Brussels

For kicks, Heather and I took a train trip down to Brussels, the Belgian capitol, to visit with Daisy, Heather's long time friend and Brussels native. Daisy's family has operated a dry cleaning business in the center for a number of years.

We all met up at Daisy's favorite bar downtown for some Belgian beer (of course). After arriving in town, I immediately noticed something was different. Even though Brussels is only about an hour from Ghent, the language spoken by folks here is French, not the Dutch I was used to in Ghent. Huh?

Another history lesson for Miles. There are two main regions of Belgium: The northern area of Flanders which is Dutch speaking, and Wallonia in the South which is home to the French speaking Flemish people. Somewhere along the line in history they both ended up part of Belgium, along with a small piece in the East that speaks German. (Note! Heather has informed me this is all wrong... I will repair it. sorry Flemish folk!)

At first I was confused at why the street names on street signs were so darned long. Then Daisy informed me that they are written in both French and Dutch since Brussels is officially a bilingual city. This is confusing since that means all streets really have two different names. Depending on whether it is a proper name or a common word (like Oak Street) the translation might be completely different when written in Dutch or French. Fun.

We had fun that night, and crashed at Daisy's until the next day when she gave me a personal guided tour of the city while Heather headed back to work in Ghent. We walked up and down the city to each neighborhood, stopping in her favorite spots for food and drinks. I especially enjoyed the street cartoons that are all around the city, many in the style of Herge. She is clearly quite proud of her home and also an amazing and hospitable hostess.

Thanks Daisy... and I love your French accent.