For The Journey Not just the destination…

On Sunday mornings, there are markets in Wiener and Flagey.  We live in between these two neighborhoods, but both are just a couple tram stops away.  Wiener was a huge market, but I think we may have just caught the tail-end of the Flagey market.  Still, these were probably my favorite surprise of Brussels so far.

The markets had all kinds of fresh foods (cheese, bread, meat, fish, spices, fruits, veggies), and some prepared foods (quiches, thai, greek, and sweets). And there were some booths selling clothing, toys, and flowers too.

Though our air shipment had a couple of plates and bowls, we’re still working with a really limited kitchen, so it was nice to pick up something more than the basic pasta we’ve been eating from the grocery store. We got a roast chicken, some chicken cordon bleu, some tomato bread, a quiche, and a couple of oranges.

I may not buy food here every weekend, but it was fun to just walk around and look. On another note, my Nikon D50 seems to be working again. I took these photos with my Panasonic Lumix FS3, but I’ve missed my SLR. More market photos are on Flickr:

• Wiener and Flagey Market (22 photos)

It’s been a crazy couple of days – running all over southern Brussels (Ixelles, Uccle, Auderghem, and Etterbeek), but after visiting at least 20 apartments, we’ve found the one for us. Actually, we were flipping between two until the last minute, but I’m excited about the place we chose.

Here’s some details:

• It’s a renovated penthouse in Ixelles, near the University.
• The elevator will fit 3 people, but it’s a really close hug.
• It has two bedrooms – we’ll use the smaller for our master and the bigger for our office.
• The bathroom is the typical European split style – toilet in one room and shower/tub in another.
• There are two small patios – a small one in the front facing buildings, and a bigger one in the back facing trees and some backyard gardens.
• The living room, dining room, and kitchen all open up into one large room.
• There is a fireplace in the living room.
• It has a tall fridge, seperate freezer, dishwasher, stove, and a very small convection oven/microwave combo.
• There is room for a washer/dryer in the bathroom if we want to buy one.
• The tram runs right in front of it.
• It is walking distance to the grocery store, a huge park, and the main University strip (like Franklin Street at UNC).
• We’ll be able to store our bikes in the basement.
• We might be able to store Thomas’ motorcycle in the garage.

And some photos…

I have posted more photos on Flickr:

• Our New Apartment (22 photos)

If everything goes well with the inspection and contract, then we’ll move in at the beginning of February.  It’s going to be a change living in a small place, but we look forward to seeing what city life is like.

I hate lumping so many days together, but I’ve been busy and am getting behind in posting.  Friday started with meeting Thomas and his coworkers in Mons after work for a beer.  I rode the train to Mons, which included taking a tram, then the Metro, and then the train — not a short trip for days when Thomas doesn’t drive to work.

I’ve got a couple more photos from this trip on Flickr:

• Train to Mons (5 photos)

On Saturday, we headed to Tervuren and the Central African Museum, as I had mentioned in the last post.  While we were there, we spotted two Mandarin ducks, which have very unique colorful plummage.  I had never seen one before.

I’ve posted the rest of the photos on Flickr:

• Tervuren Park (36 photos)

Afterward, we headed to downtown Brussels to pick up some things we needed – electronics converters and a totebag/purse.  I learned that shopping sales are only allowed twice a year – in January and I think July.

Sunday morning, we met up with the Brussels Brunch Meetup group and had a great time chatting with other expats.I plan to meet up with this group again.  We met at an American-style diner and got some great advice on apartment shopping.  We’ll be searching with our relo company Tuesday and Wednesday.

Afterward, we planned on going to the Rene Magritte museum with another meetup group, but on our way there, we were detoured by a protest.  Excited by our first protest, we skipped the museum and went to take photos.  About 45,000 people were protesting the Israel invasion in Gaza.  Despite the big crowd, it was peaceful and I felt safe the whole time, but it was very interesting to watch.

I’ve posted photos and videos online:

• Protest Against Israel Invasion in Gaza (23 photos)
• Protest Videos on YouTube (first 4 on page)

Today, I toured the American Women’s Clubhouse.  They have a huge facility with lots of opportunities to meet otherAmerican women living around Brussels.  And the next two days will be apartment hunting with our relocation company.  Other than that, all is well.  The snow has finally started to melt, though I think I prefer it to rain.  How are you doing?

P.S.  Thomas has posted a very similar (we were at the same events) entry on his blog with more photos.

P.P.S.  I think I forgot to post the rest of these photos from our first couple of days here – First Two Days in Brussels (11 photos)