Christmas is commin’ early!
This time next Monday I’ll be on a plane, headin’ home for Christmas. Somehow or another, I have to fit all this stuff in my suitcase, and hope no one inspects it :P
The theme is Dutch novelties and other lovely things that aren’t found back home (<ahem> Belgian beers).
I’m very excited to bring such treasures home…but I might have forgotten some things. Do you have any last-minute recommendations that I simply MUST expose my fellow Canadians to?
Bedankt!
Pigeon Carousel
Pigeon gets on ride.
Carousel spins
Other pigeons wait their turn.
(Yes, this is newsworthy. I stood forever watching these dudes try to eat from the feeder whilst giggling excitedly.)
When Art Historians Think too Hard…
- What was (probably) once a great cathedral
When Laurens and I were in Namur, we happened upon a very large hunk of a Church in the city centre. We didn’t really think too much to visit it until we saw an open door tucked away, almost out of public view, and impulsively dashed in to investigate. What we encountered inside however was NOT AT ALL what I expected to find in the one of the towns central Churches.
Birthday Roadtrip: Namur, Belgium
- If anyone knows the significance of these street shells please lemme know.
I know what you’re thinking. I travel a lot. I just got back from Florida and am already going somewhere else. I am a brat.
Well here’s the thing…it was my birthday and the weather was great. I can’t really think of any other justifications, so that must mean what I just said = a good excuse right? RIGHT!
As for the being a brat part, I’m going to have to admit that I am one
(some other day.)
-Namur Train Station, outside.
So Namur! This is a city in the central/south of Belgium where EVERYTHING is French. No Dutch in these here parts, nor any Flemish (from what I heard anyways). On the outside Namur appeared a pretty standard European city (like it’s train station), but it turned out to have many secret pockets of unexpected beauty, oddities and urban decay. For example:
- Namur Train Station, inside.
Their oh-so-quaint train station looked completely sci-fi-nightmarish inside, which is something I think we ALL should aspire to, don’t you?
Starting today I’m going to work really hard to appear adorable but actually be adorable IN THE FUTURE.
(whole story after the jump. I think it’s worth the effort, but I’m biased)
“I dine in one country, sleep in another, and crap somewhere in between.”
Okay, so there’s this place in the Netherlands that is ALSO Belgium, like I’m talking paint by numbers style, chunks of Belgium mashed against chunks of the Netherlands. This place about 10km away from the Belgian border, has two separate names, and has been this way since 1198CE.
It’s kinda crazy.
Anytime I get homesick, it somehow vanishes when I look at this :P
- Belgian chocolate shop, Baarle-Hertog.
