27.8.10

Miriam's visit

1:53 AM | Posted by Maj | Edit Post

I'm going to cheat yet again by posting photos from earlier in the week... but the Dublin and Bergen posts are forthcoming, promise! :)
Miriam left for Ottawa this morning after staying in the Netherlands for just under a week.  While I don't have that many photos to post, we managed to see a lot, despite Miriam's jet lag.
Going to Den Haag.  Miriaru was one classy traveller by train.
Den Haag had freakishly beautiful weather that day.
Near the Mauritshuis, Den Haag.
We visited Spinoza's house in the Hague.  Sadly, it was closed for renovations.
Pretty neat.  (Den Haag.)
We went on a canal cruise in Amsterdam.  Amsterdam weather sucks right now.
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18.8.10

more Brussels photos.

7:48 PM | Posted by Maj | Edit Post
Building across the road from Jonas' place.  (I took the photo from my window.)  The top-right tenants play great music!
 The building next door to the last one.  My room had a great view.
La bourse, "the" downtown Brussels meeting point.
 Grote Markt is pretty incredible.
 This photo links to a giant file -- click it to see the detail in the buildings!
 
 
 Brussels' Central Station.  So playful.
 For some reason, a carnival of some sort was setting up near the Bruxelles-Midi train station...
 Aristotle gets some love!
 Random-shot-on-the-way-home #1.
Random-shot-on-the-way-home #2.
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three short inter-travel-post notes

7:34 PM | Posted by Maj | Edit Post
1) Amsterdam Tall Ship Festival!  I'm guessing it's this weekend, since these bad boys were coming into Amsterdam from the IJmeer today.


2) Rashley Biro and I are excited to announce we'll be respectively writing and illustrating a children's book about a little phoenix named Ben.  I'll give you more details as they come to be.


3) Uh, so... errrrr... I'm moving the blog to a Tumblr account?  With a password, so no one needs to log in or receive invites or whatever.  I'll keep you posted. :)
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9.8.10

Brussels.

5:03 PM | Posted by Maj | Edit Post
Jonas De Vuyst (literally, Jonas the Fist!) is a PhD candidate at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
 
Say what you will about the horrors of Facebook (and I agree, there are many respects in which it's horrible), but we'd lose out on some pretty fantastic opportunities without it.  When I announced my decision to pass through Brussels en route to Dublin (via status update), my friend Jonas immediately invited me to come to Brussels early and and offered me to stay at his place for as long as I wish.  (Within the same thread, Erik also invited me to stay with him in Norway.)  Now, some of you may know that, when I found out I would be moving here, I was most excited about travelling to the UK, Greece, Austria, and the Baltic states, and completely indifferent to France and Belgium (I'm not sure why -- I just had this vague feeling that I would be wasting my time in French-speaking regions of Europe.)  Thankfully, though I only managed to spend a couple of nights in Brussels, that did much to change my thoughts concerning worthwhile future travel destinations.  Although downtown Brussels is incredibly touristy (to give you an idea: I was sick of the Manneken Pis by the time I left without even seeing the actual statue), it does have a great atmosphere.  (I want to say it strikes me as Montréalais, but we all know what's wrong with that.  For starters, I'd be making the same mistake one makes when she says, "Your mother looks so much like you!"  What's worse, saying "Brussels is so Montréal" is like saying "This decade-old cheddar is so Kraft Singles" because that's the only cheddar(-like substance...) you ate as a child.)  The impression I got was that the Brussels vibe is well-balanced: the city manages to be cultured without tending to snobbery, and its quirky people are relaxed without being sloppy.  It has some really beautiful buildings, but it has some really awful-looking ones too... often erected next door to gorgeous ones.  It's easy to find excellent food (and beer... oh, the beer!) served in hip but unpretentious restaurants and cafés.  Gruff old men pee in alleys and yell at each other across the street in lovely Bruxelles French throughout the day. Other exciting points include the fact that French-speaking Brusselians don't look down on French-Canadians but see them as exotic; the cost of living is quite low; and, holy crap, the Grande Place/Grote Markt puts Dam Square to shame. 
Now, for a video and some photos:

Brussels in a nutshell: sure, it doesn't make sense.  ...So?
Yes, that's right!  Brussels has a Chicken Market Street.  And a Herb Market Street.  ...and a Short Butter Street.  All are within walking distance of Jonas' apartment.
 
And there it is!  This is the unassuming door to Jonas' apartment.
 
All elevators should lead directly to your apartment, no?
 
A far cry from my Zuiderzeeweg kitchen...
...And this poor soul lives on the oven.  He matches the living room.
See?
Lots of Hergé (and general B-D) stuff around the city: I found this at the Bruxelles-Midi station.
See?  (Just outside Bruxelles-Midi.)
 
SEE?!  (A couple of blocks up the street.)
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