Belgium

Richie just returned today from Belgium. So he would like to record his experiences before he forgets.

First, Richie really like Brussels. He knows some people consider it to be not so pretty, but Richie found it rather nice and enjoyed walking around in the city for the one day he was there. Richie and his friend Kristen stayed the first night of the travels in Brussels with a nice man named Sergi. The discovered him via couchsurfing and he was kind enough to let them sleep at his place. He had a very nice apartment, he gave them a very good map of the city, and he had several good suggestions for places to go and things to see. He also shared about his work with a fair trade company and this seemed like interesting work. Things in this line of work take a long time as governments are slow to act, but he said as long as a person was not results oriented the job is good. Richie thought Sergi had a very nice apartment, he was impressed with his knowledge of language, and Kristen and Richie were able to sleep in actual beds at Sergi's apartment making it all nice.

Now for the city. Richie did not realize that Belgium is comic book central and that Tintin came from this beautiful country. Brussels has a comic book museum and that he visited with Kristen and although everything was in French, Richie had a nice time. There are also many comic murals around the town so these were nice for pictures. Richie also got a laugh out of the church with a urnal built into the side of it.

Richie laughed at Kristen who fell in the middle of the street after she tripped over the median. Richie had to pull her out of the road and she dirtied her white coat. This white coat had already been a source of angest for her when she got it dirty by spilling a little bit of her waffle toppings (banana, strawberries, chocolate) on it. She said she had recently cleaned it.

Richie saw the Mannekin Pis, the Jannekin Pis (female version), the main square, and several other things. He also got a laugh about the flea market when all the goods for sale were spread out on blankets on the ground or simply just on the ground.

Richie spent the next two nights of this three night trip in Belgium in a small southern city called Mons. This is the place where Kristen's cousin Brandy lives. Brandy and her husband are both very Canadian. Her husband Aiden has a strange brew accent and Brandy has something of an accent as well. Richie got more of a taste of
Canadian culture on this trip than he got of Belgium culture.

Things Richie and Kristen saw in Mons:
Van Gogh's old house. It is sinking into a swamp.
Some country side.
The Belfry.
A huge church.
An art museum.
They had some chocolate and waffles.
Watched the movie Se7en.


It was all a very good experience.

Now Richie is back in the Netherlands. Sitting at reception.

Richie also finished Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard, but retention quality was low.