1) December saw the arrival of the Christmas markets. Similar to the Edinburgh markets but on a much larger scale, there is a very continental feel to them. Despite an army presence they went ahead smoothly and the Grand Place looked beautiful with a big tree and a nativity scene that included a real sheep. … More It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

1) Not what you expect when spending time studying abroad, but for 4 days Brussels temporarily transformed into a ghost city with an army. Being confined to the residence wondering what was going on outside was pretty scary. 2) The whole thing was surreal. One picture caption summed it up perfectly: “journalists waiting to report … More Thoughts on the Brussels lockdown

1) I went to visit the parliamentarium, which is the European Parliament’s Visitors’ Centre, in a bid to learn more about EU politics. I expected it to be quite boring, but by the end I was really interested. The EU has 28 member states and 24 official languages. After going through airport style security to … More Musings from a multi-lingual milieu #5

1) After a month in Belgium I finally tried Moules-Frites. They were definitely worth waiting for. Yum yum! 2) They do one kiss when they greet each other in Belgium. No actually, sometimes they do two. Or maybe it’s the French people in Belgium who do two. But no it can’t be because some of … More Musings from a multi-lingual milieu #4

1) They drive on the other side of the road. This should be ingrained in my brain by now but I spent 20 minutes waiting on the wrong side of the road the other day while watching 2 buses pass on the other side before realising I should have been on one of them. 2) … More And then the sun came out

1) I now have internet! So life just got 100 times easier. Maybe we are too dependent on the internet today but when everything is communicated online and via emails, it is quite isolating to be without it. 2) On Thursday evenings “Brussels Museums Nocturnes” happens till 10pm, where you can see a selection of … More Banks & Bruges

1) The north part of the city is characterised by shiny skyscrapers and huge ring roads. “The ring” is an expressway round the city and there are literally hundreds of cars on a huge road between the skyscrapers. Not much you’d want to see there right? Well, wrong actually. For this is Brussels, and in … More Bizarre Brussels Continued and a trip to Ghent

1) When walking along the streets I always wonder: – How do all the hundreds of shops doing the same thing (launderettes, copy shops, hairdressers) survive? 2) When walking along the streets I always conclude: – Nobody here must have a washing machine or a printer, so they must get their haircut while waiting for their laundry … More Musings from a multi-lingual milieu #3

1) There are a lot of hairdressers. Almost enough to rival the launderettes and copy shops. 2) I’ve not quite figured out the pedestrian crossings yet. On the main roads there are green men which must be on a timer and go off automatically as there are no buttons to press. On the smaller roads … More Musings from a multi-lingual milieu #2