PINAY FRANCOPHILE

We’re currently planning our 2008 trip home and Alan and I are counting days. Between a definite plan to return to Disney for at least 5 days and the trip to Manila (where my 3 weeks will eat up 14 vacation days in all) — I will have very few days left. It might still happen — but it’s our third priority after the two big trips. Of course there will be the long weekends to destinations that are driveable from New York. We’re hoping to explore more of the New England Coast in the coming summers and fall.

Paris will always be there… And I’ll take a trip home to Manila anytime over a trip to my dear Paris.

It’s been more than a month since I last stepped on European soil, and just like my previous trips there, I feel a deep longing to return. That’s how much I enjoy the experience. To me, it is always what a real vacation should be.

So here are the things I liked about Belgium:

1. English is spoken practically everywhere. I don’t know if their being bi-lingual has reinforced the need to for a common language in English, but we certainly had no difficulty getting around as most were conversant when we moved about. It was true that everything was translated in both French and Dutch — but I didn’t get any lost looks when I uttered “Excuse me…”

2. Chocolates, chocolates, chocolates galore.

3. Lace

4. The light show at the Grand Place. Truly breath-taking. Every time I passed it as it was going on, I felt like I was seeing something new for the first time each time. I was being hypnotized to stay and watch.

More to come.