Weekend in Belgeum

Our commute to Belgium was hellish. Peter hated the train and hated going under water. Against all odds; however, I enjoyed a tasty meal with wine, while Conor made acquaintance with an French lawyer and chatted up about human rights and etc. Liz and Spongebob were happy together under the sea.
From Brussels we took train in to Bruges. Bruges has chocolate, beer and lace. It is as cute as anyone ever imagines it to be.
Caution! While amazing food can be found anywhere just few steps from the main square, the places that are located at the immediate perimeter of the square are to be avoided at all cost by the visitors.

We were lucky to have a quite afternoon to drink, people watch and then go on the chocolate sampler binge while kids took a nap in the stroller together.

In Bruges is on of my favorite flicks, so naturally, we had to find the church where they did some of its filming. Once again with the help of Conor's wonder phone, we located the exact place. It turned out to be a private owned and really really old.
The man that let us in, then closed the door behind us and locked it with a log of wood. He then proceeded to give us a private tour. He showed us a room with paintings from 14th century! We understood very little of his narrative, as his French consisted of mostly Dutch words.
We took train to Brussels next morning. I did not like capital at the first sight. It has a lot less of Belgian charm and character that I dream of. It is not very different from any large European city. It has parks, small and large streets, buildings, tourist traps, hotels and tourists.
We took kids to the park, where we stumbled upon a stage in a gazebo on the hill. DJ played old jazz and soul tunes, while Peter bonded with local hipsters over a jam session.
Liz did not miss her chance to dance on the stage. As we were leaving the park we saw more and more people heading in. It was a party that I would have enjoyed.

The train ride back ranks high in my travel commute list experience. Both Peter and Liz were happy and let us just seat back to enjoy 1st class food, wine and country landscapes.

Edinburgh,Scotland.

Scotland was not sunny and warm, this picture is misleading. When we landed in the Edinburgh, after a quick, cheap and easy flight it was evening time. The forecast for the weekend was cold and rainy. We just had enough time to check in and take as short walk through the town.

The architecture in this city is unlike any other place I have seen before. Its dark and medieval buildings line the long and winding roads. And, the way steep hilly landscape showcases Edinburgh to the visitors will make Barneys New York creative visual merchandising team pale with envy.
It did not rain on Friday, so we used it for the outdoorsy activities, we hiked the hills and strolled the streets. The fact that main street just ran into a massive park made it easy to building in the nature hike into the sightseeing route.

In the afternoon at the National Museum of Scotland I had played a game of chess with a 7 year old and lost. It took me really long time to lose, but the first 8 minutes of the game were fun.

Next morning it was raining and cold as promised, but we were too busy having the most delicious breakfast of out lives at Two Thin Laddies to care. We went there the following morning, and I can honestly say that if I ever go back to Scotland that it will be the first place I am going back to.
Well fueled, we headed out to see the Castle, museums and gift shopping. At the Castle unexpectedly a stroller was our ticket to luxury as we were lifted to the Honours of Scotland, while other visitors had to hike up narrow stairs.

At the National Gallerie of Scotland I was happy to finally see and original El Greco, and was overall pleased with the small but tasteful collection.
We took pictures of expensive wool suites. But only bought fantastic wool trows, that kept us warm well past that rainy cold Saturday.
In addition to great breakfast we had fantastic lunches, dinners and snacks at the Edinburgh. Those who bash Scottish food lie! The picture above was taken by my 2 year old at that time daughter.

I promise to finish.

Last year I stopped tracking our epic trip just after two travel posts. It will soon be year since we have gone abroad. In light of this upcoming anniversary I have decided to complete the project that I have set out to do 1 year ago. The three final posts will cover Belgium, Scotland and Ireland.

Money Pit Dwelling

I thought buying a condo and paying assessments was a get-out-of-never-ending-construction-renovation-marathon free card. I was wrong.

Last set of tenants moved into a sparkly new building, resided in it maintenance free, sold at premium prices and moved on. My neighbors and I got stuck with paying the bills: crumbling balconies, leaking walls, crummy air conditioner and no money reserves to deal with any of it.

Call it Soviet residue but I it makes me mad that it is OK to have no sense of social responsibility at all. Here is the no-shit: The fulfillment of short term personal interests leads to very bad consequences. We are silly people.

Misfortune

I am a very lucky person. Things happen to me before I even have time to imagine them. However, I have one misfortune. I do not prompt people to nurture me. Not that I need to be snuggled when I ride a train, but it would be nice to make my parents, husband and kids (several years down the line) to want to take care of me. It is like the rose from Little Prince said: "I am not at all afraid of tigers, ...but I have a horror of drafts. I suppose you wouldn't have a screen for me?"

Farewell And Don' t Come Back!

2010 I hated you, you were horrible to me. I am glad you are over. I am glad we have a superficial but permanent boundary between us :D . You ruined my past and questioned my future, and you did not make for a really good present. So farewell and do not come back!

A grid of false axioms.

Children thrive on routine, they know when to expect what. Child's frustration usually is caused by the lack of knowledge. The genius of children is that they accept that what they do not know.

I soothe myself with a routine as well, but my frustrations have a different source. I have a grid of false axioms that I orient myself around. Now, since axioms are largely false my grid is often broken. So for the 2011 and on I am going to rename my axioms to "hypothesis". I hope that will help me become less judgmental about people and events in my life. I suppose that would make for a better support net.

So goodbye ultimatums, hello compromises.