attractive for the most part. They are also in business for themselves and, therefore, have some control over their work.
We did a lot of walking and spent much of our time dodging bikers—I think we will rent bikes next time. Future trips will take us to some art museums and, of course, the Heineken Brewery--I’ve heard that you get a tour plus three beers for about 7 Euros. Now, that’s a deal!
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Priorit`e du Droite
Tanslation: Priority from the right
I'm in no hurry to drive a car in Belgium. In general, Belgians are very aggressive drivers. Most driving rules are optional and lanes are created where there were none. The one hard-and-fast rule, however, is priorit`e du droite (priority from the right). This means that cars coming from the right always have the right of way unless it is otherwise marked. Only major roads have stop lights or stop signs. This means that you must always be looking to the right as you approach an intersection. In theory, drivers are supposed to slow down as they approach intersections so that they can see if anyone is coming from the right. They are not required to stop, however. Most people do not slow down. If you are not looking, you will get pummeled!
It gets really tricky when entering a 4-way intersection. It basically becomes a game of "chicken" with every driver for him or herself. Furthermore, if you hesitate for an instant, you will lose your priority. Rick thinks this is synonymous with losing his manhood. He often makes a game out of not losing his priority.
Another driving challenge is trying to avoid hitting pedestrians. They have the right of way in any marked intersection and because of that they don't even bother to look for cars when crossing. So, this is the scenario: you are looking to your right to make sure there is not a car coming. You see that you are in the clear, so you begin to make your move through the intersection just in time for a pedestrian to jump out in front of your car and force you to slam on the brakes! To further complicate things, there are some intersections where piorit`e du droite is not required and you have to look for certain markings on the street to know this. This is the same for round-a-bouts. Anyone already in a round-a-bout has priority.
If you don't know your way around, you are really screwed! Streets are not marked with signs. If you want to know what street you are on you have to turn down the street and look for small plaques, which are located on the buildings themselves. It helps to have one person driving and one person reading the map and looking for signs.
We read an article about driving in Belgium in the Wall Street Journal just before leaving the U.S. The article mentioned the large number of auto accidents and fatalities that occur in Belgium due to the crazy driving rules and the aggressiveness of Belgian drivers. The article was spot on!
I'm in no hurry to drive a car in Belgium. In general, Belgians are very aggressive drivers. Most driving rules are optional and lanes are created where there were none. The one hard-and-fast rule, however, is priorit`e du droite (priority from the right). This means that cars coming from the right always have the right of way unless it is otherwise marked. Only major roads have stop lights or stop signs. This means that you must always be looking to the right as you approach an intersection. In theory, drivers are supposed to slow down as they approach intersections so that they can see if anyone is coming from the right. They are not required to stop, however. Most people do not slow down. If you are not looking, you will get pummeled!
It gets really tricky when entering a 4-way intersection. It basically becomes a game of "chicken" with every driver for him or herself. Furthermore, if you hesitate for an instant, you will lose your priority. Rick thinks this is synonymous with losing his manhood. He often makes a game out of not losing his priority.
Another driving challenge is trying to avoid hitting pedestrians. They have the right of way in any marked intersection and because of that they don't even bother to look for cars when crossing. So, this is the scenario: you are looking to your right to make sure there is not a car coming. You see that you are in the clear, so you begin to make your move through the intersection just in time for a pedestrian to jump out in front of your car and force you to slam on the brakes! To further complicate things, there are some intersections where piorit`e du droite is not required and you have to look for certain markings on the street to know this. This is the same for round-a-bouts. Anyone already in a round-a-bout has priority.
If you don't know your way around, you are really screwed! Streets are not marked with signs. If you want to know what street you are on you have to turn down the street and look for small plaques, which are located on the buildings themselves. It helps to have one person driving and one person reading the map and looking for signs.
We read an article about driving in Belgium in the Wall Street Journal just before leaving the U.S. The article mentioned the large number of auto accidents and fatalities that occur in Belgium due to the crazy driving rules and the aggressiveness of Belgian drivers. The article was spot on!
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
The Grocery Store
It’s funny how something as simple as going to the grocery store can be a humbling experience when you are in a foreign country. It doesn’t take much to make one feel like a complete idiot! It took Rick and I 15 minutes to pick out yogurt and coffee cream. We know a few words in French and many items have pictures on the labels that are helpful, but it becomes more difficult when you have to read the labels to look for certain ingredients that you do or do not want.
I like to use half and half in my coffee. I didn’t see anything that resembled half and half, but I stumbled upon something in the coffee section that looked like non-dairy creamer. It had a picture of a coffee cup on the front and as far as I could tell it looked like it was a real, dairy product and not non-dairy creamer. I wasn’t sure, though, because it wasn’t refrigerated. It was called Nutrema and I found out later that it was, in fact, a dairy product. It tastes pretty good.
We have a big grocery store right next to our flat. The window to our living room (if you could call it that) literally looks over the parking lot to the store. It’s great because refrigerators in Europe are very small (especially in Le Box) and one must make frequent trips to the grocery store.
We have been very satisfied with the products so far. We’ve only found a few U.S. brands, but everything we have tried has been delicious--especially the bread, butter, cheese and coffee. We found some yummy veggie burgers, hummus, falafel, pita and pasta. The produce is also pretty good. I’m afraid we may put on the "freshman 15" as we are eating well, but are not yet members of a gym. The bread, cheese, and beer alone will do it! At least we are doing a lot of walking.
I like to use half and half in my coffee. I didn’t see anything that resembled half and half, but I stumbled upon something in the coffee section that looked like non-dairy creamer. It had a picture of a coffee cup on the front and as far as I could tell it looked like it was a real, dairy product and not non-dairy creamer. I wasn’t sure, though, because it wasn’t refrigerated. It was called Nutrema and I found out later that it was, in fact, a dairy product. It tastes pretty good.
We have a big grocery store right next to our flat. The window to our living room (if you could call it that) literally looks over the parking lot to the store. It’s great because refrigerators in Europe are very small (especially in Le Box) and one must make frequent trips to the grocery store.
We have been very satisfied with the products so far. We’ve only found a few U.S. brands, but everything we have tried has been delicious--especially the bread, butter, cheese and coffee. We found some yummy veggie burgers, hummus, falafel, pita and pasta. The produce is also pretty good. I’m afraid we may put on the "freshman 15" as we are eating well, but are not yet members of a gym. The bread, cheese, and beer alone will do it! At least we are doing a lot of walking.
Bruges
Because of our faux pas on Saturday, we headed to Bruges on Sunday. Finally, some good weather! It has been cold and rainy since we got here, but Sunday was sunny and in the 70’s. It was a magnificent day to take a trip. I’ve learned that one must take advantage of days like these. Bruges is very touristic (a Belgian expression), but stunning! It’s a small, medieval town with gothic architecture, several waterways, and cobblestone streets throughout. There are many sites to tour, but we decided to spend most of our time wandering around and soaking up some sun. Many people bike around the town, but we decided to walk. We had lunch at an outdoor cafe. We ordered a beer with lunch and were asked if we wanted small or medium. We chose medium and when we got the check we realized that we spent 20 Euros on two beers! Oh well, the beer was delicious (Rodenbach) and this is a tourist spot. One of the sites that we toured was a belfry where you can climb to the top via some old, twisting stairs. The belfry houses a carillon room where you can observe the turning of a large drum that controls 47 bells. They city still employs a full-time bell ringer. The view from the top is amazing! There is a hall at the base of the belfry that houses temporary exhibitions. We got lucky because they were holding a Dali exhibit. We have been to the Dali museum in Tampa, Florida, but this exhibit featured some sculptures and watercolors that we had not seen before. We ended our trip with a visit to a recommended chocolate shop. We will be back to Bruges!
Da Car
We experienced our first rookie mistake this past weekend. We got up, not so bright and early, on my birthday (10/7) eager to take a trip to Bruges. Much to our dismay, our car was not where we parked it the night before. Before I go on, let me just say that parking in Brussels is not an easy task to begin with. We got home late from a party on Friday night and were delighted to find a space that was not too far from our flat. We did not see the sign that was posted on the Place (Plaza) in which we parked because these signs are posted on the end of each street. The sign was in French, but it was easy to tell that parking was not allowed on the first Saturday of each month due to a market that was held in the square. By the time we emerged from our flat on Saturday afternoon, the market was gone and so was our car! Needless to say, my birthday plans changed. We were both a bit irritated, but the situation was so comical that we could do nothing but laugh and start figuring out how to get out of this predicament.
We began by calling several of Rick’s American colleagues and our relocation specialist, who is Belgian. Unfortunately, the two people who have had this happen to them before did not have their cell phones on. The relocation specialist told us that the first thing we needed to do was find the police station—yeah right! Brussels is organized into several different neighborhoods called communes. We found our commune listed in a book and learned that each commune has its own police station. We called the station to get directions, but the person Rick spoke with did not speak English. We decided to walk around and soon found a police officer. He directed us to the station where we had to pick up a form that would be used to retrieve our car. The person at the station did not speak much English either. We were told that the car had been taken to a place called "Da Car." We also found this amusing. In her broken English and our terrible French, we were somehow able to get directions to "Da Car" from a woman at the station.
We hopped on the Tram and headed to the outskirts of Brussels. We got off at a stop that was just off a highway and was in the middle of some strange industrial area. This is where her directions ended. After walking around for about 5 minutes we asked a guy parked at a red light for directions. We were right around the corner. He was nice enough to give us a ride. Everything turned out fine, all things considered. We were lucky that they took credit cards at "Da Car" because we don’t have a bank account set up yet and there are only a few ATM machines that will allow us to withdraw Euros. We found out that towing fees vary depending on the day of the week and weekends, of course, are the most expensive. So 110 Euros (about $150) later, we were back in business. The whole ordeal only took about 3 hours and we learned a lot from it. By then it was 4pm. We were able to salvage the rest of the day and made plans to visit Bruges on Sunday.
We began by calling several of Rick’s American colleagues and our relocation specialist, who is Belgian. Unfortunately, the two people who have had this happen to them before did not have their cell phones on. The relocation specialist told us that the first thing we needed to do was find the police station—yeah right! Brussels is organized into several different neighborhoods called communes. We found our commune listed in a book and learned that each commune has its own police station. We called the station to get directions, but the person Rick spoke with did not speak English. We decided to walk around and soon found a police officer. He directed us to the station where we had to pick up a form that would be used to retrieve our car. The person at the station did not speak much English either. We were told that the car had been taken to a place called "Da Car." We also found this amusing. In her broken English and our terrible French, we were somehow able to get directions to "Da Car" from a woman at the station.
We hopped on the Tram and headed to the outskirts of Brussels. We got off at a stop that was just off a highway and was in the middle of some strange industrial area. This is where her directions ended. After walking around for about 5 minutes we asked a guy parked at a red light for directions. We were right around the corner. He was nice enough to give us a ride. Everything turned out fine, all things considered. We were lucky that they took credit cards at "Da Car" because we don’t have a bank account set up yet and there are only a few ATM machines that will allow us to withdraw Euros. We found out that towing fees vary depending on the day of the week and weekends, of course, are the most expensive. So 110 Euros (about $150) later, we were back in business. The whole ordeal only took about 3 hours and we learned a lot from it. By then it was 4pm. We were able to salvage the rest of the day and made plans to visit Bruges on Sunday.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Le Box
OK! We arrived in Brussels wednesday and settled into our temporary housing, which we have named "Le Box". It looks like it is going to be a long 30 days until we find and move into an apartment. The location is great - right next to a large grocery store and not too far a walk from the metro. The appliances and furniture are modern and pretty OK. But the place is tiny. And the bed is only a full. Stephanie and I like to sleep in different zip codes. I guess the Belgians will see us as the bleery-eyed Americans for the next month.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
On the fly
All of our stuff is now in a shipping container headed to Jacksonville, Florida to be loaded on a boat to Belgium. It was a strange feeling to watch the truck drive away with our belongings, knowing that we won't be reunited with them for 4-6 weeks. It was equally as strange to hand the keys over to the new owners of our house. We are a little spoiled now because we got to sit back and watch someone else do the packing and moving. All we have left to do is to finish getting all our CDs on the iPod - we can finally breath a little.
All of our family got together in Atlanta this weekend, so we have said our goodbyes to everyone, but it still does not seem real that we are leaving. We have been too busy with the preparations for the move to be nervous or excited.
We leave for Brussels on Tuesday (10/3) and arrive there on Wednesday. We will stay in temporary housing for the first 30 days, while we look for an apartment. Stephanie has already spoken with our relocation specialist and we will likely start looking for places on Thursday.
We have a busy weekend planned. Rick's new partner is having a party on Friday (10/6) and on my birthday (10/7) we are heading to Bruges, a picturesque, medieval town in Belgium. Rick starts work on Monday (10/9).
Click on the link below to see more photos:
http://www.kodakgallery.eu.com/Slideshow.jsp?&localeid=en_GB_EURO&mode=fromsite&collid=260867372133.612097372133.1163094901476&conn_speed=1
All of our family got together in Atlanta this weekend, so we have said our goodbyes to everyone, but it still does not seem real that we are leaving. We have been too busy with the preparations for the move to be nervous or excited.
We leave for Brussels on Tuesday (10/3) and arrive there on Wednesday. We will stay in temporary housing for the first 30 days, while we look for an apartment. Stephanie has already spoken with our relocation specialist and we will likely start looking for places on Thursday.
We have a busy weekend planned. Rick's new partner is having a party on Friday (10/6) and on my birthday (10/7) we are heading to Bruges, a picturesque, medieval town in Belgium. Rick starts work on Monday (10/9).
Click on the link below to see more photos:
http://www.kodakgallery.eu.com/Slideshow.jsp?&localeid=en_GB_EURO&mode=fromsite&collid=260867372133.612097372133.1163094901476&conn_speed=1
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
