Attachment – It is curious indeed that there are things you
think about getting rid of and those that you should get rid of, but they hang
around. In my case I came on this journey with the intent to purchase a new
gore-tex style jacket, quite hopefully from Jack Wolfskin. As it turns out my
blue Marmot coat is still with me and will continue to be with me until it
decides that it has had enough. I have been through driving rain, sleet, snow,
hail, and even a spilled cup of coffee and it has weathered as well as it did
on day one. It has become extremely comfortable, I know all the ins and outs of
the jacket, and for the students it fit right in as Ken also had a blue outer
coat. I can’t lie, the decision was made all the easier by the even higher
prices for this type of jacket in Europe.
On the
other side are my shoes, two of the pairs don’t have great tread left and have
given all they can. Even so, they made the train ride up to Brussels from
Freiburg and they are now getting ready to make it back over to the U.K. For
one pair, I think these are hanging around just because there is room for them
rather than a true lingering attachment. For the other they hang around because
they have been go-to shoes for so long. Even now they are the ones I am wearing
for the relaxing portion of my journey. I think the first pair is likely to go
if I can find the right bottle of single malt to bring back. The second is
likely to remain around for the return trip.
Good Breakfast – It is amazing how one’s outlook improves
with the right breakfast. Yesterday for the first time in Brussels there were
scrambled eggs offered. Even though the weather was a combination of sleet,
snow, and high winds, the outlook for the day was bright and encouraging. Over
the past week I have gotten used to having strawberry or cherry yoghurt mixed
into granola and a croissant. It has been nice and easy, but having eggs was
just such a great change. Our place during the past 8 or 9 days just wasn’t
close to any breakfast place, so we just put up with it. In contrast our place
for the weekend was a little more central and the breakfast was just right. I
don’t think it hurt that I didn’t have a major day planned, but the eggs were
definitely a welcome change.
Quick Metro Connections – The slowest train/tram/subway
connection was actually this morning on the way to the airport and I will
discount that one as we have over an inch of snow and based on the long trip
into Brussels I was happy that it was just 8 minutes delayed. Every other time
in Brussels, and even in Freiburg, our connection times between rides was five
minutes or less. The number of times that I got off one train/tram and went to
the other track to just walk onto an awaiting train was stunning. It felt good
that it happened that way and I can either attribute it to a great deal of
continual luck or I can say that things were efficient. If that was the nature
of the good luck here, so be it, but I’m not inclined to think that as the
case.
Walkability – Even with the prior statement about good
connections, most of the time was spent walking. I have been going all over the
place on foot. There are a good number of days where I came back to the hostel
or the hotel just wanting to kick off my shoes and just raise my feet, but
often there was enough time to freshen up, relax for a little bit, and then go
out in search of dinner. That was much more the case in Brussels since our
meals weren’t provided, and it was difficult to find a meal that was not overly
expensive. It was a journey unto itself every night. Needless to say in both of
these places food was such that it was necessary to keep walking about. I got a
very good sense of both cities over the time I was here, although in all
honesty I saw much more of Freiburg as it is smaller, than I saw of Brussels.
In the latter I remained mostly within what would be considered the old city,
and while that is sizeable, it still wasn’t as far and wide because it is now a
sprawling urban area with a population similar to Minneapolis – St. Paul.
A One Bag Life – I have been living out of my 60 litre
duffel back the whole time and even today when I checked it at the airport
(thank goodness it was a partnered flight with United – no bag check fees) it
weighed only 13kg. I have had students send home that much and more in the way
of souvenirs and other junk. In fact on Friday there were about a dozen
students who had 8kg boxes full of stuff that was going back home from
Brussels. A good number of those same students also sent a similar sized box
home from Freiburg. I could actually add even a bit more to my duffel and still
have it close easily and comfortably. I do also have my computer bag, but I
purposefully chose one that was a bit thinner so that I couldn’t put too much
in it. Going back to my original point, I have gone comfortably through the
past three weeks with just 4 pairs of pants, 3 dress shirts, 2 quarter zip
pullovers (one being fleece), 4 tee shirts, and 3 pairs of shoes. It all easily
fits in the duffel, along with a whole bunch of my work stuff. I think the only
down side is that I would like to have something else to wear once in a while.
It is a fleeting thought, but it does come up from time to time.
 | |
| Technically it is two, counting the computer bag. Still just one bag of clothes. |
Laundry – Funny how good it feels to have fully clean and
laundered clothes. In Freiburg I was doing regular mini loads of sink laundry,
hung out to dry on the carabineer cord. This worked pretty well but the laundry
sheets were never guaranteed to be thorough. On our day off last Tuesday we
found a local launderette and finally got a full washing of the clothes done. I
have savored every little bit of these clean items throughout the week. I can
even identify that I have one clean tee shirt and a fully clean pair of pants
that I have not worn since laundry, saving it for that needed moment. The
students were driven nearly to panic in Freiburg that there was no laundry in
the hostel. A number of them wouldn’t consider doing sink laundry, even though
it works when needed. They ultimately had to find a laundry service in town
because there wasn’t a readily available launderette. In Brussels I’m not sure
any other guests at the hostel could have done their laundry during the length
of our stay because the students always seemed to need to do more laundry.
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