It's Electric!

What an eventful weekend! Though we didn't pursue any day trips or anything too exciting, we found life here in Brussels to be a heck of a good time. It was nice to finally spend some free time in Brussels, and not have to worry about work, school or anything else, for that matter.

Thursday night was spent with a large group of us finding fun in Brussels. First we went to Goupil le Fol, was a former brothel-turned cute pub. We sat for about an hour, and just relaxed. The great part of this was just getting to experience something totally European.  We spent the rest of the evening at Celtica, which is a dance place, and especially fun when you're with a group of 14 all going together.

Friday night, our small group of six girls went exploring in our neighborhood. One of my work colleagues had been excited to hear that I live in Ixelles, as that was where she had lived during her university years here in Brussels. Nina, who is an editor at The Bulletin where I work, recommended some places that might be well suited for our group of friends. Trying to find one of Nina's old favorites, we explored an area near where we live. As we explored our area, we found Waff, which our friend Erika (who studied abroad in Brussels the semester before us) had recommended. This was one of the most fun pubs we have been to yet. It was very off the beaten tourist path - at least we think it is.

Unfortunately, after all of the fun of the past two nights, I woke up Saturday morning to find that I had no electricity in my "flat". After all, this is Europe and as cousin-in-law Becky says, electricity is still a luxury! Still, out of all the people on the trip, I do personally think it was best to happen to me. Instead of giving up, I decided to drag my mattress down five floors and sleep on Patty's floor that night. I got a great night sleep, seeing as I was sleeping on my own mattress. The bad news is that all of the food in my fridge went rotten, there was no power until mid morning today. Regardless, my lack of electricity made for an adventurous weekend and I actually had fun sharing rooms with others.

Saturday night, Patty, Sara and I all met up with a couple of Patty's coworkers. Joining the local crowd out was definitely different than going out with a group of Americans, but it was a great time and we enjoyed meeting a lot of new people.

By the end of the weekend, we decided that it was time for us to do something on our list of 'must-sees' for Brussels. So, mid-day we hopped on the metro and went all the way across the city to see the Atomium, which is the big metal structure designed to look like an atom. It was built for the 1958 World's Fair, and is said to be Belgium's response to the Eiffel Tower. In my opinion, France is still winning big. But it was definitely cool to see, and a fun day trip for us.

Today, I was able to turn the heat back on in my apartment, though it's not going to be needed for much longer, now I just turn it on at night. The weather here beats Chicago by tenfold...it's a brisk 50 degrees outside now. I can see warm weather in my future, too!