Sunday, September 2, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Pictures...
Oh yea... pictures! I have them, I promise! But I need the cable to connect the camera to the laptop. I'll get them loaded this week, I promise.
Home again, home again
I arrived home safe and sound yesterday afternoon. The jetlag has hit me harder coming home from Europe than it did coming home from Asia... not sure why. I've been in lazy mode all day... which isn't a bad place to be on a rainy Sunday.
The end of the story in Brussels consisted of a trip to the Royal Palace, business home of the King of Belgium, who opens the palace to the public from Belgium Independence Day (July 21) through the first part of September. The royal family's impressive art collection was on display, including some very interesting modern art pieces. I agree with my tourguide (and co-worker) Gert, who stated, as we walked through the hall with the modern art displayed, "Any one of these would look good in my house." The palace is amazing, but what completely enthralled me was the short side trip we took to the archeological dig currently occurring immediately next to the Royal Palace, under the current BELvue Museum... the old palace at Coudenberg. I literally got to walk on the same cobblestones as the Emperor, Charles V! Very cool!
After a short drive around the Woluwe / Kraainem area looking for a grocery store where I could buy beer (found it - Delhaize, known as Food Lion in the States), I headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready to head home.
Brussels was my first foray into Europe, but I'll be back. :)
The end of the story in Brussels consisted of a trip to the Royal Palace, business home of the King of Belgium, who opens the palace to the public from Belgium Independence Day (July 21) through the first part of September. The royal family's impressive art collection was on display, including some very interesting modern art pieces. I agree with my tourguide (and co-worker) Gert, who stated, as we walked through the hall with the modern art displayed, "Any one of these would look good in my house." The palace is amazing, but what completely enthralled me was the short side trip we took to the archeological dig currently occurring immediately next to the Royal Palace, under the current BELvue Museum... the old palace at Coudenberg. I literally got to walk on the same cobblestones as the Emperor, Charles V! Very cool!
After a short drive around the Woluwe / Kraainem area looking for a grocery store where I could buy beer (found it - Delhaize, known as Food Lion in the States), I headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready to head home.
Brussels was my first foray into Europe, but I'll be back. :)
Friday, August 24, 2007
Going home
I'll have to update the blog with my noon-time adventures in the Royal Palace after I get home. I'm off now to the grocery (apparently they actually have them!) to buy beer and my laptop battery will only last an hour or so after I leave the office.
My flight is at 1030a tomorrow (Saturday) morning, and I will continue to update and upload pictures after I arrive home!
My flight is at 1030a tomorrow (Saturday) morning, and I will continue to update and upload pictures after I arrive home!
Mussels in Brussels
We had dinner last night in Brussels city center, so I could get mussels. Before we got to the restaurant, we stopped at one of the oldest pubs in Brussels (established in 1686!) called Mort Subite (pronounced more sooBEET), which literally means Sudden Death, for Kriek (pronounced creek), which is beer made from CHERRIES! Who makes beer from CHERRIES?! Oh, right... the Belgians. (They also make beer from raspberries.) Kriek is delicious, and Mort Subite is an amazing place. It is a bright and airy pub with 2-story ceilings and long wooden tables down the length of it. Smaller bistro-style tables are outside (very Belgians for the pub to spill over into the street - very European, I think) where we sat to watch the passers-by. Upstairs the perimeter has tables and chairs which overlook the main goings-on at the bar below. The walls are adorned with ornate sculptures and mouldings, one entire wall (opposite the bar) is mirrored, making the place look even bigger, although it is quite large and probably seats 100 or more. The bar itself has been modernized, I think, because it is mostly glass and chrome. I don't imagine it looked quite like that in 1686.
After a short walk, we found mussels served wonderfully at a bright, casual little restaurant called Le Pre-Sale. I ordered mine with white wine, but I was completely out-ordered by Walter, who ordered his with garlic & cream. Mine were very tasty, but the ones in garlic & cream were fantastic! All varieties, regardless of what you order, are served in a large ceramic black pot with chopped onions and celery with a side of frites (Belgian fries, not to be confused with the more widely know French variety). Delicious! And now I can say I've had mussels in Brussels. And chocolate, and waffles, and frites, and beer. I'm done. Time to go home.
After a short walk, we found mussels served wonderfully at a bright, casual little restaurant called Le Pre-Sale. I ordered mine with white wine, but I was completely out-ordered by Walter, who ordered his with garlic & cream. Mine were very tasty, but the ones in garlic & cream were fantastic! All varieties, regardless of what you order, are served in a large ceramic black pot with chopped onions and celery with a side of frites (Belgian fries, not to be confused with the more widely know French variety). Delicious! And now I can say I've had mussels in Brussels. And chocolate, and waffles, and frites, and beer. I'm done. Time to go home.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
BELGIUM BEATS SERBIA!!
The Headlines:
Rode Duivels leven nog: 3-2 winst tegen Servië
Belgium edges Serbia in Euro 2008 qualifier
Belgium beats Serbia 3-2 in Group A qualifier for Euro 2008
Dembélé double downs Serbia
It's all over the Belgian papers this morning. The Belgian National Team (the underdog) beat Serbia, 3-2 last evening in Brussles. It was a fantastic game, and it just might be enough to put Belgium back in the running towards the European Championships in Spring 2008... maybe. I'm so lucky that I was able to attend; Belgium only plays at home about once every 2 months. The Belgian team dominated the first half, and the score was 2-1 at the half. However, they slowed down dramatically as the end of the 2nd half came around, and I thought they might give the game back to the Serbians in the final minutes, but thankfully the ref blew the whistle and ended it. The stadium was only about half-full, which seems to stem from the fact that they haven't won a game in nearly 9 months and they were (and probably still are) out of the running for the Championships. But last night's match was a big boost for the Belgian morale. What fun!!
With the number of police, security and armormed trucks surrounding the stadium, it was apparent that European football has a clear reputation for getting rowdy. There was only one point during the evening that I thought might turn into something interesting. Belgium was attacking the Serbian goal, and the goalkeeper took out the Belgian forward. He was on the ground for many minutes, and the members of both teams were circling him, cursing and jabbing at each other while the paramedics attended to the injured player. The spectators were on fire!! Whistles, calls, jeers, shouts coming mainly from the Belgian side but retaliated from the Serbian side as well. Finally the police came onto the field and broke up the mob, sending them to opposite sections of the field, and that seemed to quiet down the stands too. The player (#18 - Dembélé) recovered to score Belgium's third goal!
FUN, FUN, FUN!
Rode Duivels leven nog: 3-2 winst tegen Servië
Belgium edges Serbia in Euro 2008 qualifier
Belgium beats Serbia 3-2 in Group A qualifier for Euro 2008
Dembélé double downs Serbia
It's all over the Belgian papers this morning. The Belgian National Team (the underdog) beat Serbia, 3-2 last evening in Brussles. It was a fantastic game, and it just might be enough to put Belgium back in the running towards the European Championships in Spring 2008... maybe. I'm so lucky that I was able to attend; Belgium only plays at home about once every 2 months. The Belgian team dominated the first half, and the score was 2-1 at the half. However, they slowed down dramatically as the end of the 2nd half came around, and I thought they might give the game back to the Serbians in the final minutes, but thankfully the ref blew the whistle and ended it. The stadium was only about half-full, which seems to stem from the fact that they haven't won a game in nearly 9 months and they were (and probably still are) out of the running for the Championships. But last night's match was a big boost for the Belgian morale. What fun!!
With the number of police, security and armormed trucks surrounding the stadium, it was apparent that European football has a clear reputation for getting rowdy. There was only one point during the evening that I thought might turn into something interesting. Belgium was attacking the Serbian goal, and the goalkeeper took out the Belgian forward. He was on the ground for many minutes, and the members of both teams were circling him, cursing and jabbing at each other while the paramedics attended to the injured player. The spectators were on fire!! Whistles, calls, jeers, shouts coming mainly from the Belgian side but retaliated from the Serbian side as well. Finally the police came onto the field and broke up the mob, sending them to opposite sections of the field, and that seemed to quiet down the stands too. The player (#18 - Dembélé) recovered to score Belgium's third goal!
FUN, FUN, FUN!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
People's gardens
There's a word in Dutch that means "people's gardens." It's a great concept especially for folks who live in apartment buildings in cities and don't have access to areas for gardening. In Brussels, there are tracts of land (maybe as large as a soccer field, or larger) sub-divided into small (10'x10', or so) parcels with narrow paths in between. People pay a small fee to use the small parcels as their personal gardens. They plant what they want and bring all their own tools, and they've got an opportunity to garden in the midst of the city. I like it... you know, for all those gardeners out there. Not that I would ever dirty my hands in such a way, but it's a great concept.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Very productive day today
At the office, we (David, Michel & I) made great strides towards analyzing what a "world-class" international corporate banking application looks like. Now all that remains is defining it, scoping it, designing it, developing it, debugging it, selling it, deploying it, and supporting it. That's all. At least the only part of the problem that belongs to me is the defining it part (and a little in the scoping and designing...). The rest is left to folks smarter than me. I'm glad I work with a whole bunch of them!
After work, I made more great strides... this time around Brussels. I made my way (much more swiftly and straightforwardly) back to Brussels Center where I managed to buy batteries for my (ok Robert's!) camera, more chocolates for some of my favorite people, a waffle with chocolate (aka dinner!) for myself, and some gifts. I then tried to retrace some of the strides I took with Michel & Alexis on Sunday since I am once again in possession of a fully-functioning camera. I managed to get to some of the same locations and I found a few I hadn't seen yet.
Brussels on a beautifully cool early Tuesday evening is a much different place than it is on a warm bustling Sunday afternoon. It is truly a beautiful city, both clean and safe, ancient and modern, planned and haphazard. Police are in abundance, and even the small alleyways are not to be feared. People are very friendly. Two girls hurried up to me on a small street as I was walking away from the Grand Place (where I sat and ate my waffle & chocolate) and began babbling to me in French. I don't know if they assumed everyone in Brussels speaks French or maybe I just looked like I might, but when I said "no francais. english." they looked at me with disgust and walked away. Oh well.
Maybe the greatest stride of my day was first thing this morning when I talked David into accompanying me to the Belgium vs. Serbia soccer match tomorrow evening! I'm very excited! If I could blog from my phone (I could if I had a Blackberry or a superphone (just for you Molly!)), I'd give you the play-by-play, but alas, I cannot.
I've reached the 1/2 mark. 3 more days in Brussels.
After work, I made more great strides... this time around Brussels. I made my way (much more swiftly and straightforwardly) back to Brussels Center where I managed to buy batteries for my (ok Robert's!) camera, more chocolates for some of my favorite people, a waffle with chocolate (aka dinner!) for myself, and some gifts. I then tried to retrace some of the strides I took with Michel & Alexis on Sunday since I am once again in possession of a fully-functioning camera. I managed to get to some of the same locations and I found a few I hadn't seen yet.
Brussels on a beautifully cool early Tuesday evening is a much different place than it is on a warm bustling Sunday afternoon. It is truly a beautiful city, both clean and safe, ancient and modern, planned and haphazard. Police are in abundance, and even the small alleyways are not to be feared. People are very friendly. Two girls hurried up to me on a small street as I was walking away from the Grand Place (where I sat and ate my waffle & chocolate) and began babbling to me in French. I don't know if they assumed everyone in Brussels speaks French or maybe I just looked like I might, but when I said "no francais. english." they looked at me with disgust and walked away. Oh well.
Maybe the greatest stride of my day was first thing this morning when I talked David into accompanying me to the Belgium vs. Serbia soccer match tomorrow evening! I'm very excited! If I could blog from my phone (I could if I had a Blackberry or a superphone (just for you Molly!)), I'd give you the play-by-play, but alas, I cannot.
I've reached the 1/2 mark. 3 more days in Brussels.
Monday, August 20, 2007
A day at the office
Interesting, a day at the office in Brussels is eerily similar to a day at the office in Pune, which is eerily similar to a day in the office in Atlanta. Hmmmm... maybe the world isn't as big as we all think it is.
Things I've learned about Brussels so far:
Things I've learned about Brussels so far:
- All signs are written in both French and Dutch
- It rains a LOT here
- 16C with a light drizzle is considered pretty comfortable weather
- It's hard to find English on TV (BBC World is one, but I'm tired of the news)
- French and Dutch sound very different from each other
- Only eat mussels (even in Brussels) in a month that ends with R (I actually already knew this one, thank you Molly, but I heard it again today when I mentioned that I wanted mussels on Wednesday, when several of us from the office are to go to dinner together)
- A smorrebrod is a baugette, and it's good with pesto, mozzerella, tomato & onion
- Various mayonaise-based spreads are common on smorrebrod, as is smoked salmon and soft spreadable brie-like cheeses
- Brussels is an expensive city... and about 50% moreso because the dollar against the euro is really pitiful
- Belgium is currently ranked 5th in the European Football (soccer for us Americans) Association, with a finals qualifier to be played on Wednesday in Brussels at King Baudouinstadium (hmmmm... maybe we can go THERE for dinner...)
If you're looking for pictures, you'll have to wait until I get home. I forgot the cable that plugs the camera into the laptop.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
What a first day!
WoW! What an amazing first day in Europe! I had an uneventful flight from Atlanta to Brussels (well, except for the woman puking all over the galley mere moments after I stepped out of the lavatory... ick! The flight attendants were less than thrilled!) Arrived safely in Brussels at 8a local time. Navigating the Brussels airport was a piece of cake (all airports are simple after Atlanta, aren't they?!??), and I caught a taxi to my hotel, arriving just about 9a. My room wasn't quite ready yet, so the concierge suggested I take breakfast in the restaurant, which I did. About an hour later my room was ready, I took my stuff up, quickly freshened up and was back out the door headed to The Grand Place. My lovely friend Kathleen had given me a book on Brussels that I read on the plane, so I had a basic idea of where I wanted to go, and the concierge was nice enough to direct me to the closest Metro stop (which I now know is only a 5 minute walk, but it took me 30 minutes to get there this morning, since I turned right when I should have turned left and ended up meandering through a beautiful - but empty, seeing as it's Sunday in the summer - college campus!)
I finally arrived at the Central Station only to find that Brussels is not that easy to navigate! I had a couple decent (I thought!) maps, and the signage is excellent, but I was still having quite a time figuring out which way was which. I wandered about for about an hour, just happening to stumble upon some of the sights I wanted to see, until I finally found The Grand Place. After that, things started getting easier. I was able to use my maps to find Manneken-Pis, and I was having a great time taking pictures, until I almost fell off a curb trying to get a good angle at some neat architecture and met two new friends.
Alexis and Michel saw me stumble off the curb and started laughing at me, which caused us to strike up a conversation (quite slow and stilted, considering they appeared to know about as much English as I know French) about where I was from and what I was doing in Brussels and where I was headed. At that point, I didn't quite know where I was headed and managed to get that much across to them, so they volunteered to be tour-guides (of sorts), and I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in their company. What a wonderful, completely unexpected adventure with two Belgians and an American in Brussels! It turned out, between the two of them, their English was WAY better than my French, but understanding language is a lot easier than speaking it (at least for me), so I'd let them babble in French with maybe a word or two of English thrown in, and then I'd try to sort out what they had said by deciphering any Latin-sounding words that could possibly have an English counterpart coupled with the one-year's worth of French vocabulary I remember from Ms. Humphrey's high school French class, 18 years ago. And what amazed me more than anything was how we all improved as the day wore on. We got to the point where we were actually carrying on conversations - strange, giggle-laden, gesticulation-heavy conversations - but no one could mistake our ramblings for anything other than cross-cultural communication! And I got to see a TON of Brussels, including some alley-ways and back-doors and round-abouts that I never would have survived on my own.
And then there was the woman from Charleston, SC who I met in (what Alexis claims is the) BEST chocolate shop in Brussels. Turns out she is a Delta flight attendant from Birmingham, AL (the Charleston sweatshirt was just a guise, but enough to get me to say hello)! We discussed which chocolates I thought were best (why on EARTH she thought I'd have a clue about good vs. bad chocolate, I have no idea), and Alexis and Michel were cracking up that I found a "patriot" in the chocolate shop!
When it started to rain in earnest during our coffee break at the outdoor cafe, I asked my new friends to escort me back to the Metro (since I knew I'd never find it myself). They wanted me to stay and have dinner and go dancing at the Discoteque (which I would have loved to do), but my hotel is out in the suburbs, and I was nervous about being downtown after dark when I didn't know quite how I was going to get back to my hotel, so I declined with a pout, and they took me to the Metro where we bid each other au revoir. I got miserably lost again on the college campus returning from downtown (and was very thankful it wasn't dark!), but I was smart enough to ask for directions from a nice guy in a coffee shop, and he pointed me in the right (5 minute walk!) direction.
So 1 blister, 2 boxes of chocolate, 4 postcards, and an amazing adventure in Brussels later, and I'm ready for a good night's sleep and work (ewww... work??) tomorrow.
Au Revoir...
I finally arrived at the Central Station only to find that Brussels is not that easy to navigate! I had a couple decent (I thought!) maps, and the signage is excellent, but I was still having quite a time figuring out which way was which. I wandered about for about an hour, just happening to stumble upon some of the sights I wanted to see, until I finally found The Grand Place. After that, things started getting easier. I was able to use my maps to find Manneken-Pis, and I was having a great time taking pictures, until I almost fell off a curb trying to get a good angle at some neat architecture and met two new friends.
Alexis and Michel saw me stumble off the curb and started laughing at me, which caused us to strike up a conversation (quite slow and stilted, considering they appeared to know about as much English as I know French) about where I was from and what I was doing in Brussels and where I was headed. At that point, I didn't quite know where I was headed and managed to get that much across to them, so they volunteered to be tour-guides (of sorts), and I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon in their company. What a wonderful, completely unexpected adventure with two Belgians and an American in Brussels! It turned out, between the two of them, their English was WAY better than my French, but understanding language is a lot easier than speaking it (at least for me), so I'd let them babble in French with maybe a word or two of English thrown in, and then I'd try to sort out what they had said by deciphering any Latin-sounding words that could possibly have an English counterpart coupled with the one-year's worth of French vocabulary I remember from Ms. Humphrey's high school French class, 18 years ago. And what amazed me more than anything was how we all improved as the day wore on. We got to the point where we were actually carrying on conversations - strange, giggle-laden, gesticulation-heavy conversations - but no one could mistake our ramblings for anything other than cross-cultural communication! And I got to see a TON of Brussels, including some alley-ways and back-doors and round-abouts that I never would have survived on my own.
And then there was the woman from Charleston, SC who I met in (what Alexis claims is the) BEST chocolate shop in Brussels. Turns out she is a Delta flight attendant from Birmingham, AL (the Charleston sweatshirt was just a guise, but enough to get me to say hello)! We discussed which chocolates I thought were best (why on EARTH she thought I'd have a clue about good vs. bad chocolate, I have no idea), and Alexis and Michel were cracking up that I found a "patriot" in the chocolate shop!
When it started to rain in earnest during our coffee break at the outdoor cafe, I asked my new friends to escort me back to the Metro (since I knew I'd never find it myself). They wanted me to stay and have dinner and go dancing at the Discoteque (which I would have loved to do), but my hotel is out in the suburbs, and I was nervous about being downtown after dark when I didn't know quite how I was going to get back to my hotel, so I declined with a pout, and they took me to the Metro where we bid each other au revoir. I got miserably lost again on the college campus returning from downtown (and was very thankful it wasn't dark!), but I was smart enough to ask for directions from a nice guy in a coffee shop, and he pointed me in the right (5 minute walk!) direction.
So 1 blister, 2 boxes of chocolate, 4 postcards, and an amazing adventure in Brussels later, and I'm ready for a good night's sleep and work (ewww... work??) tomorrow.
Au Revoir...
Friday, August 17, 2007
Why don't you update your blog?
OK, I've gotten enough questions about why I haven't updated my blog! The biggest reason is, the blog was called Jen's India Trip... and, well... I'm not on a trip in Inida anymore. So, I've decided to create a new blog called Jen's International Adventures because I fully intend to have many, and frequently!
I got a passport when I was 20 because I knew that I would be a world traveller, jet-setting to all continents, experiencing all this big wonderful world has to offer. I renewed my never-been-stamped passport 4 years ago. And now, 15 years after optimistically applying for that first passport, I've finally managed to leave the country... three times this year! I'm no where close to my brother who took 13 international trips in 12 months last year and is only slightly behind that rate this year, but I'm coming along.
I was in Pune, India in February / March for 8 days (http://www.jensindiatrip.blogspot.com/).
I was in Ixtapa, Mexico in July for 5 days (no blog on that one).
Tomorrow, I leave for Brussels, Belgium for 7 days (check back here for more info on that trip).
I got a passport when I was 20 because I knew that I would be a world traveller, jet-setting to all continents, experiencing all this big wonderful world has to offer. I renewed my never-been-stamped passport 4 years ago. And now, 15 years after optimistically applying for that first passport, I've finally managed to leave the country... three times this year! I'm no where close to my brother who took 13 international trips in 12 months last year and is only slightly behind that rate this year, but I'm coming along.
I was in Pune, India in February / March for 8 days (http://www.jensindiatrip.blogspot.com/).
I was in Ixtapa, Mexico in July for 5 days (no blog on that one).
Tomorrow, I leave for Brussels, Belgium for 7 days (check back here for more info on that trip).
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