I survived the heatwave. Though I was too knackered on Saturday morning to keep my appointment to spend some quality online time with Ankush. Amber came back from Montenegro by noon or so, and we spent a few lazy hours at home before willing ourselves to for a little get-together that a colleague of Amber’s had invited us to. We didn’t have to go far but there wasn’t a connection with Brussels city buses either, so we ended up getting on a bus run by le TEC where only cash was accepted. Since neither of us had any, we got off at the next stop and ended up taking a taxi instead. It was just too warm. I’m glad we went, though. It was nice to meet some new people, that’s not an opportunity I have here all the time. Afterwards, we picked up groceries and came back home exhausted. That night, of course, was the violent storm that hit large parts of western Europe. I don’t think I have ever seen so many non-stop lightning strikes in my life.
The days began to get cooler from Sunday, and we’ve been making the most of that. Since we forgot to put on our cold brew the night before, we walked to Stella Coffee Bar for our morning pick-me-up, and realised that there was a flea market happening right at our doorstep that day. I enjoyed being at the market early, long before the crowds get in. We found the most delicate, beautiful side table in oak (something Mayank was able to gather just from the photographs we sent him!). Because that wasn’t enough, we then went to Place Flagey Market because I was craving empanadas. We bought some fruit and vegetables, candy from some school kids raising money for their camp, and loafed around to take in the atmosphere and cool breeze, before walking back via les étangs d’Ixelles and jardins de l’Abbaye de la Cambre.
The work week was intense: I had a frustrating Tuesday, deeply disappointing Wednesday, and a very efficient and productive Thursday. It was all balanced out by the long walks we took every evening. We explored nearby neighbourhoods, got ice cream one night from a pop-up we’ve been eyeing for some weeks, and admired the strawberry moon as it was rising up from the horizon.
Thursday’s walk was special because we went looking for this plaque, which commemorates a game of cricket played on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo in Brussels. The internet sent us in so many wrong directions! We walked almost 10 kilometers in and around Bois de la Cambre, before finding the plaque 10 minutes away from where we started. For anyone else looking, here is the location of the plaque.
I picked up my new resident permit card (yay!) on Friday. We ran lots of errands and then visited Bautier in the evening. What a beautiful store and café. After buying a couple of books, we walked to Parc Duden, where we spent our time reading and then eating dinner at the bar in the park. An exhausting, but kind-of-perfect day to end the week.
I won’t really be able to take time off this summer, but plans for Sarthak’s visit this month, and Prateek and Rhea’s in August are coming together, and I’m really looking forward to having loved ones visit us in our new home.