What a rainy day. Here we are in Belgium and I’ve slept through my alarm and when I do wake up I find that it is raining. I probably won’t make it in to Brugge today, but that feels like less of a disaster because I’m feeling a bit under the weather, and also because the weather is being so uncooperative. Just means that I’ll have to make sure to do it right in a couple weeks when we’re back here.
I ended up waiting for my friend Justin who had training this morning. An excellent decision anyway. We hopped on the shuttle and went into the little town near the dock. I’m constantly amazed at the quality of beer and food that can be had when walking into any random café in Belgium. At our first stop we had two interesting sour beers, one excellent, the Geuze Boon, and one ok, the Belle-vue Kreik Extra. It was a bit sweet. Oh and WAFFLE! It was one of the best I’ve ever had. Next time I’m getting it done right with strawberries and chocolate and whatnot.
The pastry shops were also out of control. They were everywhere. We are clearly in a town that is heavily touristed, but everything seems super high quality.
We walked along the waterfront and checking out the waterfront on a cloudy day, which, I must say, was hopping. There were lots of school groups. We heard one group of girls singing some sort of round in Belgian. They all knew it and some sang louder than others but the overall effect was amazing. The teacher was jumping around and the scene was of a public expression of joy that you don’t encounter every day. At least where I live.
After the beach we decided to get another beer. This one was an abbey style belgian, dark, malty, sweet and strong. Yum.
It’s a couple days later now and I’ve had another technical success! Carl, who has replaced Tom as glassblowing team leader, brought a new battery for my computer, so I’m writing from a bus that’s headed to Berlin! Imagine that! It’s like I’m part of the modern world and whatnot.
I think today I’m going to look through my pictures and pull some good ones out that I’ve skipped over in the course of losing my ability to carry my computer to places with reasonable internet connections.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is awesome. I just finished a book, Smilla’s Sense of Snow, that was partially set here, but in the winter. A lot of these pictures are taken in Christiania, which is quite a place to have in a major modern city. I don’t know all the history, but at some point squatters took over the area and refused to be moved. Not they have a very developed society and are very entrenched. I remember they tried to kick them out a few years ago but there were massive protests, and they are still there today.
The last two pics are of Tivoli, an amusement park in the middle of town. As well as rides, they have nice gardens, a theater, and lots of decent restaurants inside, so lots of different types of people hang out in the park. The city has so many different things going on. There is a design scene, an amazing shopping street, and tons of parks, palaces and churches. It’s definitely a favorite. Oh, and free tourist bikes!
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