Travel to Ternat

I had a meeting with a recruiter in Ternat yesterday. Ternat is just outside the city of Brussels. It feels like small-town USA... except that everything's in Flemish. And the buildings look different. But you know, it's the feeling.

I took the commuter train out there. There was a snafu at the train station wherein my American accent garnered me a ticket to something I remember as "Tornaught"... but luckily I caught the mistake and a new ticket to TERNAT was issued--and I was reimbursed 14 euros. Score.

I quite enjoyed riding the train outside of the city. I'm always interested in seeing the housing stock along the way and how people live. What really caught my eye were all of the small farms. I guess they could still be called farms, but really they were more like backyards with animals in them. My favorite was a "farm" with 6 ostriches (yes, I counted) combined with what looked to be miniature deer. They were all just chillin' together in the same pen. Loved it. Wish I had a picture, though.




This is a shot from the train station at Ternat. It's kind of exciting when the train comes through to take you back to the big city!

Markings in Ternat... "Littel Prinsess"... yeah.

This is a castle-y thing I stumbed upon walking to the Gare du Midi in Brussels. Yeah, I need to figure out what it is, but here are some pics.

Quick Eats in Amsterdam

Went to Amsterdam yesterday for an interview. Was rushing around most of the time, but did indulge in a couple of treats...

This is a "broodje," which I guess just means sandwich. It was yumtastical! I love the addition of hard-boiled eggs on the sandwiches here. This one contained chicken, bacon, lettuce, eggs and mayo... all on a delicious dark bread.


Um, doesn't that mean "warm fountain"... no thanks.


Herring sammy. Herring is just in season now in Amsterdam, and boy was it good. Had it on a soft roll with some onions and pickles. Just perfect.

Toucan Sur Mer

We went to a place around the corner for dinner the other night: Toucan Sur Mer. There is actually another part of the restaurant that's just called "Toucan" that serves meats and stuff, but we went to the seafood part of the resto, hence the "mer." Anyway, I hope you're ready for the spectacle to follow...

I was really into the quartz chandy over the bar area. Seemed like a nice, quaint place... until they threw THIS on our table:


The Toucan platter for two. Holy moses! I had to reconfirm with the waitress that she'd given us the correct platter because certainly this had to be the 118 euro version... but no, this was the 56 euro version. All of this fresh-ass seafood for 56 euros?? Where do I sign?

We didn't quite know what everything was on the platter, so she gave us an English description. And I still don't really know what all of the species are... and maybe I don't want to. It sure was good, though. Two types of snails, two types of shrimp, 4 kinds of oysters, mussels, clams... oh, here's what they said it was: "Whelks, winkels, pink shrimps, grey shrinps, etrilles, normandies, belon no5 (all oysters, me thinks), clams, praires, palourdes, mussels, and amandes." Hmm... I thought that last word actually meant "almond," so, yeah, the English translation is suspect. At least the seafood wasn't.

Look! It's bigger than Byron!

Snailies... with wires to pull them out.

So. Good.

Wednesday Night Market at Chatelain

If you know me, you know there are fewer things that make me happier than markets. Indoors, outdoors, of the grocery variety... set me down in a market and I will wander for hours.

There is a market every Wednesday night in Chatelain, an area near where we're staying for now. (Though this is an area we might end up living in permanently.) It's a very nice area, with lots of restaurants and young people and expats. Anyway, their market is pretty dope. We wandered around and then had a glass of champagne. You can sip wine/champs while walking around the market (I mean, is this my kinda market or what?) or even buy a bottle cheap-like and hang out and drink it with your friends.


Behold the strawberries!

All hail Le Roi Du Poulet!

It's the snake plant... braided!!!

Olives, anyone?

Pates, etc. Note the blood sausage in the middle left. The rabbit terrine with hazelnuts was especially tempting.

There was more cheese than you can shake a stick at.

Fried treats. We had to give those some love, too.

Cafe des Spores

Went to Cafe des Spores on Monday night. Trusted the Time Out guide with this one, chancing the place to be overrun with 'mericans in sweatpants. (Wait, that was mean. I have more faith in the readers of the Time Out guides... apologies, but the comment stands.) The good part was, Time Out didn't actually put the resto on their map, so that might have put off the lazier variety of tourist. Either way, there was only French heard upon our arrival. I asked for a table for two and told the waitress we didn't have a reservation, and she responded (in English! My pronunciation is THAT good!) that it wasn't a problem.

(A few thoughts about the whole trying to speak French but being responded to in English thing. Really, I prefer it. If you know English and hear me speaking in poorly pronounced French, step right in and change the language up, why don't you? It's easier for the both of us. I have shown you respect by starting off in your language [instead of marching in and speaking in MINE, expecting it of you], but you've busted me on my skill level at it so why don't we just speak in a language that's easy for both of us... which happens to be English? The *worst* thing is when someone pretends they can't speak English for well over 15 minutes [I'm looking at you Hier et Aujourd'hui in Paris!] forcing you to stumble through a reservation dispute while they fuss about seating you [even though the room is not full and never fills up], only to translate the menu and speak in English to you the rest of the night. Hurumph!)

We chose to sit upstairs, overlooking the tiny kitchen. I was rapt, watching the chef all night. The food was glorious, fresh, and simple. The only miss was the creme brulee of cepes and foie gras. I appreciated it's lightness, but it turned out to be almost bland. As Byron said, it might have been nice to have some salt on top of the burnt sugar lid. But still, I appreciated something done with foie gras that didn't leave me clutching my gallbladder and cursing the richness.


Here is the view from upstairs. The place was so cute and simple, we wanted to move in. There wasn't a wine by the glass for over 6 euros. We tried three new whites, as recommended by our server.

The menu changes daily, and as implied by the name of the resto, mushrooms are featured in every dish. I mean, what's not to like?? This was asparagus, wild garlic leaves, mushrooms (forget which kind) and a poached egg with fresh herbs. Amazing. This is how I want to cook at home.

Byron enjoys another dish of meatballs with shiitakes, potatoes, herbs, and pepper. So good. All dishes were brought to our table in the pans, and we just shared them directly from there. Love everything about this restaurant. Came home to find that it was in the Wallpaper City Guide for Brussels, as well. No wonder.

First Impressions of Brussels

It has been cold. And windy. And sometimes rainy. I feel less pressure to get out and explore everything despite the weather because I know I'll be here permanently soon enough. Summer is right around the corner, so I will be up for exploring then. Plus, I'm really here to interview, meet with recruiters, and *ahem* find a j-o-b.

But here are some snaps from around town the other day...

A lovely park in Sint-Gilles. There was a tap-tap blind guy and some ruffians hanging out behind the shrubbery, so I didn't really explore further. Love the green space, though. (Don't love the potential for mugging or mayhem.)

Park rules, cartoon style. Hope someone told the blind guy.

Horta-inspired door. There is much lovely, art nouveau architecture by (and inspired by) the famous Belgian architect Victor Horta in Sint-Gilles and Ixelles.

I was going to call, but...

Church of St. Bernard sign. I think this is still an active church, as I saw some nuns scurrying out from inside. (Or maybe that's a sign of its inactivity...)

Lots of graffiti, lots of outspoken graffiti.

There he is! The peeing baby himself, Mannekin Pis! We caught him on a naked day, as he is usually dressed in some garish costume. Kinda nice to see him as he is on our first meeting. Bought some delicious nougat around the corner from here. Sure, it was a touristy area and we could have bought some, um, less commercial nougat somewhere else. But it was delicious nonetheless.

Looking down on the lower city, no haughtiness implied.


Yikes!!! The hotdogs come in glass jars here. And these were the girth-iest of the bunch. More on fun treats at the markets, for sure!

Cotton-Pickin' Weather

Shirt from fabric mill, shorts Paul & Joe Sister, shoes from May Co back in the day.



My new favorite necklace from Wilbur. A glammed-out bolo tie?

Yay!

Channelling Colonel Sanders

With a bow about the neck....


Shirt vintage, cat mine, pants gift, boots Frye.

More Window Friends

Margot and Nelly keep watch over Queen Village.

I sure do love these two.

Compliments of Emma.

Fluffy Floral

You can't see it on my face, but spring is officially here! Wandered all over the fine city of Philadelphia this weekend. (And my feet are blistered to show for it. Stupid slouchy Theory boots. Even after a stretch at Lenny's [my trusty shoe guy], you still aggravate me.)

Highlights of the weekend: dinner al fresco Friday night at L'Etage (the standout was the spring beans salad... yum!), then a tour of sorts to James (with its adorable whitewashed bar), then to meet up with others at the Cantina on Passyunk, then to the Pope, then to Ray's Happy Birthday Bar, then to the Friendly Lounge (where the locals were indeed friendly, despite the impression it gives from the outside), then to the trusty Royal Tavern, and finally closing the night down at Lorenzo's for a slice. There we were, ambling all over south-ish Philly on a fair-weathered Friday eve. It was a night for the diaries.

Yikes, that was just Friday. Strolled up to Center City on Saturday (stopping at Grasshopper to pick up some vintage duds on the way), then to New Wave for an outside meet-up, then to Nicki's Revenge of the Nerds party, which ended up looking like a nerds vs. jocks standoff, though the karaoke machine brought all together swimmingly.

Sunday included a lunch at El Jarocho for some of the best carnitas I've had in this city and a delicious dinner (cooked by yours truly) of roasted baby artichokes and potatoes, asparagus and spring greens salad with crumbled goat cheese, and sauteed scallops.

Anyway... I picked up this gem at Grasshopper. It has the fluffiest embroidery yarns! Necklace (little gold book of design highlights from the V&A Museum) by Comfort Station. It is actually a somewhat custom piece that she made based off one of her other designs. Lucky me.

Inspired Equestrian

Oh, the glow! (Classed up by the fire extinguisher in the hall.) Checked shirt with asymmetrical placket vintage (from Sugarcube in Old City, Philly), skirt vintage (from somewhere in StL), floral fishnets from UO.

In tight on the rings. Righty is wearing an gold bow ring stacked with a vintage emerald-cut peridot (tricky) that was my mom's 8th grade graduation prezzy. Lefty's got on the lion (with the ubiquitous li'l stackers) and a jade ring that was my mom's.

Behold! Riders mid-post!

The Angora Scroll

Picked up this lovely cashmere with angora highlight sweater at Captain Betty's outside of Columbus. It's definitely worth a trip out there; she has such stock! And she'll engage you in some sort of conversation wherein you'll learn about one of the many rockstars she dated. But really, go for the vintage leopard skin (real) hat you might find. I did.

Sweater vintage, skirt Anthro, tights Anthro, shoes Dolce Vita.

Ring from Ylang Ylang in St. Louis (one of my high school gems), horse-themed bracelet from Comfort Station in London.

Dark eyes and nude lips, yo.