In flemish there is an expression "de laatste loodjes wegen zwaar."It means that the final haul of something always is the most arduous. Well... for me the loodjes are very heavy right now. I thought of the following analogy. Say you are going on a trip with a plane and the flight is about 10 hours long. At first you settle in on the plane, you get comfortable, and you think, well it won't be that bad, I finally get to rest a little, read that book I have been wanting to read, etc. (All this of course, assuming you are not travelling with a baby or toddler...) Then you get fed, and watch the movie or maybe sleep some, and then you start looking at the time. Half-way. Over half-way. And then, the antsyness sets in. By the time you have about two hours to go, it doesn't feel relaxing anymore, you just want out of the darn plane. If you've ever flown like that (and most of you have) you know what I am getting at. Now then, imagine that the captain then announces "we will now be flying around in circles for another five hours." Can you imagine how you'd feel? Well, that is HOW I AM FEELING NOW ABOUT THESE RENOVATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so ready to be out of this apartment, out of this street where there is always traffic and noise and it takes for ever to find parking. I want our things back, I want my clothes, I want for Evelina to be able to have a room of her own with all her toys! The poor thing cried this morning because she was reminded of one of her books that is packed and she misses it!!!!!!!! That breaks my heart. She doesn't even know all of it is coming back to her... I keep telling her but there is no sign of it so why should she believe me? Anyway, we are still planning of being out of here and into the house by the end of the month. But sometimes I just don't know if we will be able to. I was at the house yesterday and so much still needs to be done, that I just couldn't take it anymore. Maybe I will feel better about it all next week, then all the fixtures ought to be in, and all the door ought to have been placed. Deep sighs....
Some happy news? Last weekend Robert and I went to Brussels. See the picture of Fulton street on top? If it hadn't been on a building with several security cameras I might have tried to take it, but as it is I am already on film just taking a picture of it! We really like Brussels now as we are starting to get to know it. Yes, we did happen to walk by our famous little "Manneke Pis" and I am happy to report he is still standing strong and peeing non-stop. I did even take a picture of him but later in the day I saw another take on him and I thought I would post this one instead for you.
We walked around all of Saturday and had a really nice time. We mainly went to check out the antique shops and we had fun doing that. 90% of what you see is either junk, not our taste, or too expensive. But we did find some things we were looking for. So we felt quite accomplished. For one thing we still need to go back because it did not fit in the car. But Brussels is only about 35 minutes away now. This will taking used to, everything is so close, yet so different. We had a great meal, which of course is not a surprise here in Belgium. The land of plenty. Robert will have to write more on this in his blog...
And we sat on the 1st floor of "Le Roy d'Espagne" an old cafe on the Grand Place. And when I say old, I mean built in 1697. Just for fun check out their website http://www.roydespagne.be/. This will make you want to come and have a Belgian beer. We sat until after the sun went down at 10:30 pm. This late sunset is one of my favorite aspects of the spring and summer here. I will post some pictures so you can see why we sat inside on the 1st floor and not outside this wonderful spring evening. We had sat there before, and we just love the view. All other pics are from Brussels too. For those of you who have never been, this is a little bit of what you will get when you come visit us.
Here are a few other pictures showing the typical contrasts between the old and the new(er) architecture, a view of Rue de Boucher, the old butchers' street which is now filled with fish restaurants, and the new Magritte museum which is still being renovated - but I absolutely love it's temporary look! And a shot of a waiter taking a break to check out what is going on in the street below. And of course, there is always new fashion too... while Obama is being celebrated in the most strange places and settings (take a good look!)
Oh and we met 2 new friends while shopping. They are actually looking for another place to live. We talked to them about Antwerp and our house... so we are considering taking them in. They seem like a nice couple, don't you think?
For now, keep all fingers crossed for us that we truly may be able to move soon! Much love from Antwerp.(And you know you can click on the pictures to see them bigger, yes?)
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