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!
Santa 6K

Thanksgiving Thoughts

I have to admit, I've adjusted relatively well to living in another country. It's now been four months since I moved from New York to London. It'll be interesting spending Thanksgiving here, though, as it's my first time not being home and with family for it. A group of us American expats is getting together at Christine's tomorrow night for a Thanksgiving dinner -- she's cooking the turkey and we're bringing all the trimmings. I have to admit, though reading this (again) this morning, it hit home that yes, this definitely will be different being away from home this year. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122765723215458175.html

More coming in a few days...

Cambridge and rugby

So, walking back from lunch on Friday, I realized I had no particular plans for Saturday. I decided it was a good day for a day trip. After looking at a map and checking train schedules, I decided I'd go to Cambridge for the day. I got there early, had breakfast at the Fountain Inn, then ventured to the colleges. I walked through Trinity College and Kings College, including the cathedral in the photos. It was a great day, and I was home by mid-evening.

Sunday, I met five other American expats for brunch in Chelsea -- not the cheapest brunch, but absolutely amazing! They even understood the concept of breakfast foods beyond the full English breakfast! After that, the rest of the expats went in search of fresh veggies at Whole Foods (yes, the one in London) and I went off to meet a few guys at a pub and to see the Quins v. Wasps rugby match. It took a bit of help from John and Chris until the rules fully came back to me, but it was a great time!

Remembrance Day

I ended up going to Whitehall today to catch the end of Remembrance Day events and walk around the sights at Westminster Abbey. I've run by these areas many times, but had never spent any substantial time there during the day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/trenshaw/RemembranceDay

TfL

So, I think it's safe to say that I'm officially sick of public transit. I try to not whine on here, but, well, this is me whining.

I've been commuting to Canary Wharf from north of Angel -- I've made the trip in 30 minutes off peak times, but it can take an hour or more during peak hours. At peak hours, it's not uncommon to wait for multiple trains to go by before squeezing between three other people and a door to get onto the tube. Oh, and the trip is only five miles. There's nothing quite like getting out of the tube, having been crammed between two fat guys, smelling what they had for breakfast, before even getting to the office.

Also, it'd be SO nice to be able to take a change of clothes with me. I went to a spin class this morning, which meant I had the gym bag and the laptop bag with me on the tube, at rush hour. It was great to get in a workout, but completely not worth the aggravation of trying to get onto the tube at 8:30 afterward. I then ended up coming home to drop off both the gym clothes and the laptop before heading out to an election night party... so I'm at two hours on public transit so far today, and headed off for another 20-minute tube ride each way. I miss having the space and utility of a car -- not necessarily driving one on London's roads, as that would just be stupid, but the ability to leave something in the trunk and get it out after work. At least being in traffic has some amount of solitude, I find it somewhat relaxing, and can even make phone calls, listen to the radio, or the like.

I guess the other option is to figure out, if I move at all while over here, where I could go such that I could walk to work and still have public transit available for evenings and weekends...