Self-portrait of the artist as a young woman

Sunshine Lollipop

I'm not going to write much in this post because it is a task for you. What do you feel about these pictures? And why do they make you feel this way? And finally: which one is sunset and which one sunrise?

Procrastinating

I should apply for new jobs.
I should run.
I should study and do homework.
I should upload pictures.
I should write critiques.
I should go out.
I should sweep.
I should look for a GP.
I should do laundry.
I should get up early.
I should read the unread books.
I should watch the unseen movies.
I should keep my blog updated.
I should finally write that review.

Instead, I do nothing. I postpone the job search, I rewatch old serials, I spend my time surfing the net to gather information about polymer clay and beading, I bead and clay, I take photos out of my window and inside my flat. I wait for summer.

I wait for a miracle.

Dag/ Jour 7 - Brussels

+ Last day, last opportunity to buy souvenirs (in the form of sweets and postcards), last time to make a complete mess by eating a gaufre au caramel et à la crême fraîche (waffle with caramel and cream), to check if Manneken Pis is wearing clothes today (he isn't), to find the original Neuhaus chocolate shop, the one that started in 1825 as a pharmacy where chocolate was prescribed as medicine (:D) and to see my friends before they're gonna be four (9th June) instead of three.

+ Morning at the bus stop: A slightly dirty and smelly drunk/stoned/weird young guy walks up to me, asks me something which I don't quite understand and tell him no. Enters the bus before me, buys a ticket, doesn't quite know which way to put it into the machine. Gives the following explanation to the bus driver "I'm a little distracted, I'm in love". After he finally manages and walks off, the driver says to me with a wink "She must be so happy..." ;-)

+ Okay, dear followers of Saltyyfish's Guide to Belgium, that was it. I survived, had fun, will come back with minor injuries only and herewith close my travel diary. Any questions and remarks are welcome of course.

The end - la fin - het einde

***

Jour 6 - Dinant, Namur

+ Digging into Wallonia today, the French speaking part of Belgium. Dinant is a little town with a big citadel which - bien sûr - we had to visit. By cablecar that we first didn't find. "Ask somebody!" How to ask if I couldn't remember the French word for it to save my life. Anyway, we found it and now I know what it is called: téléphérique.

+ Anyone of you into Jazz? You must be grateful to the man from Dinant, Adolphe Sax, who invented... exactly:

+ Another town - Namur, capital of Wallonia, about ten times the size of Dinant (and the dust and the building sites) - another citadel. Phew...

+ My mum's guide book mentions Namur as a the gourmet capital of Belgium and it led us to a cafe called La Maison des desserts. And it rightfully bears this name *drools*. We bought a little package of a local delicacy, Bietrumé, which is some kind of chewy caramel, made from butter, sugar and hazelnuts, and something I have been craving for since I first saw them: Macarons, very colourful, very tender, very perfumed taste :/.

Jour/ Dag 5 - Brussels

+ Ever been inside an iron crystal? :D Well, I have today, so I can tell you that it's hot (no AC) and a bit like you would imagine the insides of a spaceship.

Ok ok, the solution to the riddle - the Atomium, built for the Expo in 1958 in the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. The whole thing was (similar to the Eiffel Tower) supposed to remain there for just six months but well, it's 51 years now.

+ 27 countries in three hours - woohoo!! Try and beat that ;-). Mini-Europe makes it possible. You find miniature buildings and places from all 27 EU-nations on a scale of 1:25, starting with the building of the European Commission in Brussels itself. In the park, I saw some (real) ducks and dragonflies - now imagine the freakishly giant animals if these are 1:25 as well...

Jour/ Dag 4 - Brussels

+ Technically, Brussels is bilingual, French and Dutch. Practically it is mostly French that is spoken and that allows you to get by almost everywhere. Strange.

+ Travelling with my mother is really great but also very exhausting. Great because I get to see a lot of things and places, more than when travelling on my own or with friends because we plan more and she informs beforehand. Exhausting because I have to do all the planning, organising and itinerary forming. And we can never just walk around aimlessly, there always has to be a next destination, a reason to go somewhere, a sight worth seeing. Phew..

+ Visited the Musée du chocolat et du cacao this morning, complete with demonstration and tasting. Yummy!

+ Talked mum into trying a regional specialty, Waterzooi, which was kind of a stew with fish and seashells. I would never eat something like that ;-)

+ Made an observation today or yesterday: Belgium "shuts down" at around 6.00 to 6.30 pm. Shops close, museums won't let you in anymore and even churches start kicking you out. And it doesn't matter much which part of the country you are in.

+ Oh and speaking of churches: they are beautiful, no doubt. But as soon as I enter one, I feel my church allergy breaking out again, thinking how the priests must have squeezed the money to build these churches out of poor believers centuries ago.