Blogs from Leuven, Flemish Brabant, Belgium, Europe - page 3

Hi guys! I'm so sorry I've been MIA for the last few weeks. I hope you didn't think that I's forgotten about you, I've just been so busy! So hopefully this will update you a bit on my first two weeks, and I promise from now on I'll be better about keeping in touch. So after my flight got canceled, I took a second trip to the airport on the 27th. My first flight landed in Dulles Washington, which I thought was supposed to be Dallas, so I was a little confused at first. Anyway, I found my plane and ended up sitting my two British girls, 13 and 11 I think, who wanted to talk to me the entire way to Brussels. I probably got about an hour of sleep on the plane, so I ... read more

Inter-exam-Pre-Pre-Pre-Pre-vacation-day dreams For weeks a friend and I have been thinking about going on vacation somewhere in the world. Restrictions for this endeavor are: *budget( travel+expenses)=approx. €700 * location: somewhere hot; *purpose: pleasure by culture and relaxation Unfortunately, at this time, in the present day, now, we are experiencing a period in our lives that every of my fellow students despise: EXAMS Our first thoughts wondered towards a formula issued by our national airport in Zaventem, Belgium or like the foreigners like to call it: "Brussels Airport". This 'Last call'-formula is quite exciting because the main idea is to arrive at the airport without any reservation and just check which flights are still available...of course these flight should be cheaper than pre-booked fli... read more

I should have been here by now, settled and learning how to temper dark vs. milk chocolate, and finding out firsthand that white chocolate actually smells kinda bad when you're tempering it. But no. I don’t even have a place to live yet. I was in Leuven again for less than 48 hours, although I planned on staying for a week, but before that it was for a month, at least in the hotel I booked. I wrote Laike two weeks prior to coming out and didn’t hear from her again until the day before I flew out. It took another in person visit to the chocolate shop to find out that even though my apartment in NYC is rented out for six months starting on December 1st, Laike didn’t think it was a good idea ... read more

I got back from Belgium yesterday afternoon after a busy Saturday. After my flight from Copenhagen was delayed and I finally got back into Leuven, I sprinted towards the chocolate shop after dropping my bags off at the hotel in Leuven. I slowed down a bit and then stopped when I saw the shingle outside, since I kind of knew that what was about to happen would impact my life pretty profoundly for the next few months, at least, regardless of the outcome. It took Laike (the daughter who co-owned the shop) maybe ten seconds to come out of the kitchen when she heard me come in, but it felt like a lot longer. I'm normally great at icebreakers, but I barely managed to stammer something about how my mother and the other homeopaths weren't in ... read more

Having the privilege of avoiding any 'real life' responsibilities (read jobs), one thing we really wanted to do was spend some quality time with friends and family during our trip to Europe. First stop .. a return to Hendrix's birthplace, Belgium. My big brother Gordon and his partner Ingrid live in a cute wee village called Wakkerzeel, just outside Leuven (famous for being the home of Stella Artois) and within an hour of Brussels. With mile upon mile of green, flat farmland and quaint old villages with stereotypical wee pubs and shops it oozes tranquility and has a sweet country community feel. Of course every local area also produces it's own local beers guaranteed to knock your block off. It was great to catch up, and share stories with Gordon and Ingrid, who are just about ... read more