Back in BXL
I have been back in Brussels for nearly one week, and I’m already itching to leave. My visa problems are not going away any time soon, though. After two trips to two different communes, I have realized that I am probably not going to obtain my official Belgian ID card for at least two months. … Read more
Angoulême: surrounded by walls, cartoons and cartoon walls
People really paying attention to my blog and travel plans might have noticed a gap in between my farming experience and my time in Bordeaux. It’s true! While I spent a week in the Atlantic Coast region, it was not all spend in Bordeaux. My first two nights were in Angoulême, a small city about … Read more
Stranded
Bordeaux was supposed to be an easy, relaxed, three night detour. I didn’t even bother leaving the city, not wanting to put the burden on myself to board a bus to the coast or explore any nearby vineyards. I figured I’d just chill. I deserved a break after nearly three weeks of backpacking and two … Read more
Bordeaux for gastronomes
I spent Friday night at a small birthday party full of European exchange students, mostly from Germany and all studying in Bordeaux. The girls were posh, blending into their bourgeoisie setting nicely, with glitter around their eyes and red wine in their hands. I asked one about the lifestyle adjustment. She took a long drag … Read more
Lessons from the farm
After shoveling rabbit shit out of ten cages, my arms were throbbing. Rabbits are amazing creatures. They procreate like no other — mothers are sent on honeymoons every six weeks to keep the babies coming. After four weeks, a bunny is fattened up and ready for slaughter. This is assuming, of course, a certain farm … Read more
Farmville, in real life
The rabbits, chickens and pigs were all fed, and it was time to lock the barn up. I hollered to the dogs that had followed me in, as well as the goat that thinks it’s a dog. The dogs filed out — but not that goat, that damn goat. I walked outside and started to … Read more
Winter break: Vienna
I had been told that there is no more magical place to be in the wintertime than in Vienna. As I flew into Vienna from Brussels a week before Christmas, I made it a point to power walk through the inner city before returning two weeks later. I wanted to hit the main markets and … Read more
Winter break: Bratislava
I am looking into the eyes of a woman in her early 60′s. She’s 100 percent Slovak, and she’s never left the country in her life. Her glasses cover half her face and her pink sweater wears a gold broach. She’s eating a pork and chive dumpling that I had steamed a few moments earlier. … Read more
Winter Break: A Czech Christmas
Maybe I should have been more concerned when I missed my bus to Prague, surely an omen of bad things to come. Maybe I should have freaked out a bit more when I finally arrived at my metro stop, 30 minutes outside the city center, and found myself in the middle of fields, with a … Read more
Winter break: Munich
The sheer number of Christmas markets in Munich was staggering. There was the uber-commercial market at Marienplatz, stretching oddly all down the main shopping street, with real live Christmas carolers every evening. There was the crazy Decemberfest at Tollwood, in the same tents used for Oktoberfest, with a food tent, shopping tent, culture tent and … Read more
