If I cannot change the place where I live, I must change my mind about. It's my fault if a feel bad, get sick, and only "survive" here for the job. I must think different. I must remove all my prejudices, because there are for sure tons of good things in Brussels I cannot see just because I don't want to. One of them is the location. Close to all the most important capitals of Europe and to the most lovely cities of Belgium. Let's explore the neighborhood by train!
Freaky Friday in London
A business trip to London has given me the opportunity to cross the Channel by train for the first time. The expensive Eurostar is pretty fast and comfortable. Well, we had to pass through security and passport check (3 times on one way! as many as the borders we crossed) like at the airport and the train has the moquette, but it was much better than flying to Heathrow. I remember my first opinion about London, not much different from what I think of Brussels: dirty and chaotic. But London has a soul that I'm still looking for in Brussels.
Anyway, the reason of the trip was meeting the curator of the meteorite collection in the Natural History Museum. It was the best visit ever! Not only for the opportunity to discover the "secrets" of the museum and the job, but also for the bright example of efficient conservation and research at the same time. I've learned a lot and probably also loved a bit more the city. The funniest moment was... eating fish&chips with the museum people at the restaurant reserved for the staff. Time flew so fast... I had no time to meet a friend of mine... I must plan other trips to London!
Saturday in fairy city
Although the one day trip to London made me quite tired in the evening, the day after I planned to go to Bruges. I wanted to visit the famous city but also meeting again another organist, who I had seen the first and last time in 2008 in Haarlem. The only Belgian I knew before moving here. After having been already twice in Antwerp, let's see something new.
The weather tried to persuade me to stay in bed in the morning, but then turned into a windy a sunny day. The journey by train (I love the weekend-tickets!) was peaceful and in a good company of hundreds of tourists. The town is lovely! It sounds a bit fake, not because rebuilt in a fake ancient style like Dresden, but because the time seems to have stopped centuries ago. There are almost no architectural signs of modernity. The only baroque church I've seen sounds weird like a black sheep... and it was the most modern church nearby. The friend of mine, born and grown up there, explained and showed me many corners that are usually skipped by tourists. In the meantime we talked about music and common acquaintances. That's the way I like to visit a new place!
Looking forward to traveling again!
