Check List

Arranged for mail to be picked up - Check.  Confirmed the house-sitter - Check.  Paid bills - Check. Got my passport? Check!  Delegated stuff at work - Check. As I sit on the sofa scratching Clyde's tummy I keep thinking that I have forgotten something.  Think....think..think!  I run the list through my mind again and again as I take Clyde for a walk.  Still nothing.  I shower, grab Clyde and snuggle up into bed when all of sudden it hits me. CLYDE! What do I do with poor, little Clyde?  Oh my....I better call the ex-husband tomorrow and see if he will dog sit his daughter's dog.  These are the times I wish that dog could talk. He would of heard me calling out my list and respond "Hey, crazy lady!  Do you think I'm going to walk myself? And who do you think is going to give me my treat every time I go potty in the right spot?  Humans are so daft".  Then he would try to lick my face and remind me why he is part of the family.

Count Down!

Work is crazy and I would never consider time away from the office IF I had not already done so.  The count down begins now! Getting away from the office will be well-deserved when the time arrives for me to slide into the back seat of the town car that will start my next journey into another time and place. The driver, Ed, will place my one little bag (and I do mean little) on the curb and wish me a good trip as I prepare myself  for my next experience of Europe.  There are good things on the horizon!

I'm a light packer but I always worry if I forgot that one little thing that I may not be able to find at my destination.   I have the debit card, the credit cards and clothes for at least 2 days, so I think I'm good.  Paris here we come!

The Winner is....Brussels!

My travel partners and I put our heads together and decided that our home base will be Brussels when we leave Paris.  The picture to the right is the hotel.  Unless it's a trick, this hotel is the best value in the world.  We are only paying $150 per night!  It's not a cozy, boutique hotel that I would normally select, but I think I'll like it.  ;-)

Selecting Brussels does not mean we're stuck or even staying full-time; it just means our suitcases have a home ;-)  I have also purchased our train tickets from Paris to Brussels. 


We are planning a day trip to Brugge....stay tuned for more details on that excursion!

A few fun notes:  In the summer, average daily maximum temperatures rarely exceed 22ºC (73ºF). The summer visitor should always be prepared for rain in Brussels.   Brussels operates as a bilingual city where both French (80%) and Dutch (Flemish) (20%) are official languages. Thus all the streets have two names, which can sound totally different.

The country’s reputation for chocolate began with the creation of the praline in 1912 by Jean Neuhaus, founder of the iconic Neuhaus Chocolatier.  Belgian chocolates stand out from the rest because of the use of only natural products.

Belgium gets on average approximately 200 days of rainfall per year, both which are more than that of London and Paris