PINAY FRANCOPHILE

Thanks to Luc Van Braekel who gave me the heads up that Brussels has finally opened its first Starbucks!  Tracking back to his website, I saw a reference to the Moodie Report which gives the details and location of the first ever Starbucks at the Brussels Airport as being at the landside Departures lounge.  Autogrill, the local Starbucks partner, (link will open to the French version of the announcement of the Starbucks opening) is hoping to open additional branches.

After our visit there in December 2007, one of the most popular posts which has elicited quite a number of comments (mostly unsigned, though =( ..) was that one about there being no Starbucks in Belgium.  Finally everyone (including Alan) can rejoice as they can now have their favorite brew in Brussels.  Looking forward to getting a mug from this one!

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.

For a moment there, Alan and I were seriously considering cancelling our trip to Brussels on Christmas day.  However, when I called the doctor this morning to request for a medical certificate for the airline in connection with our cancellation and request for a full refund of our non-refundable fare, she toldus that he might be well enough to travel come Tuesday.  Hooray for that one!