October 16, 2009
I’m still not sure how much of the trip that hasn’t been shown on here already, I’m going to go back through and post, but I know I definitely wanted to talk about Brussels since we absolutely loved this city.
A long time ago, back when this blog was still JMCS pre-facelift, I wrote a post that had been inspired by an expat living in Brussels talking about how much she loved it and how the city was the perfect fit for her. I talked about how I think cities are like soulmates, we just have to find the one that’s right for us — and that somedya I hoped to find my own Brussels. Someone, unsurprisingly, left a nasty comment responding something along the lines of, “A spoiled little American like you could never handle Brussels.”
At the time I though, “Ok fair enough. She doesn’t know me at all and has no idea that no, I’m really not spoiled, but then again, I’ve never been to Brussels so ‘I have no clue as to whether or not I could handle it. No sense in arguing.”
But after visiting Brussels, I’ll just say this — it’s umm…not at all hardcore. Sure, they’ve had their political issues. Though, according to Cloe, the hot Belgian bridesmaid from Heather and NIck’s wedding who we’re staying with, while they were without a government last year, the average citizen’s day to day life wasn’t affected too much. Sure, there’s the ocassional “gangsta,” walking around with his pants down to his knees, rapping in French, hanging out at the skate park. Super hardcore.
And like everywhere in Europe there were signs all over the place warning tourists to watch out for the pickpockets. Totally understandable because I’ve seen tons of gringos wandering around with their purses half open or their cameras hanging out of their bags, completely oblivious to the world — much like a certain American girl I know when she first arrived in Chile. But, if you have ever lived in a big city, Brussels really didn’t feel the least bit dangerous. Of course, we only spent three days there total but Cloe tells us that while there are dangerous neighborhoods, the city in general is quite safe. It really makes me wonder what kind of experiences the person who left that comment must have had — if by some small chance you’re still reading, I hope you’ll speak up!
Anyway, Seba and I absolutely loved the city. Again, we could totally live there if it weren’t for the cold.
A lot of our first impressions might have just come from good luck and timing though.
We arrived on a Saturday night and immediately headed out to meet with Fned and hubby. It just so happened that a celebration called “White Night,” was going on (an idea copied from Paris). This meant that all the museums and public buildings stayed open to the public until super late and then there were also other “cultural events,” happening — like a fog machine in the street accompanied by techno music, or a display of old casette tapes with their insides ripped out.
The next morning was the marathon of Brussels (which was the original reason we had booked a flight but I didn’t end up running because my knees are still a little wonky and I hadn’t trained at all). I was so inspired seeing people coming over the finish line — they ended up in one of the most beautiful plazas we’ve seen in Europe so far, and there were tons of people cheering them on. Witnessing a few people finish who looked SO happy and proud of themselves — rightly so — made me more certain than ever that I have to run a marathon at some point!
We thought it was because of the White Night and the marathon that there were so many people out and about but again, according to Cloe, the city is always a pretty happening place. Truth. The next day, a dreary rainy Monday, the streets in the center of town were just as full.
October 15, 2009
Now that we are home and I’m slowly but surely absorbing all that we’ve done and seen, I am able to process things a little better.
Everyone I’ve seen keeps asking me, “What did you like best?” or “Where did you eat the best food?” So I’ve decided to do my own Best of Europe ratings. They’re on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the best.
If you’ve been to any of these places I’d love to hear your thoughts as I know every person’s experience is SO different!
People’s Style
Geneva, 5: Saw some super stylish women who honestly could have walked straight off the pages of Vogue. But, as Seba pointed out, it was a totally different style than other fashionable cities — it was style with serious $$$.
Munich, 2: Boring style, yes. But, no one looked bad.
Dublin, 2: Women dressed like prostitutes at night and wore pajamas during the day. But god help me, I love that country.
Paris, 4: Too formal for my liking and there wasn’t much originality. Every woman looked the same in skinnies, ballet flats and a scarf.
Oslo, 3: Good at layering. The end.
Florence, 3: Wasn’t crazy about Italian style. Lots of unflattering, flesh baring outfits and so much bling! I’m just not that flashy I guess.
Brussels, 4: Women were pretty stylish here.
Amsterdam, 5: After visiting Amsterdam I feel like I should go back and lower every other city’s score. The women here dress so funky and creatively but they make it look so damn good!
Food
Geneva, N/A: I couldn’t tell you if the food was good or bad. We bought sandwiches or ate at home with my cousin every day. Everything else was too expensive.
Munich, 2: I didn’t care for typical German food that we tried, however, Munich had a lot to offer in terms of international cuisine.
Dublin, 2: The “full Irish breakfast,” is heavenly, but the rest of the food is a lot of meat and potatoes. Not super exciting.
Paris, 3: Pretty expensive so we didn’t eat out a ton but when we did it was good.
Oslo, 4: We only ate in deli’s and had our hotel’s breakfast, other than that we didn’t eat out because of the cost. However, all the deli food and our hotel breakfast was so good — pure Norwegian perfection in everything they do. Florence/Turin 5: Best. Food. In. The. World. Especially Turin.
Brussels, 5: Chocolate lover’s paradise. Not to mention the world’s best french fries and waffles. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Amsterdam, N/A: We ate at a bagel shop and a stir fry place in the 24 hours we were there so we didn’t try true Dutch food.
Public Transportation
Geneva, 5: The whole city is extremely organized and easy to get around.
Munich, 5: Ditto.
Dublin, 4: We didn’t use it too much because the city is tiny, but it seemed to work well.
Paris, 2: If you have a weak stomach, forget it. The stench of people who haven’t showered, no wearing deodorant, is overwhelming on the metro. Funcionability was fine, albeit sometimes confusing as ripping off the map’s at the bus stops and metro stops seems to be a national French hobby.
Oslo, 5: You could set your watch by the punctuality of the buses and trains.
All of Italy, 0: Makes Transantiago feel like a heavenly dream. Buses are late or have no schedule. Outside major cities and even within some major cities on certain lines, buses run only until 6 or 7pm. Stench is just as bad as France, except they don’t have the redeeming quality of the system actually working.
Brussels, 4: A little confusing, but works well.
Amsterdam, 5: Everything is organized and easy to use.
Overall Friendliness of People
Geneva, 3: People were nice enough but a little standoffish and at times rather condescending.
Munich, 3: People seemed willing to help but more out of a sense of duty and politeness than kindness.
Dublin/Galway, 5: Some of the friendliest, happiest, funniest people I’ve ever met.
Paris, 2: Ditto to Geneva.
Oslo, 5: So nice, so cheerful. If a grumpy Norwegian exists, we certainly didn’t meet him or her.
Italy, 4: While they’re rude as hell when it comes to cutting in line or pushing and shoving in public spaces, on an individual level everybody except literally one guy, was exceptionally friendly!
Brussels, 4: People were super nice but honestly we didn’t have much interaction with them because we were with a Belgian who was our spokesperson everywhere we went.
Amsterdam, 4: People seemed nice but we didn’t have much interaction with them either since we were there for such a short time.
Mid Priced Lodging
Geneva, N/A: We stayed with my cousin.
Munich, N/A: We couchsurfed.
Ireland, 4: We couchsurfed in Dublin and then got a hotel in Galway. For a midpriced place it was well located, clean and had free internet.
Paris, N/A: We stayed with Fned!
Oslo, 5: We booked the absolute cheapest hotel we could find, which was about 10 Euros more than our hotel in Galway, but this place was amazing. Super comfy, had a fantastic and healthy breakfast, and fast, complimentary Internet.
Italy, 2: Paying about the same price as Galway, we were only able to get shithole hotels in the middle of nowhere, scuzzy, didn’t feel safe, Internet so slow it barely worked and twice they tried to scam us with extra charges. Not cool. If you want loding that’s decent — forget nice, just decent, be prepared to pay a lot in Italy.
Brussels, N/A: We stayed with a friend.
Amsterdam, 5: We were able to get a cool high-tech, comfortable, well located hotel for the same price we paid for one of our super crappy Italy hotels.
Shopping
Geneva, 3: Tons of designer and vintage designer boutiques. I went into one vintage store and played with a vintage Chanel blazer, vintage Pucci dress and shoes and a vintage Galliano blouse. It would have been a fashionist’s wet dream if everything didn’t cost at least triple what it would have in the U.S. and double the rest of Europe.
Munich, 2: Much like the fashion, the shopping was also very standard.
Ireland, 3: If you hunted through the stores you could really find some great deals. Maybe because the recession is hitting the Irish economy hard but it seemed like everything was on sale!
Paris, 4: I was lucky enough to have a local guiding me through the touristy overpriced crap to some quality boutiques. If I were on my own though, I probably couldn’t have found them! And for high fashion, obviously Paris is paradise. I saw, amongst other legendary fashion hotspots, where Coco Chanel lived and started her store, and the first Christian Louboutin boutique — where Emily’s shoes were born!
Oslo, 2: Extremely expensive.
Italy, 3: Kind of like Chile in which there isn’t much of a middle ground. There’s either really nice apparel for a lot of money, or cheap crap. However, the Zara I went into did have more of a selection and unique stuff than I hadn’t seen in any other Zara in Europe (and I’m pretty sure I went to all of them). Also, when it came to Italian designers like Salvatore Ferregamo, the stores were huge. We’re talking like a full floor in a department store huge.
Brussels, 5: I only wish I had more time to shop there! Lots of fun quirky stores with decent prices. Not surprising in a country that gave Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester to the world.
Amsterdam, 5: Loved so many of the boutiques I went into. Price range was all over the place and so was the variety of styles. Lots of artsy fartsy stuff, but you could also find cool non-stuffy business attire too.
Livability
Geneva, 2: Too expensive, too keep up with the Jones’-ish.
Munich, 3: Everything was great but the language was tough and the culture did seem rather cold so I’m not sure what it would be like to live there.
Ireland, 4: If it weren’t for the rain and the economy, I would love to live there!
Paris, 3: For as much I we did not fall in love with the city, I did think it would be a good place to live. It’s affordable, there’s a lot going on, things seem to work efficiently. I did get the feeling that it’s a pretty closed culture though so that would make integrating tough.
Oslo, 5: Don’t know if I could handle the winters with three hours of light a day, but WOW, it was fantastic in the fall. Also, the language would be the biggest deterrent. Everyone speaks English but to find a job we would have to learn Norwegian, obviously. Yikes!
Italy, 0: Italy gets a zero, not because it’s a horrible country but simply because there is a 0% chance that we will ever move to a country less efficient than Chile. Not waiting in line is important to me. 
Brussels, 4.5: Out of everywhere, I think this would be our top choice. City is cool, random, and feels very young. French is completely doable. And the cost of living isn’t out of control. My only beef is with the weather. Why can’t we find a country that’s both awesome AND warm?
Amsterdam, 4: Really loved the young, fun, liberal and modern vibe of this city. However, there are so many tourists that come just to do drugs and find hookers that I was kind of creeped out by all the weirdo men running around.
October 14, 2009
We’re back. I am slowly making my way through the disasters that are both my inbox and my suitcases and my to-do list is a mile long. I am trying to get my life in order since the wedding season officially starts not this weekend but the next.
As for Chile, well the euphoria disappeared before I had even set foot in the country, At our gate in JFK airport in NYC, they announced that boarding was starting and there was a Chilean stampede to get on the plane. Complete with pushing, shoving and even name calling. I sort of rolled my eyes and sighed and Seba said, “I can’t believe you wrote that post yesterday.” HA. Neither can I. What can I say — I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with this country and I doubt that’s going to change now.
As Eliza wrote, “LOL you’re mad. I’m going to remind you of this post in 3 months time when you’re trying to jog in the smog, or when they cover your (cooked veg) salad in mayo, or when they make you wait in line for 8 hours for a bit of paper that tells you to come back tomorrow!”
It’s all a matter of perspective. Seba and I were talking about how he used to see Chile. He said he thought it was the greatest country in the world and that nowhere could possibly be better. And then he went to the U.S. and thought that Chile sucked ass and didn’t want to live here anymore. Now after Europe, like me, he’s realized, hey, Chile’s not so bad after all!
I was hoping that after this trip we’d have things clearer. We’d know where we want to live. We’d know what we’d have to do to get there. But no one city struck me as a place that I wanted to settle down in. Oslo was awesome, but during the winter there are days with only 3 hours of sunlight. Brussels was wonderful, but again, the cold weather. Same for NYC. I’m a baby, I can’t handle freezing temperatures!
I’m more than content with our life right here and right now. But, obviously like anybody does, I wonder and worry about the future sometimes. Was going full time with photography the right choice? If we decided to have kids, would this be a stable enough career? Will Seba always want to work in this or will he miss construction enough to go back? Should we establish ourselves here in Chile, or in the U.S. or is there somewhere else out there that’s right for us to live?
I have things no clearer than I did yesterday or even in July before we left. My brain is so muddled, I don’t even know what to blog about! Should I finish with the trip pictures/stories since we saw three more countries that I didn’t write about yet? Should I focus on photography now that we’re back and just start posting sessions and weddings all the time? Or should I go back to writing almost exclusively about Chile? I DON’T KNOOOOOOW!!!!
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