Shenanigans in Brussels

Just had to share this...

Please note the third box clearly stating that eating and drinking are not permitted on the metro.

Please also note that while the American version of 'no eating' is a giant cheese burger.

Apparently the Belgian version is a cone of frites, probably with mayonaise on top.

Summer in Sevilla

La Giralda y la Catedral by night

Woohoo!!

So... still playing catch up here.
About two weeks ago I went to Sevilla to visit.

After all the cold and rain of Brussels, the hot and sunny weather of Sevilla was an amazing shift.  And when I say hot, I mean HOT.  42°C HOT → 112°F HOT
It was awesome!

The visit was really just for fun.  I lucked out that Mr. Gathje and Mrs. McGarry were going to be there that weekend with a group of students from Mayo, doing almost the same trip I did with them 6 years ago.  Wow! I feel old!

Oh, wait... this is when I was 17!  I totally look the same.

Who read my updates last year?  Sound familiar to the weekend trip I took to meet up with Honors Choir during their Italy tour?  The best part is that there was a girl in the Spain group who had also gone to Italy the year before.  Completely coincidental and fantastic!

I stayed with my host family and ate all of my host mom's awesome cooking.  It was really nice to see them again.  When it was time to go, they were already asking when I'd be back.

Over the three days I was there I did a little shopping, walked the familiar streets, got lost anyway, got a little sunburned, suppressed giggles at the many piropos from the guys, and hit all the major tourist sights again, and basically just had a really nice and relaxing vacation.

Plaza de España - always my favorite

I spent a good amount of time with the Mayo group, which was really fun.  I took a group of the students around the center of town, and showed them CC-CS, the center where I spent my semester abroad.  Quite a few of them had just graduated and already had questions about college and study abroad.

 

...hence my face.

They would try to startle you to take the picture...

Saturday came too fast, and already it was time for me to go back to Brussels.  Admittedly, the heat was starting to get to me.  It was dry, and not so bad if there was a little breeze, but inside the house it was absolutely suffocating.

Leaving Sevilla at 5pm it was 41C (105F).  Arriving in Brussels later that night it was 18C (64).  Talk about a shock to the system!

Starbucks

Until Tuesday there were no Starbucks in Brussels.  The one at the airport does not count.

The American community has been following the opening of the new coffee shop in Central Station for months now.

I got to go to the grand opening!

Now, I'm not totally obsessed with Starbucks, but this event was so exciting, and basically sensory overload.

They got the atmosphere just right.  It was a little bit like walking into America - the coffee, the baked goods, the cups and mugs for sale, the baristas and green aprons, the tables and chairs, and jazz music... wow.

I almost ran over a pigeon with my bike/ do they have banana flavored pot?

I spent a really chill and chilly day in Amsterdam a few Sundays ago.  It was just a day trip to visit a friend of mine from Milan last year.  He has been studying there for a year and was about to head back to the states.

I amsterdam

The appropriate way to prepare to cross the street, in case you were wondering

He had an extra bike, so we just spent the day riding around the city.  We rode through some of the main squares and through some of his favorite parks, passed through the main tourist area and avoided the main shopping street, and went to the red light district and a 'coffee shop' to say that I'd been.

 Stefano and me

And now, I suppose I should explain my blog title a bit.

The pigeon:
I paused for a minute and was getting started again, moving really slowly up a hill, and navigating around all the other bikers.  There was a pigeon on the road, sort of in my way.  I couldn't really steer away from it, but figured that eventually it would run away.  It totally didn't move anywhere until my bike wheel was two inches away from it.  Then it freaked out and hopped skipped just out of the way.

The marijuana:
1. Marijuana is legal in Amsterdam
2. Coffee shops are where you buy it
3. My friend smokes on occasion, I don't
4. They have different strains of the plant or something like that, and  have a sort of menu of the different kinds you can get. My first question upon seeing the list was: "Are these the different flavors?"  My friend looked at me like I was crazy and said no.  So I asked if they tasted different, and he said yes.  My response: "That's what I meant, flavors!  I wasn't asking if they had banana flavored pot..." Although in some places they apparently do.

   

Overall, Amsterdam is a really pretty city, and it's easy to get around, especially on a bike!  It was a fun day.