A.M. Sweet, I adore you!

It was such a beautiful morning! Today the first thing I saw was the sunlight coming from my large windows. Seeing the sun in Belgium - summer or winter - is a really big deal; and most of the time a sign for a nice day.
My plan was to meet with Heini (my Finnish friend) for a cup of coffee and then go to Cinematek to see "Kind Hearts and Coronets". It didn't really go as it was planned but it was a really nice day.

Although I decided to immediately go out to see Brussels under the sun for a change, I managed to loiter until the meeting time. Somehow I managed to drag Gert-Jan with me and we were in front of the Bourse at 14.30. Fortunately the Christmas market was set up yesterday and the idea of glühwein got hold of us. After Heini joined us we took a nice promenade in the market with out hot wines. So far so good.

As I wrote earlier, the plan was to go see a movie at 16.00 but at last moment Heini realized that she forgot the print-out of the tickets at home. Until we managed to get them printed again and reach Cinematek, it was 16.05 and the lovely receptionist didn't let us in to watch the movie... Obviously, it wasn't meant to be.


So we went back to the center and walked around a bit, saw the Christmas tree in the middle of Grand Place and loved it! Last year there were those horrible blue fluorescents on the tree but this year they managed to establish a more descent decoration with blinking white lights (well Heini did not really like the fact that they were blinking but anyway)..

Then, then, then we went to one of my favorite places in Brussels, AM Sweet! This is a tea room with all kinds of tea (black, green, red) with all kinds of aromas, fruits, flowers, etc. And one shouldn't forget the wonderful homemade pies! Thanks to out "Marco Polo vert" and chocolate pie, we were back in our jolly moods although we had too much difficulty in communicating in French :) (sorry but this is the only photo of the place I could find on the internet)

All of my friends and guests have enjoyed this little tea room since it's the first place I can think of when I need to go to a café. You can imagine how hard it is to make people drink tea since everyone around me describe themselves as a "coffee person".
So I'm addressing to the coffee people now: please go AM Sweet and try one of the teas accompanied by a piece of pie. You won't regret it!

Nocturnes, I like you!

Autumn is the Nocturnes time in Brussels. Every thursday, at least six museums are open between 17.00 and 22.00 (until 23.59 on the opening and closing nights). More importantly, visiting these museums is only for 2,5 € (1 € if you're under 25 years of age) or even for free in some cases! I admit that I like Nocturnes for giving me the opportunity of not paying much for museums. We you can never know if it's worth it, right?

On the opening night, 23rd September, I visited the Musical Instruments Museum (MIM) with my sister. It's one the most interesting museums I've ever seen! It turns out, this museum is one of the greatest of its kind in the world.

As a recent anthropology graduate, my favorite was the first floor, where instruments from all around the world were displayed. Later on I realized that the people who visit this museum embrace usually one of the floors. I even met a person - he lives in the same kot - whose favorite floor is -1 where the primordial electronic music instruments are displayed!

Yesterday was my second Nocturnes day (or evening in that matter) and I went to visit Porte de Hal right after my French class of the day. I went with Heini, a Finnish girl from the same French course and learned a lot of things. Well, for example, I got a better grip of this Middle Age in Europe thing (beyond what I saw in the movies). I confess, if was the first time I saw an armor! I kept on murmuring "but how did these people move in these?" The live music with that interesting instrument was another thing. And,  thanks to the first floor (Gothic one I presume), I also realized how beautiful Brussels was back then when it had the walls and all...

I admit that I usually don't like museums, since they bore me. Simply staring at stuff which I don't know what they're good for is not my thing. Thanks to Nocturnes, I came to realize that not all museums are necessarily boring.

If I really need an "introduction"...

Being an Erasmus exchange student in Brussels... those were the days my friend! Parties, trips, new friendships, a little melancholy, lots of booze...

Then I came back for more, as a master's student. Wrong decision! Especially if one is living in Brussels and studying in Leuven.. Considering also the financial limitations (no more EU money) it didn't work out well.

However this year is different. It started different and it will continue like this, I'm sure. Now, I'm pursuing a second master's degree in Brussels, living in Brussels! Instead of living alone in a dark attic, now I have a room in a student kot with big windows and a balcony! I pay less, I'm closer to the city center, however I'm much more uncomfortable coming back home at night with high heels... ehmm... whatever, I pay less!

I once read that one has to be patient about living in Brussels. This city may seem (and actually is) boring as hell especially if you are coming from a Mediterranean or Latin American country. For a looong long time you may not be able to find anything to do if you don't have enough friends (and believe me, making friends here is one of the hardest things ever). However, if you wait long enough, you may start to like Brussels. But first of all you must shake that depressive mood off - which may take years.