Lunch Buddy

Eating lunch in Oostende about a month ago, I bumped into this buddy.  He was trying to eat the Chex Mix like snacks off of my table.  He and the other birds actually managed to get most of the bowl.  Amazing!

Fromage

I recently went for fondue at the most delicious restaurant. Although not the fanciest restaurant that I've been to since getting here, it was probably the most delicious. The menu had a wide variety of fondues to choose from, and dipping accesories ranged from bread and potatos (what we had) to meats and other interesting looking things. The fondue pots were huge. The ones we got were for one person (there was also a two person option), and we maybe ate half of each pot.

Mushroom and cheese, tomato and cheese and gruyere and emmental:

This is the grandpa that was working at the restaurant. It seemed like he was the owner or something. He bossed around the waitresses and cooks and kept sneaking bits of cheese off the raclette cheese melter. He basically just wandered around the restaurant making funny faces and trying to look cute.

Did you know that swiss cows go "Meuh"?:

Of course we had to get a desert of chocolate fondue. I'm not sure if the choclate or cheese was better. These were our chocolate dippers, yum!
Definitely a restuarant to go back to. So delicious.

Happy Halloween!

Whenever we buy coffees at work, we are given a cookie or chocolate or sweet along with our coffee.  For the last few weeks, we've been getting ready for Halloween.  Halloween is barely a holiday in Belgium, and the festivities at work are a little strange.

Happy Halloweenie!

Flowers

These flowers grew right by the bus stop I go to every day.  It was like a little wildflower field in the middle of the city.

Aren't they pretty?

Bikes!

More from car-free day! Some day, bikes will take over the world. :-)

Car-Free Day

Sunday was a car-free day in Brussels. This meant that the only vehicles allowed to drive within the ring were buses, taxis and various emergency vehicles. Because of this, the entire city was taken over by people, bikes, scooters, Rollerblades and various other types of people-propelled travel. Busy squares were turned into parks and bikes rode down the middle of the road and stopped for traffic lights. Usually, Sunday is a dead day around Brussels. The stores and markets are all closed, and most locals spend the day visiting with family. Most Sundays, the city is incredibly quiet. But not last weekend!

This is the bus that I take multiple times a day, as well as a slightly different form of transport to take down a usually busy street.


More to come!

More Israel

It's been a busy few months from Belgium! I can't believe I've already been here for four months! Unfortunately, the blog hasn't always been at the front of my mind, but over the next few months, I'm going to work on changing that. I really want to share my experiences in Brussels, and the rest of Europe with all of you. So stay tuned!

Israeli Shrubbery

The first of several from my trip to Israel.  

Ethiopian Coffee

One of my favorite restaurants is and Ethiopian restaurant called Kokob.  Drinking coffee at the end of the meal is an experience in itself.