Longing for blossoms From the wrong side of the pane Coronavirus
Quarantine Day 8,542
Lockdown in Belgium
Move to Europe, they said…. So many opportunities to travel, they said…. One of the best things about Belgium—that it’s close to everything—is now one of the worst. My sister and I had plans to meet in Paris for her kids’ spring break Tuesday—the day France went into lockdown, one day before Belgium also closed…
The Garmisch Classic
Riding the chairlift up the Garmisch Classic I realized why people love skiing. It was so quiet, in the same way going to the beach is quiet. Shouts of laughter drifting across the slopes, air that smells so good, and that satisfying crumpling snow sound. From up above, skiers and snowboarders winding their way downward…
Brussels to Garmisch
We got European license plates for our car just in time for our first European vacation—skiing in the Bavarian Alps! This is important, because we can’t cross international borders with Texas plates (too “exotic”), and our drive here to Garmisch took us from Belgium through Luxemburg, Germany, Austria and back into Germany again. I booked…
Stockel Market
Walking Eloise to her French school on the other side of the metro station is my favorite thing to do in Belgium so far. At dawn and mid-afternoon we get a charming 20-minute walk together through Stockel town center. Three times a week—Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays—Place Dumon hosts a farmers market. If Chris is with me,…
Pot au Feu
J’aime la soupe! J’aime le potage! I like making it, I like smelling it while it simmers, I like eating it—it’s my favorite. I pick up Eloise at school and we walk through town and up the hill to our house, arriving at home around 4pm most days. Just in time to start something cooking….
Mussels in Brussels
The advantage of Chris’ wonky schedule is this: we found ourselves on a rainy Tuesday morning metroing merrily along toward the city center. Thunder boomed, creating a cozy moment of shared surprise among everyone in the metro car. Then we exited out into the cold and were cozy no more. Weeks ago, when we were…