A Busy Break
- Eliza Moore
- Nov 3, 2019
- 4 min read
Monday-I started my weeklong break by making myself some fluffy pancakes...or what was supposed to be fluffy pancakes. Baking in another country is trial and error as you are experimenting with new ingredients.
Tuesday- Woke up earlier as I had a train to catch for Luxembourg for a day in the city with Jessie. But the bus didn't stop to pick me up and just kept chugging along, so I ended up running to the station in 10 minutes. On the train, I ran into one of the family's friends who was an exchange student as well around 15 years ago. We had a nice chat while on the train to our separate destinations. When I arrived at the station I met up with Jessie and a classmate, Ines who was going to be our guide in the morning. I quite like Luxembourg City as it has a different pace of life than Athus. I dislike how much construction there always seems to be, but everything else makes up for it. There's a park that runs through the whole city which reminded me of Fish Creek a bit.
The bridge is also quite amazing as it runs through a giant picturesque canal and also features a little bridge built under and in the big one, kind of like matryoshka dolls for bridges. Jessie and I spent the day walking around (we ended up doing something like 21,000 steps) and looking in shops. We had lunch at a Chili's style restaurant where we ordered cheeseburgers (the most Western food, we know). We had wandered quite far into the city and realized we had a train to catch. When arriving at the station we paid for our tickets and ran to the platform. It was a scene from the movies where just as we were running, the whistle blew and I had set my hand on the door to open it but it was too late. Though we did end up finding an easier way to get home in the end, so you could say it worked out for the better.
Wednesday-I slept over at Jessie's house as we had planned to meet up with another group of friends the next day in Namur. We woke up bright and early to take the 7 am bus to the nearest town, where we switched buses and head to Marloie to catch the train. It was the first frosty morning I had seen here and had dropped to 0 degrees, I was feeling pretty chilly in my rain jacket. We arrived in Namur for about 10 am and grabbed a coffee while waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive. When everyone had arrived, we hit the streets to wander about.
We found a Flying Tiger shop (a favourite European discovery for my sisters and me in the past), a Hema (Dutch department store), a pop-up Christmas shop featured in a church, a 70s vintage shop and an Oxfam store. The others didn't really know what to do, so I channelled my inner Andrew Moore and became the travel leader for the day. Later I once again ate a burger for lunch, which was sooooo good as they baked bacon into the bun! I feel like we found a hidden gem!
Sadly, we had to part ways but will be able to see each other again on November 17-18 for our weekend trip in Maastricht!
Thursday-My family and I headed for the North Coast where they recently bought a place. When arriving, we couldn't figure out how the heating worked so it was a pretty chilly evening in the house. We didn't do much for Halloween, just watched a horror movie (not my fave) and ate some gummies. Funny how missing even a small holiday like Halloween, can make you feel so much farther away from home. No costumes, fun Halloween movies, no pumpkins; missing family traditions.
Friday-We took a trip up to Calais, France to see a giant dragon on display. I believe it was part of an art competition or something, and would be moving in the streets for only 3 days. It was huge and detailed, breathed fire and snorted out air from its nostrils. The town smelt like cold Mexican air; humid and salty and was packed with people. When we tried to find a place to eat for lunch, we were turned away from all of them. We ended up going to a mall 15 minutes away, but even then we had to wait almost 40 minutes to get into a restaurant.
Saturday-We took a walk down to the pier where it was windy and gloomy as expected. There were little stores lined up and down, which I'm sure are packed in the summer months. They reminded me yet again of Mexico as they primarily sell beach toys, floaties, and goggles. There were also loads of cafes, pubs and restaurants and amazing stands with waffles that literally fill the air. Though it was chilly, the hot waffle kept me warm in my heart.
Sunday-Before heading back to Aubange, we took another walk around Westende and grabbed some drinks at one of the cafes and a final waffle. Our trip home was longer than expected as there was so much traffic on our way to Brussels to drop off my host brother at his university. Driving through Brussels at night reminded me of Downtown Calgary, made me miss home just a little.
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