Paris is great, don't get me wrong, but getting away from the continual noise of cars and people, seeing some colour in the streets other than grey and more grey and sometimes a weird yellow colour, and breathing air that isn't filled with cigarette toxins is much needed. So I went to Belgium this past weekend to visit my dear, long-lost twin, Hilary, who is studying there this year.
The trip started off on an interesting foot. I thought my bus left at 5 pm when it actually left at 4 pm so I had to try and get another bus ticket, which proved to be very difficult. The bus leaving at 6 pm had one spot left, and of course there was someone else in line for it ahead of me. Then I got on the phone to ask for another one (don't know why the lady at the counter couldn't just do it for me) and I could barely hear the lady on the phone and French face to face is difficult, much less on the phone and I basically just felt stupid for not understanding her and then I get on the phone with a guy to speaks English...kinda...and it took like 15 minutes, no joke, to spell my name to him. I thought Ritskes was difficult before..... So he emailed me my new ticket. I'm in a train station. I have no way to print the stupid thing. So I hop on the metro, at this point trying to hold back tears and really just wanting to be in Canada, plug in my headphones and listen to "Still" by Hillsong to try and calm down, go to the internet cafe and print my ticket, making it back in time to catch my bus at 8 pm. So. Annoying.
BUT - I made it :) And found Hilary at the station no problem and it was a WONDERFUL weekend! We talked like non-stop and she showed me all there is to see in Leuven (where she lives, east of Brussels) and Brugge (in the north near the ocean).
There's so much to talk about! Okay, food! Upon getting to Brugge on Saturday it was lunch time so we found the cutest little restaurant you'll ever see. We sat beside the window and watched the horse-drawn carriage tours go by and felt the heat of the fireplace inside. If Brugge taught me anything it is that the Belgium people love chocolate and butter. My salmon that I ordered was swimming in an Olympic-sized pool of it! There was a blob of something on top, so I tried a little to see what it was. MORE BUTTER! Seriously, I don't know how they all aren't obese. So I didn't eat all that butter, but the food was delicious! I also tried a Belgium waffle covered in the richest chocolate ever in Brugge. They had a little van on the side of the road (like a chip truck) that was selling them. The French have crêperies; the Belgians have waffle trucks. And the Americans have McDonald's. THOUGH!! Good thing about McD's - they had speculoos McFlurries in Leuven!! So yes, I spent money on McD's in Belgium :)
We went in search of a chocolate store because that was really the only thing on my list of "Things you must do in Belgium". We found one that Hilary knew was exceptionally good and I may or may not have bought like a lot of chocolate. There's only box with all these different kinds in it and I have to exercise self-control not just to mow-down on them all at once, but to savour them. Not sure if I'll ever get real Belgium chocolate again.
We climbed all 366 stairs of the belfry and were lucky enough to be at the top in the room with all the huge bells as they sounded the hour..or the half hour.. It was loud and sounded incredible! I took a video of it, but it doesn't capture the sound very well and you can't hear all the small, harmonizing notes as well as you could up there. Definitely worth the climb up the steep, small spiral staircase, with only a rope as a handrail.
With Easter in just over a week, I was interested in a little cathedral Hilary brought me to. Neither one of us are really into cathedrals. Sure, the architecture is incredible and all and a lot of them are super old, but they just kinda creep us out. Something just not right about it. And no offense to any Catholic friends, but Jesus is not on the cross anymore. This cathedral claims to have a vial of Jesus' blood. I have heard of these things before, where you pay money to see something biblical like that (even though they can make like hundreds of crosses out of the pieces claimed to be of Jesus' cross, but I didn't think I'd be able to see one. Unfortunately, it wasn't on display the afternoon that we were there, but oh well. There were pictures of it at least.
It was so peaceful there (both Brugge and Leuven)! There were even some buds on some of the trees already! The cobblestone streets were super cute and there were little creeks surrounding certain blocks in the city, hemmed in by red-brick buildings. We walked through the botanical gardens in Leuven and even though there really weren't many flowers, it was still beautiful and green :) And there were swans swimming in the stream in Brugge! Hilary told me that apparently in Belgium, Santa Claus drives a sleigh pulled by swans. Don't ask. So now, forget about reindeer! Whenever I see a swan I'll just think of Santa.
So that is Belgium in a nutshell. I could go on but I don't want to bore you. Basically what I learned from that trip: 1) don't speak to people in French on the phone;
2) God is an enormous and stable life-line and He has funny ways of drawing us back into being dependent on Him. Seriously, I could have done without the huge hassle of running around not understanding anything, trying to get on a bus to Brussels, but He showed Himself faithful again and answered my prayers and reminded me that I really can't do it all on my own and I need Him more than ever;
3) It is so incredible to have friends from the past who know the people you grew up with and the streets you grew up on and the places you grew up going to. Real sense of community and home and fellowship and wonderful times of laughter at old jokes (Aunt Agnes Whale!);
4) Belgium chocolate really is the best thing ever!!
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