Author: pierreo

Posted in Travel

Laos 1 – On the Mekhong

Posted on by pierreo

If you are interested, there is practical information about this trip at the end of this post.

Our first sight of Laos was from across the Mekhong in Chiang Khong after a two hour bus ride from Chiang Rai where we spent the night.

On the Laos side of the river, the town is called Huay Xai.  We immediately discover that the ‘burning’ season is at full swing as the smog is quite thick (Photoshop was not able to recover much, I am afraid).  This is a very busy crossing for people and for goods coming from China. 

The landing spot for the ferries is not very impressive – it has had to be improvised as the river is much lower than usual.

The Ferry Terminal, where we completed the transaction to exit Thailand is a long way up the hill once we get to the river.

The passenger ferries are not very fancy – fortunately, the crossing does not take very long.

I cannot say that our first glimpse of Huay Xai is very impressive – and we would not spend more time there than strictly required to go through emigration and get a little cash – the line to exchange money was actually longer than that to clear emigration as that needed more paperwork.  I should have gone to the ATM up the street – that was a lot quicker.

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Posted in Travel

Another “Ash Cloud Refugee”

Posted on by pierreo

I am in the last leg of a trip affected by the eruption of that volcano with the unpronounceable (and unrememberable) name in Iceland (I refuse to even try to remember how to spell it).
The more people I talk to, the higher the number of people I know who were affected by it – not always in a bad way.
My trip was delayed by a week, and thus shortened by a week. That made everything a lot more hectic, both while waiting to leave in Brussels and once I got to Houston.  I ended up ‘attending’ the scheduled meetings on the phone even though they occurred in the evening in Brussels.
On the positive side, David was stranded in Frankfurt by the same “no fly” ban that had me stranded and decided to join me in Brussels, so we were able to reconnect after not seeing each other for 8 years. I also met Jenn, who stopped for a night on her way back to York.  David is an excellent cook and when he was tired of writing his dissertation, he would prepare a really nice evening meal for us, so that I had home cooked dinners for a week.  David, you are welcome anytime!
My sister was stuck in Houston, without a way back, without a husband, who could fly to Canada, and without a hotel room. Fortunately, all this happened on the day that I was supposed to arrive in Houston, so one “O” became another “O” and she took advantage of my reservation – she was impressed by the service, and the room – I am a ‘gold’ member of the hotel and get preferential treatment. I believe Michel described her room as the “Presidential Suite” – I ended up in the same room, and agree that it was very nice.
Several colleagues of mine were also stuck in Houston after a big conference in Galveston. They trickled in two by two as seats were available. However, the first to arrive indicated that there was a lot of reluctance on the part of passengers to get on the very first plane to fly from Houston to Amsterdam. The 40-seater plane, business only, was only 30% full, if that much. Apparently, news coverage in the US focused on the fact that European countries had only reluctantly agreed to restart flights under the insistence of airlines even though they (the countries) were not convinced it was safe to fly. I think that would make me hesitate to be the first too.
Two friends were stuck in Singapore. They are probably the ones who started the volcano spewing all that ash just so that they could spend a little extra time there. What a place to be stuck for an extra week!
There were indirect effects too. One cousin had to host the two daughters of their friends for a few extra nights as the parents were detained in Paris. Three nights turned into 8 or 9, and young children can be difficult about that.
Things are now getting back to normal, until the next time that “mother nature” feels the need to remind us who is really in charge here!

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Posted in Culture, Food, Sports, Travel

Singapore Visit

Posted on by pierreo

After Laos (I will cover that trip later), I spent 10 days in Singapore.  I realized as I was there that this is the first time that I am visiting Singapore – all my other stays were either on business, or because I was living there.  For the first time, I was a tourist, and I acted like one…

On the Saturday, I was lucky to be able to attend the EM Dragon Boat Carnival, an annual affair that has been growing each event.  There were over 80 teams entered this year.

From the start

To the finish

All teams worked really hard to do the best they could.

For me, this was an opportunity to see a lot of my friends and I spent most of the time walking around from one team to another reminiscing…  The weather was not very good that day.  As a matter of fact, it rained most of the time.  I decided to leave after the inter-site race, which was fortunately scheduled early this year.  Chemical won again, proving that last year was no fluke!

On the Sunday, things were more serious for me.  The main reason for this whole trip was the Aviva ½ Ironman to be held once again on the East Coast.  For Richard and I, this would be our fourth participation – Dave had done the last two with us and therefore he will be doing his third.  I left the hotel very early (around 5 AM) as I was awake anyway. 

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Posted in Travel

Laos Trip Journal

Posted on by pierreo

If you catch this post in progress, I suggest  that you go to the end first, as I will add each entry at the top in reversed chronological order.

25 March

I am now in Singapore have have kept myself busy, very busy so far…

On Saturday, I went to the EM Dragon Boat Festival, and saw a few friends (I am probably going to forget some one, but here goes…) – Albert, Andy, Ben, Beng Jit, Bob, Boon Yong, Christy, Corey, Desmond, Dawn, Ed, Fong Loo, Freddy, Gan, Georges, Jonathan, Josh, Kiem, Li Fang, Norli, Pam, Patrick, Peter, Siew Chong, Sinoto, Su Li, Thet, Tinu, Vincent, Xu Huan and more.  It was fun to catch up with all of them, but since it was raining most of the day, I did not stay ’till the end, just long enough to see that the “One Team” (Chemicals + SPT) was able to repeat the wonderful victory of last year, even without my help!

On Sunday, it was Triathlon time! I left the hotel around 5AM and met Richard for “Body Marking” before 6.  The race started at 7:10 AM but our wave, all the relay, teams did not start ’till 7:40.  We were the last to leave. I really struggled for the first lap, but felt better on the second lap and actually did my best time ever for the 1.9 km distance.  Richard and Dave did very well too and so we beat last year’s time by a few minutes.

Monday, I walked down Orchard Road (all the way) just to see how much had changed.  I also walked around the Marina Area and marvelled at the new casino Resort which is nearing completion (wait for the pictures coming soon!).

Tuesday, I had lunch with former colleagues and a drink (or two) with Sam.

Wednesday I went to the Zoo and enjoyed it soo much that I spent 5 hours there.  In the evening was the big party.  I really enjoyed it and the food, at Banana Leaf Apolo, was great as usual.

Thursday, I had a lunch date with Mary and closed my checking account, which gave me money to spend.

Much more planned for the days to come, so you will have to stay tuned for the real detailed posts when they come…

19 March

I have arrived at the end of my trip through Laos.  I am still in Vientiane, but leaving today for Singapore.

It has been a wonderful experience.  Since I last updated this, we spent a day visiting Vientiane and then left for the South, to Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau.  The EcoLodge had a superb view of one of the many waterfalls that leave the plateau.  We also trekked to some of them while there.

We ended the trip in the 4000 island region of the Mehkong, at the Laos-Cambodian border.  As the guide indicates, Laos is a generally cool and relaxed place, but it is here that they make it into an art…

I am now going to have to look through close to 1500 photos to pick a few to share with you in the coming weeks.  I hope that they came out OK as most of the time, there has been a severe haze due to brush fires.

13 March

We have arrived in Vientiane after a very short flight from Phonsavan.  We visited the Plain of Jars and the “Lucky Buddha”.

What I discovered, and maybe should have rememberd, is that this part of Laos was heavily bombarded by the US Air Force between 1963and 1974.  It is said that more bombs were dropped in Laos than in Germany and Japan combined during WWII.  There are still thousands of unexploded bombs every where in that area, and several organisations are painstakingly clearing the ground, 1 m2 at the time.

The “Jars” in the plain are huge limestone jars dating from 2000-3000 years ago (no one is sure).  No one is sure of their purpose either.  They make for an interesting sight amongst the bomb craters.

The “Lucky Buddha” is lucky because the building he was housed in was completely destroyed and yet it survived almost intact.

After two days in Vientiane we move South to the border of Cambodia.  This will be more nature that history – I do hope that the level of smog in the air will drop.  Even in Vientiane, last night, the sun disappeared about 15 minutes before sunset, hidden by a thick layer of smoke from all the fires that are set to clear the land for farming.

11 March

We have arrived today in Phonsavan, the city at the center of the Plain of Jars.  It took us 7 hours today to cover the 250 km from Luang Prabang to here.

I really enjoyed Luang Prabang, where we spent one full day and two nights.  One day is not enough to get a full view of this wonderful city.  I could have easily stayed an extra day, but now, I have a good excuse to come back.

It is a small city with a developing tourism industry, but it is not yet over-run by ‘us’.  There are great temples, the Royal Palace, occupied until 1975, is definitely worth the visit; but it is really the town itself, and the relaxed atmosphere that reigns everywhere that made me feel so good.  We had quite a few good meals too and I bought a photograph that I really like.

Tomorrow, we tour the Plain of Jars before flying to Vientiane where we will also stay two nights.

9 March

Just want to keep you informed of my trip through Laos while I am still there.

I just arrived in Luang Prabang after spending two days on a slow boat down the Mehkong river.  We came through Thailand and crossed the Mehkong River into Laos near Chang Rai.

Very relaxing two days with not much to do other than look at the scenery and watch the river banks flow by.  The Mehkong is very low right now so in a lot of places, the boat has to be careful not too hit rocks right under the water level, but we managed safely.

We made a stop in a small village which was very interesting; we aso stopped at caves full of Buddha images.  Tomorrow we visit Luang Prabang, which used to be the old capital of Laos.. Should be very interesting.

I will let you know how things develop the next time I find access to internet…

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Posted in Culture, Travel

Le Carnaval de Malmedy

Posted on by pierreo

I could go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  I have been to New Orleans many times since 1975, but never for Mardi Gras.  I could go to “Il Carnevale” in Venice.  I have been there too, in 2000, but not around Carnival.  And, of course, I could go to Rio! I did in 2005, but missed the carnival by about 6 months.  The main reason why I do not do these things is because I am cheap, I fail to plan long enough in advance, and I really do not like very large crowds.

I like to go to smaller, more intimate celebrations – like the time I celebrate Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge.  I like it when there is a lot of interactions between the participants and the crowd, and that is why I have always liked the Carnaval of Malmedy.  I went there regularly in my youth, but probably had not made it in more than 30 years.  I decided that I had to go this year.

The weather on Sunday was not the best.  It started snowing as soon as I left Brussels but fortunately the roads were not too slippery.  They were not slippery, that is, until I arrived in Eupen – that is where the road starts to go up to the Haute Fagnes – a Natural Reserve know in English by its German name of Eifel (a lot of is was situated in Germany before WWI and this was re-taken by Germany during WWII – there was very harsh fighting in this area in 1944 and especially in the Battle of the Bulge).  With all the snow, I expected spectacular scenery and since I had a few hours before the parade started, I decided to make a short stop to what is probably my favourite nature spot in Belgium.  I was not disappointed!

Near the road, there were people leaving on cross country skis

I had a quick chat with one of the local ‘rangers’ – probably a volunteer who is available on week-ends, just in case.  She confirmed that the region has not seen such beautiful snow in many years.  I decided to go away from the skiers on some of the footpaths in order to get away from the crowd – I did not have to worry, there was not much of a crowd.  It was snowing lightly while I was there, but had been snowing harder during the week.  The trees were laden with fresh snow.

The moor – this area is actually a marsh – was untouched by human tracks – most of the reserve is closed as walkers could damage the delicate ecosystem (as I was told…).  Visibility was not that good as snow kept falling and was actually getting heavier.

The clouds were so low that in places the trees faded into the clouds

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Posted in Culture

A smorgasbord of Culture

Posted on by pierreo

I had a very interesting two weeks!

If you have read the “Who” Page of this blog, you will know that I try, every month, to do something special – my way of preventing from falling into too much of a routine, and making sure that I enjoy life to the fullest.  I am not going to have any problems fulfilling this requirement this month!

Actually, I started in late January with a visit to the BRAFA – the 55th Brussels Antiques and Fine Arts Fair.  This is very ‘posh’ and proper – all the pieces shown are for sale, but I could not afford most of them (and really would not want a lot in my apartment!) but it is like a visit to a museum.  I did not expect to find anything that I would be tempted to buy, and I was not proven wrong.  However, it was still an interesting visit, made more so by the location.

BRAFA is held in the old industrial estate of Tour et Taxi, nothing to do with either a tower or taxi cabs but used to belong to the German enterprise of “Turm und Tassi”, and this is the literal translation of the two German words.  They are located along the canal on the North of Brussels and I am not sure what they used to do in there.  For much of my youth, what little of it I spent in Brussels, these were derelict, abandoned buildings.  They were renovated 10-15 years ago and now host a number of events.  It was the first time I was able to go inside.

My cultural tour continued on 1st February with a very unusual concert: “Jerusalem” by Jordi Saval.  The concert essentially retraced the history of Jerusalem from antiquity to modern time through the music of the people who occupied it over the years.  I really enjoyed it even though it was “difficult” music – difficult on the public in so much as it required a lot of our attention in order to really enjoy the experience.  I often listen to music while I am doing something else (I am listening to “The Phantom of the Opera” right now) but I could not do anything while this was playing.  There are songs and recitations in several languages, and the words are just as important as the music.  During the concert, there were super-scripts (in two languages of course – this is Brussels) to allow us to follow the meaning; if you listen to it at home, you would have to follow the text from the libretto.  Here is the cover art in case you are interested in buying – my recommendation: go see the show if you have a chance!

Jerusalem

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Posted in Travel

Domburg – Holland

Posted on by pierreo

In the middle of January, I spent a weekend on the Southern coast of Holland, in a small town called Domburg.  Here is a view of the town on a very bright Sunday morning (It rained a lot on Saturday, so no pictures then)

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The view on the other side of the beach is very nice too

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Because of the rising sun, the view towards East, the Schelde estuary and Belgium is eerily shadowy

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We went hicking in the Natural Reserve called Oranjezon.  There were not many people around, as the temperature was still rather cold.  But we did run into a group of hairy mules grazing in between the dunes

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Posted in Culture, Retrospective

Retrospective – Mardi Gras 2005

Posted on by pierreo

Every year, right at the beginning of the year (January and February), funny things happen in Baton Rouge.  The natives seem to get restless!

Even though the grass still is not growing all that much, people take their lawn mowers for a walk.  Actually, not satisfied with walking their lawn mowers, they actually take them “line dancing”.  If you do not believe me, take a look at this from 2005.

005practice

And they take this very, very seriously … Every Sunday for four weeks they endure motivational speeches mixed with vague threats and the occasional “I am really not happy about this!”

004practice

Strange creatures appear which do not seem to ‘belong’ in this environment.  Is this an Alien?  He does not look anything like me though …

001prototype

In houses throughout Baton Rouge, friends get together for secret missions.  If you listen carefully, you can hear coded sentences: “We still have to make 136 tail feathers but 35 of the butt cones are already done”.  There are feathers and butts everywhere…

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Posted in Retrospective, Travel

Amsterdam 2009-2010

Posted on by pierreo

This story actually starts many, many years ago, when I was only 11 years old.

I was returning with my parents from a tour of Southern Italy and we stopped for a few days in Napoli (Naples).  We stayed in a small hotel right on the waterfront and the first day after our arrival, we went to visit Herculanum.  That evening, we were surprised to see more and more people taking positions along the waterfront, all facing the ancient fort of “Castel dell Ovo”.  I was not able to find out when the latest structure was built, but Wikipedia indicates that there have been fortifications in this location since well before Christ.

File_Castelo_do_Ovo1

The photo above comes from Yahoo Travel – I probably took a photo of the castle with my trusty Kodak Instamatic, but I did not keep it…

We later discovered that the castle would be the backdrop for fireworks that evening, and we happened to be at one of the best place to see it.

It is my earliest memory of “substantial” fireworks.  We were very close to where they were shot and the concussion on top of the light and the music was more than I expected.  I also vividly remember cascades of white fireworks tumbling from the high remparts of the castle.

We move next to Houston and the US Bicentennial celebration in 1976.  I was at a party with friends and we all went to see the fireworks at midnight at Allen’s Landing, right in the middle of the downtown area.  As I had the largest vehicle in the group, everybody piled into my pick-up truck (four in front, sitting side-by-side as this was not a double cab and 16 in the back).  We were well above the 1/2 ton load the truck was supposedly designed for, but it managed it without a problem.

I do not remember the fireworks all that much – they were spectacular, I am sure – but I do remember the trip back to the party.  There was a massive trafic jam in the middle of town, at midnight thirty!  After a while, I felt the truck shake a little and than we started to hear the US National Anthem.  All the people in the back of my truck had gotten up and were singing as loud as they could.  Soon people all around us had stepped out of their cars and were joining in.  We probably aggravated the trafic situation, but no one around us seemed to care.  A fine way to celebrate the anniversary of my then adopted country.

We fast-forward to 1986 and the centenary of the Statue of Liberty in New York.  A massive celebration was planned on 4 July and I joined with a few friends and co-workers.  We took the train early from White Plains to Grand Central as we wanted to make sure we avoided the trafic.  We first watched the Great Ships sailing up the Hudson River – they were not actually sailing as the wind was against them, but they passed by one at a time – we did get a really good look at them. We were about 1/2 way between the “Enterprise” and the Washington Bridge with a great view.  I did take many pictures with my second Canon Camera (my Canon A1-Black body) – a great camera which I kept for many years.  However, once again, I did not keep these and so cannot share them with you.  At midnight, there were fireworks around the statue.  We tried to get close, but could not manage a spot from where we could see the statue, but there were barges for the fireworks up the Hudson and East Rivers, so we still did get a good show.

StatueLiberty

I found this one on Internet to at least give an idea of what happened – I am not surte this was taken during that particular event…

After the show, we walked along with several million other people from the Battery all the way to Grand Central Station, using Broadway.  All lanes (there are 4-6 lanes for most of the distance) and the sidewalks (or pavements for you in the UK) were packed with people, and these extended in front and behind us as far as the eye could see.  We walked in the middle of the road, with absolutely no concern for cars as there were none, and they could not have gone anywhere if they were.  Special trains had been arranged, but several were already full when we arrived at the station and therefore I think we ended up leaving after 2 AM and I did not get home ’till past 3AM.  A full day…

There have been other memorable fireworks since (1993 in Antwerpen; 1998 in Houston; 2006 and 2007 in Singapore; 2009 in Brussels).  Most shows would take about 15 minutes – a really long one would extend to 20 minutes.  I have tried to take pictures of the fireworks in Singapore with mixed results.  Judge for yourselves from the selection below.

firewrk01 firewrk02

Generally, there is too much smoke for the real effect to be visible.  I am also struggling with exposure – too short and all you see are light dots; too long and the picutre is overexposed (as the one on the right).  It is also very difficult to get the timing right, since you are taking a 2-4 second exposure – what is going to happen in the next 2-4 seconds?

But – a very long introduction for the fact that I have probably just seen more fireworks in one evening, than during the rest of my life.  The show actually started at 10AM (not a typo, I did mean to say AM!) when I heard the first ‘blasts’ while waiting for the Hermitage Museum (Amsterdam Branch) to open.  I figured that some people must have friends in New Zealand or Tonga and were celebrating their New Year!  However, throughout the day, I kept hearing random explosions wherever I went in the city.

After nightfall, I could see outside the window of the hotel, on a regulae basis, more fireworks all around me.  Just behind the hotel is the Vogelpark, a large green zone and this seemed to be a chosen place for fireworks.  See the attached photo taken about 9PM where I have circled the visible fireworks, just in case you cannot find them.

fw01

The brightly lit area towards the middle of the picture is the square behind the Rijksmuseum and in front of the Concertgebouwknown as Museum Plein where the New Year Celebration will be held this year instead of the Dam as in previous years.  It was obvious that a lot of these early fireworks were sent by individuals, or groups who got together for this.  Some of them were quite nice and therefore I watched the spectacle out the window as the time approached midnight. And the spectacle just kept on going – the firework surprised me by how high it went, and so I missed most of it.

fw02

I figured that people will have exhausted their supply by midnight and I was looking forward to the “official” fireworks from the Museum Plein venue, which I could clearly see from my window.

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The “Official” fireworks started rigthat midnight.  It is very disappointing to me that I was able to take better firework pictures with my littly tiny Casio automatic digital camera sitting on a book and a an empty box of crackers than what I was able to do with my SLRs before that.  I simply chose the “Fireworks” setting of the camera, and this is what I got!  The “official” show started building up.

fw04

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Posted in General

Year End Greetings

Posted on by pierreo

A very politically correct way to start.  But I do not guarantee that it will stay that way.

For a while now, I have been thinking about how I will finish the year on my blog and what I should do for my readers.  Several days ago, there was quite a spectacular sunset in Brussels and therefore I decided to take a few pictures from my apartment – this would make a nice Christmas Card.

If you are sick of the standard Christmas Music that you can hear along the street, in shopping malls and Nancie’s car, press on the icon below and you will be entertained by some real Christmas music while you read the rest of the post (I hope, as I have never done this before…).

Procession (Benjamin Britten)

I have had to change my level of consciousness when it comes to sunsets.  I am just not used to thinking about it at 4PM.  In Brussels, at this time of year, unless you are ready at that time, the sunset will be over before you know it.  This one developed over several minutes and therefore I was ready when the light really became quite nice

AptSunset1

After the sun went down, and as the lights int he city start to come on, the contrast can be even more interesting.  In the distance you can see the Atomium – one of the symbols of Brussels (the other is the Manekenpis, which we will discuss later…).  The Atomium was built in 1958 (it has the same age I have) for the World Exhibition that was held that year.  It was supposed to stay only 10 years, but when it came time to decide what to do with it, the population of Brussels massively protested against its destruction.  It has been renovated recently, but I have not yet had an opportunity to visit it.  The name Atomium comes from the fact that it was supposed to represent an atom of matter – remember that it was not long before that time that great advances were made in the understanding of the structure of the atom and people were still fascinated by this.

AptSunset2

I guess a “year end” greeting is not complete without a short, or long, diatribe on what I have been up to this year.  Fortunately, I can just refer you to the other posts in this blog, and tell you to catch up on your reading if you want to know all that I have done.  There is not much more to report since my return from Athens, except for the arrival of my new bookcase (made in Germany!) so that I can finally unpack the last of my boxes.  Well, that is probably overstating reality! One never, absolutely never finishes unpacking from a move.  There is always a box that remains, with junk that you just cannot understand why you actually took it along.  However, dutifully, on the next move, you carefully repack the content of the box, and take it along again.  So, within the limits of what is actually achievable given the fourth law of moving dynamics, I am done unpacking.  You all know, I hope, the third law of moving dynamics … It says that no matter how hard you try, the level of junk always increases.

Well, a few days ago, the well-laid plans for my “year end” greetings were turned up-side down. It all started with a mysterious sign that appeared in my weather station, and a weather prediction that I did not quite understand.

Take a look at this picture I took…

BarometerSnow

The top section typically shows the predicted weather for the next 12 hours.  I had already seen a picture with clouds, the moon and ‘blinking’ things above the clouds which I took for stars.  I interpreted that sign as ‘clearing weather’ and in general it was proven to be true, if usually very short-lived.  However, today, the stars are shown below the clouds!  Something told me that I was not looking at this correctly, so I opened and actually read the instruction manual (ignored until then, of course).  I was told there that the ‘stars’ underneath the clouds are actually snow flakes! WOW! What are those?

Then I noticed something else I had not seen before.  Notice the short horizontal line in front of the temperature.  That is not a reflection, or a malfunctioning liquid chrystal but is actually intended to be there.  It indicates that the outside temperature is really less than zero. I did not know you could do that! After a little surfing on Internet, I was able to make out that when the temperature is below zero, it cannot rain, but instead snow flakes fall and collect on the ground.  All of the above, of course, is intended for all my friends who live near the tropics or near the equator, and may not be familiar with this phenomenon, which I myself had been very glad to miss for many years. Part of the “educational” service also provided by this blog…

Well, to make a long story no longer than it needs to be (please no comments on this), the snow finally did arrive on Thursday afternoon.  The weather forecast (not mine, but from the official meteorological office where people with university degrees are paid to tell us what the weather will be like tomorrow) had indicated an accumulation of maybe one centimeter – nothing to worry about.  However, one colleague, who lives North-East of Brussels and was already on vacation, told us that he had just received 7 cm of snow at his home, and the front was moving towards Brussels.

The snow increased and finally, it started to accumulate even on the streets – I decided to go home before traffic stopped to a standstill.  I fell on my bottom on the first step I took outside the office – not used to the slippery stuff anymore I guess.  It took me twice as long as usual to drive home, a whole 30 minutes! Steering was more wishful thinking than anything else; let’s not talk about breaking – in a world with no friction, this becomes very, very approximate, even with ABS.  But I made it safe and sound and here are some views from my apartment while it is still snowing.

AptSnow1

In the foreground is the roof of the public swimming pool right below my apartment.  You can see the accumulation of snow of the railing – we ended up with about 10 cm of snow, and this is very unusual for Brussels.

AptSnow2

It continued to snow overnight, but not enough to keep the roads slippery.  On Friday, the snow stopped and the sun appeared.  The view from the apartment ‘improved’ with the setting rays of the sun.

AptSnow3

I Like the contrast in this picture between the houses and church which are exactly as they were 100 years ago or more, and the very modern buildings in the background, built in the last 20 years.

AptSnow4

As I am writing this post, the sun has set, leaving a last impression with snow-covered roofs and the steam escaping from the heating system for the swimming pool.

AptSunset3

Here are some real Christmassy views from the park near my apartment.

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JosaphaSnow2

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On these very seasonally correct scenes (unless you are from Down Under), let me wish all of you “Season’s Greetings” (political correctness again) but more specifically, a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  All the best in 2010.

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