Brussels

On the way back from Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, I realized it had been a while since I last traveled any farther than a day trip and that I had no solid plans for the weekend. This was dangerous, but it got me started on "where can I go that's relatively affordable on short notice?" After looking at a map, I decided on either Brussels or Dublin. The last minute Eurostar tickets to Brussels were cheaper than the last minute flights to Dublin, and I figured I'd want to spend more time exploring Ireland but could do Brussels in just a few days. So, when I woke up Friday morning, I booked myself a hotel room and a round trip ticket to Brussels.

After a day of work and happy hour with my colleagues on Friday, I came home and slept. I woke up early Saturday morning and read through a few email messages I'd gotten from Steve, Areej, and others with their suggestions for travel in Brussels. After a few quick searches online and writing down addresses of places since I didn't have a printer available, I headed off to St Pancras to catch the train, still with not that much of a view as to what I'd be doing for the weekend. Regardless, it was an adventure, so why not?

I got off the train, took the subway to the stop near my hotel, and dropped my bag in the room. At this point, off to explore! I took the suggestion of the guy at the front desk and ventured toward the center of town. I found the Christmas market, a few back alleys full of restaurants, and some amazing hot chocolate. After meandering around the Christmas market for a bit, I found the Cathedral of St. Michael. I walked inside just as they were starting a mass, so I decided to stay and watch. I have to admit, I completely followed the format of it but had no idea what was being said the whole way through... at least in Munich for Easter Sunday mass, I had been able to roughly follow along with the priest. Regardless, the architecture was phenomenal and definitely worth the visit!

After the mass, I went back into the Grand Place, where you can see several of the nighttime photos I took from the link in an earlier post. I found a great restaurant a few blocks away... had the best French onion soup EVER, a rabbit dish that was incredible, and a Leffe.

On Sunday, I went through the grounds of the European parliament, then toured an automotive museum. They had cars from the early 1900s through to the '60s in great condition. However, their more recent additions were a bit lacking. They showed a few "concept" cars including a '99 or '00 Audi TT as something that's the "wave of the future." Good idea, but design has moved on in the past decade. Also, they had mini remote controlled cars racing on a large open area of the floor, following a track set out by FedEx boxes duct taped to the carpet. Kinda funny, but definitely worth a photo.

I then went through a Mercedes office / sales room / ode to F1 racing and saw some completely ridiculous new stuff. At a friend's request, I stopped at a chocolate store to pick up some chocolates to bring back to the UK. WOW that was a good idea... I think I picked up more for myself than for Areej. Sorry to disappoint, Areej!

I then toured an old hotel right off the Grand Place, found another Belgian beer, and eventually made my way back to the train station for the return to London. In all, a somewhat relaxing and quite fun weekend! Had I been traveling with others, I likely would have gone into more of the museums and other attractions, yet wandering the city worked in its own way to take in the surroundings and atmosphere and the like.

Next stop... to be determined.

Thanksgiving

So, Thanksgiving was great! Christine and Cecilia, two other American expats on the same exchange program, hosted 11 of us at their place for Thanksgiving. This was the first I'd celebrated the holiday away from family, and I did miss that. It did feel weird going to work on Thursday morning and seeing the news stories on the web focusing on Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade and Black Friday sales, yet everyone worked as if it was nothing here. However, we all went over to C&C's place for a late-ish dinner and were blown away! Christine had taken the day off and had apparently not just spent the day preparing, but also the better part of the preceding week.

The turkey was on a platter on the table, golden brown, ready for Norman Rockwell. Whereas I'm living adequately but by no means extravagantly in my flat here, they had full place settings for all 11 of us, with coordinated EVERYTHING. The photos I posted yesterday barely do it justice. Oh, and the food was amazing. All of it. The veggies brought by everyone, the pies Cecilia baked, the turkey, the two types of stuffing, the homemade cranberry bread, everything!

So, no, I wasn't home with the family over Thanksgiving. However, for not being able to be there for it, this was one of the best alternatives I could think of -- great food, great friends, and great times.

I'm alive

So, I need to post both on Thanksgiving and on my last-minute decision to do a weekend trip to Brussels. Photos from the two are here:
Thanksgiving
Brussels

Also, for anyone else in London, can I convince you to join a few of us expats running this next weekend? Should be a blast!
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