21 posts tagged “brussels”
I rarely see dead pigeons. I know this must be true as I remember each one I've seen over the last decade. I'm not sure why this is. Perhaps they tend to die on rooftops, or perhaps foxes and other carrion eaters are so quick off the mark they spend precious few minutes on the streets and squares of our cities. Whatever the reason - they are a rare sight in my experience.
Eddie Izzard was right. Pears really are "gorgeous little beasts", although I have severe doubts about whether I will actually get to eat one this year.
It's asparagus season. I know it must be because you couldn't move for special asparagus menus in restaurants in Berlin last week.
I have a south facing view from my apartment, so I get lots of sun in the afternoons and evenings. It's fantastic in the winter as I get superb views of the sunset and loads of natural daylight. Now that the warm weather is here I've had the balcony doors open and have been enjoying the cooling breezes that have been coming into my living room. I tried sitting on the balcony to read a book but it was far too hot for that.
Last July I managed to lock myself out of my apartment when I lived in Amsterdam and... opened the door with what I thought was the same technique as the locksmith who'd helped me the year before. he was more skilled than me and had a special sheet of plastic for opening locked doors. I sort of destroyed the door frame and it had to be rebuilt. That really did teach me not to lose my keys.
Shortly after I moved to Brussels I found out that the Belgians - those living in this city at least - love cobbles. I'm not a huge fan but I can put up with them. Sadly, I cannot put up with them in the thin soled shoes I had bought a couple of years beforehand. I needed new shoes with sturdier soles. I went shopping.
Olof and I popped into l'Atellier just after lunch as he wanted to ask about a booking for a party. While he was chatting with the people at the front desk I took this snap of the door to their toilets. Frankly, it fits the area of the city beautifully and makes it far less likely that anyone dining there will be caught short.
Our whole building was evacuated earlier today. Initially we were told that there had been a gas leak and so we hung around in the cold for an hour, waiting for the fire engines and gas engineers to arrive. Nothing.
We went and got some juice and came back to find we were still locked out. So we went for some coffee, which turned into a lunch that was followed by a long walk around the block and a visit to a poncy paper shop.
About three hours after it began we were let back into the building and it took another hour for our telephone and Internet connections to be re-enabled.
It turns out that there was never any danger of an explosion and we were just evacuated because there was a power
cut. I have no idea why a power cut would require our evacuation, but never mind.
What should be done to improve the situation in the future? In my opinion, if the building management evacuates us
into the cold of winter for more than an hour then they should have to serve hot chocolate and Kahlúa. If the evacuation happens during the summer then they should have to serve mojitos or chilled rosé.
Updated
When I got home I found that there had been a power cut at my apartment, which is about a mile away. It must have been a fairly major power cut to affect buildings so far away in such a densely packed urban environment.