Where Globe-Trotting meets Beach-Combing
The whole house shook from the jackhammer dislodging the sidewalk. When it stopped, the scream of a buzz saw scraping concrete took its place. For days, while the city updated power lines, our car had been trapped in the driveway by the newly-dug ditch and a pile of rubble. Workmen sawed limbs off the tree…
Now that “everything is allowed except that which is prohibited,” the Kruegers were no longer limited to day trips centering around a museum. Not that we minded—Chris and I love museums, and the kids will complain about whatever or enjoy whatever with absolutely zero connection to how boring the activity is. They also have a…
Viller’s Abbey is just the coolest. So far it is my favorite place I’ve visited in Belgium. It’s a cathedral and entire monastery founded by monks from Champagne, France in 1146 and was in use until 1796. This part of Belgium is very close to the French border and changed hands and rulers over the…
My sister Hannah suggested we go to Gent and see a medieval castle for her March 2020 visit. Unfortunately, her visit went the way of all things Spring 2020. Over two months later, coronavirus lockdown relaxed enough for us to finally make reservations to tour the castle on my niece, Jane’s, birthday. The whole time…
I started investigating life in Belgian about a year ago. We watched Rick Steves, I followed new hashtags on Instagram, we started studying French. I began to get excited about what we could expect: SPRING! Belgian bluebells in forests near Hallerbos! Winding pathways through gorgeous tulips! Castles and chateaus and gardens! We knew moving here…
Once in awhile you have those moments in life where everything clicks into place. You realize THIS IS WHERE I AM MEANT TO BE. Here, I am using my talents to make the world a better place. It’s almost as if, for one frozen cross-section of time, you can see the earth from an eternal…
Gray, light gray, occasional slate—this is Belgium’s color palate, I thought rather bleakly a few months ago. A faint blush warmed to pink. Then suddenly, the entire landscape was obliterated with green. It’s been shocking. This week’s predominant color combination is green and purple. Every walk is perfumed with lilac—I smell them before I see…
