Last Monday, we headed up to Rotterdam (in the Netherlands) for a few days. Rotterdam is about 150 kilometers north of Brussels and is the largest port in Europe! Rotterdam was a very cool city, and walking along the water really reminded me of San Diego – except it was only like 50°F. Brent had some big business meetings/trainings in Rotterdam with a lot of tax partners from the USA, all over Europe, and Africa. I think it was kind of a big deal he was invited because he is a manager and everyone else there was a partner. His boss wanted him to network and meet people.
We wandered around Rotterdam Monday night and finally decided on dinner at an Italian place. We stayed at a very nice Novotel about 4 km outside of the city center, so we had to take the very expensive metro (€4.90 roundtrip) into the city. We only then learned parking is much easier in Rotterdam than most cities in Europe so we wished we had driven. Parking in most cities in Europe is near impossible – we’ve had a few frustrating nights driving around looking for parking and cursing ourselves for not taking the metro! Tuesday was not very exciting, so not much to say about Tuesday. Brent had business meetings all day and a big dinner at night, so he was gone all day. I spent the day hanging around the hotel, catching up on some TV online, and finishing up a few things we never took care of before we left the USA. I ate dinner at the hotel – it was neat because the hotel restaurant had these little cubby tables where you could listen to a headset and watch TV while you eat dinner – they must get a lot of solo travelers.
Wednesday I set off on foot to go explore Rotterdam. It was about a 4 km (2.4 mile) walk into the city center, but it was a very beautiful walk along the water! When there was no wind and I could feel the warm sun, I thought for a second I was in San Diego walking along the harbor. As much as we wanted to move to Europe, I think we both miss San Diego a lot. Don’t get me wrong, traveling all over Europe is so amazing – but San Diego is our home, where we met, where we both spent our post-college years, and we left some close friends behind. So feeling like I was back in San Diego for a second while walking in Rotterdam was bittersweet. Ok, back to reality. So I walked down to the main part of the city, ate a delicious sandwich, and then headed back to the hotel to wait for Brent so I could show him the beautiful views of the city. Walking 5 miles/day is tiring – but good for weight loss! I need some better shoes though. The problem is, in the USA, I felt completely comfortable running errands in exercise shorts/pants, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. In Europe, you can’t wear your exercise or comfy clothes out anywhere without getting weird looks. I know I’m clearly not Belgian and everyone knows it anyway, but I still don’t want to stick out – so tennis shoes are a huge no-no. Walking 5 miles in flats or sandals is not always fun.
When Brent returned from work on Wednesday, we headed back out to Rotterdam, this time via car. We took some pictures (see column on right), admired the city, and decided on dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We miss Mexican food and sushi. You can find “Mexican” food and sushi here, but we have yet to find anything similar to what they’re serving in the states. Brent ordered a burrito and it had some sort of minced meat, zucchini, baby corn, and carrots inside of it. It was kind of like a weird stew wrapped up like a burrito. When he gave me a bite of it and I saw the baby corn sticking out, I realized we probably shouldn’t get our hopes too high about Mexican food in northern Europe. ;-) After dinner, we walked back to the car, discovered a parking ticket (it’s impossible to know where to park and how much or when you need to pay if you can’t read Dutch!), and headed back to Brussels. The drive from Brussels to Rotterdam is very flat and green, much like the Midwest USA.
Thursday was pretty low-key, I did some grocery shopping, got a Belgian cell phone number (yay!), and did a few other errands. Brent worked. :-)We’re still apartment hunting, so I spend a lot of time looking for apartments. I do have to say though, there are certain items that I can find in grocery stores here that I will be bringing back to the USA. A can of Thai green curry sauce for €1.00 = awesome. Such an easy meal, just add chicken and veggies! And it’s way better than my homemade curry sauces. Another item is the pre-made but not yet baked baguettes - you can keep them for like a month, pull them out of your pantry, bake one for 6-8 minutes, and voila, fresh baguette! Yum! On Thursday evening, Brent and I went out for a walk to see the locations of some of the apartments we had been looking at and see what was in the area. We discovered an area near the Georges-Henri metro stop that we really liked – lots of cool cafes, bars, and restaurants. The Georges-Henri metro stop is about half a kilometer from where we want to live, by Montgomery Circle. We really like the Montgomery Circle area. We left for our walk at like 21:30 – and the sun was still shining bright, which is very confusing for your body. We ended up walking 5 miles – but this time in tennis shoes, phew! When we got home close to 23:00, it was finally dark…normal people don’t walk that late at night, but everyone was still out and about. Again, I’m dreading the short winter days!
Friday was apartment-hunting appointments, round 2. The agent that PWC assigned us (her name is Annekien) made appointments for me from 11:00-19:00. I spent 8 long hours looking at apartments, all by myself. But let’s start with Friday morning! Brent and I are going to Africa on a mission trip in about 2 weeks. We did not get yellow fever vaccines in the USA because the vaccine plus a doctor’s visit was about $200 each, and we had to pay for part of our mission trip, so we try to save money wherever possible related to the trip. While we were still in the USA, I suggested to Brent that we not pay $400.00 and wait to see how much yellow fever vaccines cost in Belgium. Since I am a nurse and Brent is a life-long patient, we are very impressed with the healthcare in Belgium. We did not have an appointment at the clinic we went to, so we got there early, expecting to wait a few hours because that is what we are used to in the USA. We waited about 15 minutes. Sweet! We then spoke with a very nice Belgian doctor who very thoroughly went over travel precautions with us for where we will be in Africa, asked us a few questions, and then handed us over to the nurse for our vaccine. We were in and out of the clinic within 1 hour, with no appointment. Here is the best part – the yellow fever vaccine was €16.00 ($20.00) each. We saved $360.00 by waiting to get our vaccines in Belgium and the whole process was so simple! Brent and I were like in a happy state of shock about how amazing healthcare is here. I couldn’t stop talking about it all day. I think the reason government-run healthcare works so well in Belgium is because it is a small country, but boy do I wish the USA could get it together like this! When we told the doctor and nurse how much a yellow fever vaccine + consult was in the USA, I am sure they thought we were lying. I promise you they did not believe us that it was so expensive. Anyways, we were very happy campers after our clinic trip!
Ok, on to “House Hunters International”, Weinberg Belgian edition, part 2. If any of you have seen that show on HGTV, I can guarantee you it’s impossible to pick a house out in one day in a foreign country, and with only 3 options. I think they really look at like 15 and only show the top 3. Things are so different here – we definitely have to make some trade-offs. I won’t bore you with the details of all of the apartments I saw, but instead give you some highlights. I saw one apartment with a guest room included on the ground floor…no idea why, but this particular apartment had a separate bedroom included in the price on the ground floor. Unfortunately it was on a very busy street and was in like a 110-year-old building. The apartment was beautiful, but I already lived in an old house in a loud area – it was cool, but I want something a little more modern now. Another apartment I saw had a small balcony, and when I opened the door to look at what I thought was a storage closet in the balcony, I discovered a toilet. Yes people, there was a small, fully functional extra toilet outside on the balcony. I have no idea why it was there, neither did the real estate agent, but man I wish I had taken a picture! One of the other apartments I saw was also very nice, but the outside of the building looked like a hospital. Overall on Friday, I again walked 5+ miles in my flats, but did have some success in the apartment search. I found one apartment I liked, but we’ll get to that later.
The most exciting thing that happened on Friday is my lunch and our dinner. In case you can’t tell, Brent and I are foodies. We love to try new things, I love to cook, we’re very adventurous eaters, and we love food. Who doesn’t? :-) On Friday for lunch, I wandered into a place that I believe was called Food Concept, near Georges-Henri metro, also where I was looking at apartments. It was just a simple sandwich/deli type restaurant, but it was a great find. Ok realistically, it was probably like every other sandwich/deli shop in Brussels, but it was the first one I found. I know you are picturing a Subway type place, so stop that image and instead imagine a cute little café that serves cheap French food. I enjoyed a delicious smoked-salmon Panini that came with a small side-salad for €4.50. Oh and by the way, Belgians don’t tip – for anything. Not having to tip is amazing. When you see prices for a meal, you add that up and that’s what you pay. When you see a price for a haircut, that’s the whole price. In our minds, it makes things cheaper, but we all know the service charge is already included in the price. I just like it better that way. Ok, back to the sandwich. It was delicious and the perfect amount of food. I didn’t feel stuffed or groggy, I felt healthy and happy. :-) I also realize part of the reason I thought this sandwich place was amazing is because I love smoked salmon. I LOVE that smoked salmon is available everywhere here, prepared in so many different ways, and so cheap. I cannot wait to take Brent back to Food Concept for lunch sometime!
For dinner on Friday, we went to a place in the same area where I had lunch and near where we had walked to on Thursday night. I had read about an Italian restaurant called Mare E Monti (which means Sea & Mountains in Italian) so we decided to try it out. It was fantastic! It is definitely our current favorite restaurant in Brussels – which I am sure will change, but we certainly were excited on Friday night. After dinner, we enjoyed a delicious crepe topped with chocolate and cherry ice cream, headed home, and called it a night. We did mention on the way back to our apartment though that we would love to curl up on the couch and watch a good movie. Instead we watched BBC. Yay for British news.
So Saturday was June 19th, which was a somewhat significant day for us. June 19th, 2009 was when Brent went in for a routine cardiology appointment (which was 7 weeks before our original wedding date of August 9th) and found out he needed another heart surgery. Not only did he need another heart surgery last summer, but he was also extremely lucky to have that cardiology appointment in June. His appointment was originally scheduled for August, so we scheduled the appointment earlier rather than later since we were getting married in August. His actual heart surgery was June 24th, but I will always remember June 19th because Dr. Johnson put his arm around me and pointed out to me on the ECHO exactly what was wrong...and he knew our lives would be forever changed. I still sometimes feel robbed of our last summer in San Diego, but at the same time, God gave us this amazing opportunity to live in Europe and thank God Brent went to the doctor when he did. I’ll never forget June 19th – I remember it like it was yesterday! I also have a happy memory of the day though, because we went to the San Diego county fair that night with our awesome friends Chris & Kelly Reynolds and Aaron & Melissa Betschel. I can’t imagine spending that night any other way than with amazing friends at the SD fair. Those 2 couples really were a lifesaver that day – we love you guys!
Saturday, we got up and continued the apartment search. We looked at one more apartment and really liked it. I had found one on Friday afternoon that I liked, and then we both liked the apartment on Saturday. They are only about half a kilometer apart, one near Montgomery Circle (Friday apt), one directly on Montgomery Circle (Saturday apt.) There are little things about both of them I like and it’s very hard to make a decision. One has a great location and the metro stop is outside the front door of the apartment building, the other has a better layout, is quieter, and has nice views. They both have their positives and negatives. We have arranged to re-visit the apartments on Tuesday evening, so we will make a decision then. Picking out a place to live for 2 years is tough! And we’re not exactly looking forward to driving back down to Brussels tomorrow from Breda.
Saturday afternoon, we went shopping and ran into Brent’s boss at the mall. I asked her and her husband their opinion about the apartments, which was helpful. After the mall, we went to a bunch of furniture and electronic type stores to start figuring out how we’re going to decorate/furnish our apartment. We had originally planned on renting a furnished apartment, but after looking at a few furnished apartments, we realized that was definitely not going to happen. We checked out beds, couches, washers, curtains, etc. It was nice to figure out which stores sell what – and of course Ikea will still be our #1 place for the majority of our apartment furnishings.
Saturday evening, Brent took me to a delicious restaurant he had been to for a work lunch. I had an amazing filet with béarnaise sauce, salad, and fries for just €16.00. We also enjoyed an amazing smoked salmon appetizer – yum! Brent and I have found that food here is slightly cheaper than what we were used to in San Diego – and much better quality. Also, everything comes with fries, which is probably not the healthiest, but Belgian fries are delicious! We drove around for a bit on Saturday evening because we had nothing else to do, and called it a night.
Sunday we got up, packed, and headed off to Breda. Breda is in the Netherlands, right on the border of Belgium and the Netherlands. Brent is working on a client up here for the next 2 weeks, so we’re staying at another Novotel. We are headed to Amsterdam this weekend though, which will be fun! On the way to Breda, we stopped in Antwerp to check it out. Antwerp is only about 30 minutes from Brussels and is beautiful! There is an American food store in Antwerp, so we of course stopped there. We bought a few things – low-calorie salad dressing, some Goldfish, cornbread mix, and instant oatmeal. Most things we eat we can find in grocery stores and markets in Brussels, but for things like salad dressing, we like to eat the low-cal stuff and sometimes we have no idea what we’re buying because it’s in French or Dutch. It’s nice to know where the American food store is and what they sell, but I doubt we’ll make tons of trips to Antwerp just to buy food there.
We wandered around Antwerp for a bit and walked in a beautiful old church called Cathedral of Our Lady. It is a beautiful church – about 650 years old. Remember I love old churches and cathedrals. :-) We didn’t spend tons of time in Antwerp, because we kind of wanted to get to Breda and get settled in, and Antwerp is so close to Brussels. We did of course enjoy a snack of frites and one delicious chocolate each in the main square. After Antwerp, we headed off towards Breda and had yet another adventure. Brent’s company provides him with a car and a gas card. You can only use the gas card at Shell stations in Belgium. The client Brent is working with this week is actually about 25 km from Breda, but there are apparently no hotels/restaurants there, so his boss recommended we stay in Breda. Since Brent is going to be driving so much this week and we’re going to Amsterdam this weekend, we needed to start the week off with a full tank of gas – and remember the gas has to come from Belgian Shell stations. I had found a Shell gas station somewhat close to the border from Shell’s website. So we drove about 15 minutes off the freeway to the address, and discovered it was not a Shell, but some other random gas station. We were a little frustrated, but we had to get gas, so we found another Shell about 20 kilometers away in our GPS. After about 20 minutes of again driving out of the way, we found the Shell station. Well, Brent’s gas card wouldn’t work and eventually the attendant wandered over and told us they don’t take Shell credit cards at that gas station. By now, we were very frustrated because we had no idea where we were in Belgium, nor how far out of the way we had gone. We found yet another Shell station in our GPS and headed off. After another 20 minutes, we finally had success and Brent filled up the car. At least now we know where the closest Shell station is to the border of the Netherlands, but yesterday we were a bit frustrated and tired. :-) Luckily after we got gas, it only took us about 40 minutes to get to Breda. Also, in driving around small towns in Belgium, we passed a lot of farms with massive cows. I mean, I am convinced they give their cows growth hormones or something. Brent thinks they were a different type or breed of cow – all I know is they were huge and I didn’t get a chance to take any pictures. Look for pictures in the future though, of the giant Belgian cows!
Last night (Sunday), we settled into our hotel, drove into the main city center of Breda, and ate dinner. We had these massive burgers – they had bacon, an egg, cucumbers, cheese, pickles, lettuce, tomato, and onions on them. It was a massive burger – it’s 15:00 on Monday and I’m still not hungry! Breda is actually a very cute little Dutch town – there are tons of restaurants, bars, and cafes. It should be fun to explore this town for the next 2 weeks! It’s a bit cold here, which I am still getting used to. Gone are sundresses and shorts in the summer – we wear jeans, sweaters, and scarves in Belgium and the Netherlands in June. It’s a far cry from San Diego sunshine! I did not realize how cold and gray northern Europe is – it is definitely taking some getting used to, but in 2 short weeks, we’ll be burning up in Africa anyways. I have to think maybe it will warm up some in the later summer months too.
Ok, off to explore Breda!
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