Images from the past week

Maggie and I have been enjoying some time exploring Brussels together, both as a couple and with our guests, Brahm and Jan. The boys have been enrolled in the Tennis Club just around the corner, so we've startlingly found ourselves with a week of adult time.


The boys had a great time this week. The tennis club is very comfortably run down, in a country sort of way, like a very comfortable, broken-in pair of leather shoes. M. and Chipito, his white horse, got a chance to get to know one another quite well, although their time together was not without incident: on Friday Chipito got a little too excited, galloped and M. fell off and was very slightly bruised by being stepped on... he is undaunted and really loved the experience of spending time with the horses. D. loved multi-sport, including football, bowling, volleyball, handball, etc., and they both were wonderfully exhausted each night as they came home.

Wednesday Maggie and I took off and saw the Rene Magritte museum, newly opened here in Brussels in honour of one of the city's famous residents. We toured around the downtown and had a nice spot of lunch between the museum and Grand' Place before coming back to see the exhibition, which was a real education in the surrealist movement in the first half of the twentieth century.


On Thursday our friends Brahm and Jan arrived for a very brief visit following their extended working visit to Italy. We enjoyed seeing the city again on Thursday and Friday, through their very enthusiastic eyes, and took in a few sights that we would have neglected without people to guide... the Royal Museum of fine art is always worth seeing, and I was entranced as always by the large collection of Rubens, Rembrants, Breughels and even a Hieronymous Bosch or two, not to mention the lesser known Flemish painters. This is a Breughel, of the expulsion of the rebel angels from heaven, at the hands of the angels, led by the Archangel Michael.


This morning we saw our friends off to Brugge, until Sunday night, and today booked a holiday for the end of August. We'll be going to Corsica for eleven days; one week in a seaside resort on the eastern coast, in a mobile home right on the beach, with a ton of different activities in the surrounding area. We found that by flying home four days later than we had originally planned, we'd save a significant sum on the flight cost, so we hope to find something else to do and somewhere to stay for that last few days before coming home. Maggie is really excited about this visit, and so am I; the flights to Corsica are the same price as TGV trains to the south of France, and I'm hoping that the island will be slightly less busy than the mainland at this very popular time of year. The language is French, so that makes things easier; Maggie will get her beach time, and I should get some peace and quiet, including (I hope) some long walks in the mountains of Corsica, and the odd cigar. We'll have to stock up on memory cards for all the pictures.

In the absence of our beloved Canadian cottage time, it will have to do... Happy Saturday night!

Happy Canada Day

So we've had some fun celebrating the beginning of summer, and doing some reconnecting with our friends here. We had a barbeque with Bryan and Kiana, met their new baby, and got to know Bryan's father Mike, visiting from Ohio. Then we had a nice lunch with fellow Canadians Kim and Claudio and their boys (above), who after several years in Brussels are moving on, most likely to Singapore.


It's interesting that we've already been here long enough to see more than one family from our immediate circle of friends leaving to pursue new adventures... Simonas' family is also leaving, which will be tough for Malcolm in particular. We had a lovely picnic afternoon with them a few days ago (see above), and we've been offering to take care of Simonas while his parents have been packing up the house. Sleepovers, days at the beach, and afternoons spent together have been on the agenda, and they both appreciate the time together. On Canada Day itself we took Simonas with us to the beach at De Haan together, which was great.


On Friday we spent some social time with our guest Greg, on his last full day in Belgium. We took advantage of the twice-yearly sales to do some shopping, and went out for lunch of moules frites at the Café de l'Opéra just next to the opera house. Duncan gave Greg lessons in how to eat moules - including the soup - using the shells for utensils.


Yesterday morning we saw Greg off on his way back to Canada, and then in the afternoon Duncan had a play date with his friend Hugo. That went very well, and it bodes well for the future. Hugo, Duncan and their friend Valentin are in the same class next year, and the other boys from that "gang" will be in a different class, so hopefully that will help keep the boys' energy level under control.


Yesterday was the birthday of Bruce's mentor and my singing teacher on this side of the ocean, Pierre Fleta, and coincidentally I happened to receive a delivery of a record I'd purchased on ebay, of Pierre singing four arias, recorded in the 1960s. I'll have to wait until Jonathan and Kristin get back from their holiday to listen to it (J. has a turntable) but in the meantime it's great to have it to look forward to. Pierre and his wife Claude are likely moving to Paris soon, which is good news for me; Paris is an inexpensive 1h22 minute train ride from Brussels, so we'll get to see them more frequently.

Today is a relaxed day after a very busy, social week. I'm going to try barbequeing a leg of lamb on the charcoal rotisserie for dinner this afternoon. We'll see how that goes!

Happy Sunday!

first day off for Maggie

The boys have school today and tomorrow, but all of their work has been completed, so these last two days are purely social time for them. Maggie and I are enjoying a little time at home with just the two of us before the boys' holidays begin. We're doing some research today on how we will spend this summer, our first one in Europe.

There are a number of activities that we are investigating for both boys. There is a day camp type of thing run by the commune that costs around 7 euros per day, including meals, that we are planning to put them into for a week or so. Also there is a tennis camp for a week that includes tennis for two and a half hours in the morning, and then lunch, followed by their choice of art class, multisport, music, dance, and so on. That is a bit more expensive than the day camp but it would seem that the Belgian government reimburses parents 11 euros per day for camps and vacations, so if the price is 150 euros per week, that works out to only around 85 euros, which isn't too bad. When we consider that daycare costs per day were approaching $50 back in Toronto, it puts it into perspective. Malcolm has inquired about golf camp; there are a number of sessions, and the golf course is right across the street from the boys' school. I don't have a price yet, but am looking into it.

As well we are looking into Corsica as a vacation destination for later in July. All of France vacations in August, so we hope to benefit from going in July when the crowds are less. Corsica is also much less touristic than mainland France, so that should be nice. Maybe we'll have time to visit Marseille or Montpellier around the same time.

We had a good weekend, but it was very busy. Friday was the end of school party for the boys, and then on Saturday we received some bunk beds and a secretaire from friends of ours who are leaving Brussels for Singapore in a few weeks; after a potluck lunch with them, we went in the evening to the house of Duncan's friend for a barbeque with his family in their garden. On Sunday afternoon I gave Simonas his last guitar lesson, and then our two families enjoyed tapas in their garden, with some tastings of Lithuanian beer, and then a bottle of rosé champagne that we had bought on our trip there last February. They are heading back to Lithuania in a week or two so we are making the most of the time before they leave. As you can see our social calendar is very full!

But today we have some work to do... we just finished lunch together and are going grocery shopping now. I swam this morning and have to do some singing after we get back. Likewise there are a few houses that I have to call that might still be auditioning singers in July.

I hope the weather in Canada is as nice as it is here right now (subject to change without notice; c'est La Belgique!). For the moment the forecast for the next week is lows of 14 and highs in the upper twenties, with sun. Time to go to the beach!