Brussels Marathon

This morning I had intended to pay a visit to the Book binding Museum in Woluwe, my plans were disturbed when I discovered a slew of athletes blocking my route. Today is the Brussels Marathon and Half-Marathon 2013. As it was impossible to traverse the steady stream of marathon runners I took a place at the sidelines to cheer on the runners and enjoy the live music provided instead.

Thirsty Work for the Marathon Runners

A bientot,

Niamh

Jazz Festival

Since this weekend Brussels is hosting its annual Jazz Festival, it was only appropriate that I go into the center and listen to some wonderful music. Free events take place in small bars and other venues across the city as well as outdoor concerts in the four main squares: Grand Place, Sablon Square, F. Cocq Square and Place St Catherine.

Aside from listening to Experimental Jazz and sipping on Mojitos I also took part in a mini-flash mob near Parc and joined a protest against GMO foods (by which I mean we intersected them as we crossed the road). All in a day in Brussels!

Jazz Festival

The Protest against GMO

A bientot,
Niamh

Horse Riding

Last Sunday I went horse-riding in Hasselt with friends. It was my first time on a horse and I plunged straight into the deep end with a three hour ride through the country side. At 35 euro per person it was an incredible price to engage in a sport usually reserved for the rich in Belgium. We did some galloping, cantering and drank a little bit of Belgain Beer. The horses were very well trained and essentially knew the route we needed to follow. They were certainly in more control of out trajectory than my two novice friends and I! It was such a wonderful experience being in nature and the guide was so very helpful. I will definitely be returning for another session in the near future. Even if it does mean a rather painful cycle to work on the following morning!

Obligatory photos of horse

A bientot,
Niamh

Da Vinci Exhibition and Gay Pride!

Yesterday I went to the "Da Vinci" exhibition in Brussels at Place de la Bourse. I had arranged to meet one of my friends on the steps of the museum there. It actually turned out to be the epi-centre of the world renowned Gay Pride festiavl in Brussels! There were drag queens dancing on the steps and tanned muscular guys in string bikinis. We felt like such nerds going in to see the exhibition! Obviously, we joined in the festivities later. I shared a rather romantic tango with an 80 year old gay man with a seriously gyrating pelvis.

The "Da Vinci" exihibition in itself was amazing. They had constructed all of his theoretical designs so that you could see that they would actually have functioned in real life. The best part was trying to figure out how everything worked- I dispensed with the proffered audio tour to try out my own engineering analysis skills. Looking at all of his work I think most of it is based off of two fundamental principles: the law of the lever and the transfer of momentum (e.g. interlocking gears). The true genius is in his applications of this technology to create different functional systems using the same principles.

One slight detraction was the huge area dedicated to analysing the Mona Lisa. Given the host of fantastic inventions in the main hall which were the precursors to the car, aeroplane, diving suit etc it seemed really unneccessary to me that they should cordon off an area to give people close-ups of one painting. It was most certainly done just to appeal to people interested only in the popular parts of his work.

Overall, It was a really fun day. And when you think about it, attending the Da Vinci exhibit was only appropriate, considering his much speculated over sexuality!

A bientot,
Niamh

Rest of the Week with my Mom

After a busy weekend I returned to work on Monday leaving my mom to fend for herself (at least during the day time hours) in the quiet suburb where I live. Most evenings we went for walks and had long talks. On both occassions where we attempted to do a structured activity in the evening we actually got stuck in thunderstorms and had to go home. Thankfully Thursday was a public holiday in Belgium so we got to spend a little bit of extra time together before her departure on Friday. I took her to the Green House at Castle Laeken and then on another short tour of Brussels. We saw a cool exhibition form Hard Rock Cafe and saw all the tiny clothes sported by famous musicians (man, they do not eat!). Later we went to a cafe and had my favourite beverage of all time- hot foamy miilk and honey. Mmm...

At the Green House

Reflection in Sunglasses

The usual antics

Milk and Honey

It was great to spend time with my mom and it made me feel incredibly lucky to have such an open minded and caring mother.

A bientot,
Niamh

Weekend with my mom

This weekend my mother braved the 1.5 hour flight to Brussels to spend a little bit of time hanging out in Belgium. On Saturday, we took the train to Ghent and spent a few hours wandering around the multiple churches which had both music sessions and fashion showcases. On Sunday, we woke up early and headed toGare de Midi market. One of the largest food markets in Brussels. We stopped off in a local antiques fair in Woluwe on our way. The city centre was packed full of things to do with parades and stalls cluttering the streets near Parc. My mother enjoyed dancing to some day time techno in the park and talking to the Belgian people. We have plans to share a Belgian Beer in my local this evening once we're sufficiently rested! Bellisimo!

Ghent and Brussels

Suffering Soprano on a swing

Listening to the trees

Photo booth

Labraodor chilling at a techno concert

Mom at the Palace and bopping her head to techno music

Concert in the park

A bientot,
Niamh