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Published: April 30th 2008
Herentals
The place where Ina grew up.Life can be so easy in this part of the world.
It took us only minutes after our arrival to Belgium to become aware of it. Even when we had to go from the 100° of a still pleasant early spring in New Dehli to the late spring 40° in Brussels. Even when our luggage ended somewhere between London and Brussels (ja, we were unable to break our bad luck streak in European airports).
It all comes down to a hot tub waiting for you (bubbles included).
This immaculate bathtub at my inlaws' house looks almost unreal . I dip my head into the water and suddenly I realize I could drink all this clean, safe water. However, I choose the wonderful beer Lenie (Ina's favorite sister), has waiting for me, then I dive into the cleanest sheets of the most beautiful bed ever.
The Vanooteghem (formerly called Vanwashandwear).
The 3 weeks we stayed in Europe could be seen as an unfair move from our part if we think of the 3 years we haven't seen our Belgian family. But it only looks unfair if you don't see our 3 weeks in detail. Of course I'm not going to
Weird Amsterdam
One of the several human statues in Alexander Platz. give you all the details of dozens of reunions and impromptu fiestas, travels, and some other social events with family and friends. I can only tell you our stay in Belgium has accumulated even more great memories and has given us a perfect closure for a great journey. Probably that's why I couldn't stop thinking about that Argentinan song that says something like "leaving with summer, very far, only to come back where your mother, in winter, and see the dogs that never forgot you, and receive the hugs that my brothers will always give you".
There's nothing like the love of your family. It's like they knew we need it in great amount, now that we are to start a new life in Mexico.
Besides that, staying with the Vanooteghem in Herentals (not far from Antwerp), gave us the opportunity to explore this beautiful part of Belgium I will never get tired of exploring, Gent and Brussels included. We also get a taste of Amsterdam and West Flanders, adding with this some more interesting sites to our trip's record.
But coming to Belgium has showed us how easily we forget the easy life we have. It
Grand Place
In Brussels. An architectural masterpiece. seems a shame we have to travel for 6 months to learn to appreciate simple things that may be impossible to appreciate when immersed in our comfort zone.
It all comes down (again) to that unreal hot tub.
I open the tap and I drink water. Clear, safe water. Water without parasites, harmless. Suddenly, with my head still into the water, I start to bring all these images of all the beautiful people we have met: yellow, brown faces. Probably some of these faces will look like those in the news I will certainly see on TV, from the future comfort of a red sofa. Maybe all these faces captured in all the photos we took will be a constant reminder of that sublime happiness we could only see in the most neglected corners of the world. Dominique Lapierre would call them "the light of this world".
But I don't want to bother you with the ton of reflections I have flying inside my still restless mind. Not now.
I better tell you something about life in the our future sedentary world.
Because most of you may know that we are going to start building (our
Ghent
A detail in the medieval center. first house), and we are excited with the prospects of a new life devoted to make a real difference in our life to make a difference in that corner of the world we have chosen to live in. We still do not know if we want something like this blog to share our new experiences with you, dear friends. But we'll be in contact for sure. We don't have more to tell you but gracias for following us during this once in a life experience we will take the rest of our life to decompress.
Tomorrow we leave to Los Angeles via London, and next week we fly to Mexico.
See you there!
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