Day 90 (recap)-95: Wait, I'm Where, again...?

Recap: 

Saturday with Melissa and Kyle, I went to Waterloo.   As in Napoleon.  As in “Waterloo, I was defeated, you won the war.”  As in, it’s pouring down rain, but we’re going to go and brave the Brussels weather (Melissa and I decided on the weather reports, instead of making up something about how it might or might not rain, they should just say, “It’s Brussels. Get over yourself.”).  We went and learned a lot about the battle that happened there in various movies, starring Captain von Trapp, who strangely enough survived this war apparently well enough to turn over to the Austrians in WWII and fight for them.  Weird.  Anyway, it was very fun, and we quite enjoyed ourselves, despite the rainy conditions. 

We went home and dried off, and then finally got back up and out and over to the base where Kyle works, called SHAPE, and went to the Christmas market, which was a ton of fun to just be around.  Many of the things were a bit kitschy, but there were a lot of things that were cool too, and it was fun to be in a place decorated and ready for Christmas, with Christmas music playing and the whole holiday spirit ready to go.  It was great fun.  We went to the Commissary as well, and bought some Belgian beers to sample, as well as different kinds of chocolate… the Belgian basics: beer and chocolate. 

Before sampling beers though, we had TACO NIGHT.  WHAT A DELIGHT, TACO NIGHT.  See what I did there?  But seriously, so good, and really appreciated… Melissa came up with things that I might not have been able to have in the last few months, and tacos were DEFINITELY on the list… I loved it.  We had tacos and chips and salsa and it was fantastic.  And to top off an already good evening, I got to Skype in for 80’s Trivia night in Estonia at Erin and Eric’s place.  It was so great to see lots of friends… Tim and Michelle, Matt and Megan, Eric and Erin, Don and Maureen, and Veiko and Kadri…  it was fun. 

We then had beer tasting… I had wanted to try one that I’d seen in Estonia actually, since Drink Baar was having Belgian beers month in November, and I’d seen the Delirium Tremens there.  It. Was. AWFUL.  GOD it was so terrible.  BLAAAAA.  Not recommended.  The Timmerman’s Pěche was the favorite for Melissa and I, while Kyle preferred the Leffe, a true Belgian beer.  An interesting sampling, but nevertheless lots of fun. 

Sunday I was off to Bordeaux to meet up with Laura.  I had paid previously for two bags, a very smart idea, so baggage weight was not a problem, which is always nice to hear and preferable to deal with.  Got to Bordeaux with little issue, and my bags were some of the first off the carousel so I was a happy lady.  Laura found me, and we headed into Bordeaux, rainy, but lovely.  We got my stuff to her apartment, and then headed out to an Irish pub called Sweeney Todd’s (hilarious) for their Sunday brunch.  They serve a full English breakfast, including 2 sausages, 2 pieces of Canadian bacon, 2 eggs, Heinz baked beans, chips, toast, and mushrooms.  It was fantastic.  I was really hungry, as was Laura, so we were quite happy to have such a great meal.  We walked around Bordeaux and saw some of the fantastic sights… Laura’s town is much bigger than mine, and has a plethora of really old/cool places.  The churches are very interesting actually, because their bell towers are really massive, but reach from the ground up because they are separated from the churches, and actually are a separate structure next to the churches themselves.  Bordeaux also has a few different castle like structures, Cinderella style, and many arcs and statues.  I even found a turtle statue!  (Clearly I took pictures)  We walked around a long time, saw many of the interesting animal sculptures around the city (cows like the Cow Parade that happens in America), turtles (clearly important), and even an ALLIGATOR.  WHAT!?  Haha…but it was there!  I saw it with my own eyes. 

That evening, we made an Arrabiata type sauce with eggplants, zucchini, onions, herbs de Provence, and tomatoes that was quite delectable.  We hung out and watched “How I Met Your Mother,” a COMPLETE necessity, and then just chilled out a bit.  What a great day!

Monday, Laura had school in the afternoon, which was okay, because I had been hoping to go on one of the half day wine tour excursions through the Office of Tourism (Highly recommended, if you find yourself in Bordeaux).  She and I walked around a bit in the morning, when it was sunny (A GIFT FROM THE GODS) and saw some shops and such.  She went off to school, and I continued looking around in central Bordeaux until it was time for my tour.  We got on a bus, and went about an hour outside of the city, through beautiful countrysides filled with vineyards… everywhere  had grape vines and plants and all the interesting buildings of a place that is incredibly old.  There were fantastic churches and buildings that looked like mini castles, and while I didn’t get to snap a picture of it, there was even an old walled city, similar to Tallinn that was about 30 minutes outside of Bordeaux.  It was very interesting.  When I was with Melissa, I kept saying, “These buildings are older than Christopher Columbus’ great-grandparents…”  We think our country is so cool and old, and yet there are places that were built and have now been preserved from even before our country was even heard of or thought of.  It’s fantastic to see this architecture that is from 1100 AD, you know?  It’s just stunning.

Anyway, winery touring.  We went to the first one, and they taught us about the process of growing grapes, and how each wine is blended, there’s not actually only one kind of grape in each kind of wine, and how they put them in barrels and then put them to age and all these interesting things.  It was very cool.  I preferred the first tour over the second… they gave us more information, were more pleasant and easy to talk to, and they seemed to do more of the process organically, whereas the second chateaux did a lot of the fermenting and aging in the big metal tankards.  It was very interesting, and we had a nice, small group, so it wasn’t too much to handle either.  It made me really crave seafood, so… Laura and I made Seafood Piccata (think Chicken Piccata that I make with my dad, but only with scallops :D)  It was SO yummy, and we had a great time making it.  We stayed up chatting, and ate yummy desserts that we had gotten at a local patisserie, and then went to bed.

Today, I was quite the sight to be seen lugging two bags through the sidewalks of Bordeaux on streets made just barely for one person.  It was, I’m sure, humorous to the people watching, but I was unamused, in fact.  I finally did make it to the airport, and after having pre-purchased a bit of extra weight on one bag, instead of dealing with multiple other hassles, I had NO problem with checking my bags, which was great, and flew right through security and such.  I got into London, and got the Gatwick Express train to central London, where I got a taxi to take me to Gill’s theatre.  During my ride, I saw Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, the London Eye, and many other cool things.  It was astonishing… each place I saw, I thought, “Yep, I’m in London.”  Very cool.  Found Gill and got situated at the theater, and finally went to get something to eat.  I got my fish and chips!!!  Yummer.   Saw Gill’s show, with a PRODUCER BADGE :D, and the show was great, and very intriguing.  It’s about the sort of less glamorous side of the Kennedy/Onassis clan and how they actually all had affairs, sort of inter twined and such.  Very interesting look at that whole family and situation.  I got to chat with the girls Gill works with for a bit, and drink champagne since it was someone’s birthday, and we’ve just gotten home and settled in for the night… as it’s 12:40 am here, and I’m used to this being between 1:40 and 2:40 am, I’m quite sleepy, so I’m off, but I’ve only got TWO MORE DAYS TOTAL in my European adventure.  Ridiculous.