OK, so back to Monday night. I forgot that before we got the car we drove to Lille (France, which is just a few km south) to Auchon for a few more groceries. Auchon is like Walmart with food, clothes, household items, etc. but this store is seriously at least three times bigger than any Walmart I have ever seen. This is where we picked up a kit for Les Burritos, compliments of Old El Paso.
One thing I've noticed is that in all the supermarkets I've been in so far (three), they have completely done away with bags for purchases; either you bring your own or you carry everything out loose. Simple and effective.
Anyhow...that's it for Monday. On to Tuesday, my second day on my own. This one was a little frustrating. I had the car but we had not found the SIM card for the cell phone yet and I had not thought to ask Andy about a map. I checked the supermarket in Bellegem but could only find maps for France. And my laptop was dead and we had not had time to shop for an adapter yet. So I started feeling a little trapped. I did manage to find a bank and get a little money. And return some movies. But I was too afraid to venture into the center of the city for fear that I would get hopelessly lost with no way to call anyone for help and no map. I tried using Google maps on Andy's laptop but the way home seemed hopelessly complicated and I had no way to print it (I have since discovered there is a printer upstairs...). So by the time Andy got home I was getting a little stir-crazy. There are only a couple of TV channels that are in English and it is not so easy to watch Friends dubbed in French unless you have seen the episode already. It was a long day.
When Andy noticed that I was sort of freaking out he called a few friends and made some plans for me on Wednesday and Thursday so that I could have some company during the day. And he managed to find the SIM card for the phone and a map of Kortrijk. And he brought me along with him to his appointment in Antwerp later that night. Antwerp was beautiful. While Andy met with his client, I hung around the front of a museum where they were playing music on the steps and there was a very old and charming carousel covered with kids. After Andy was done we had a beer in front of a very tall and ornate cathedral and then the best pistachio ice cream I have ever put in my mouth. We stood by the water for a while and then we headed home.
So that was Tuesday. Wednesday was a much better day. Andy had an appointment in the afternoon to see a property that he is in the process of buying so he took me along to check it out. It's three levels with a warehouse/work area on the bottom and an apartment that he can rent out on the top two floors. And then later in the afternoon I hung out with Andy's brother Bjorn and his girlfriend Ellen. They have a small soup and sandwich shop downtown so we were there for a while and then they took me with them on their daily shopping trip. They are about to leave for three weeks of camping all over the southwest US so we had fun looking at their books and talking about the different parks and cities. Later that night I made Les Burritos and they weren't bad, but I have resolved to make some fresh salsa and guacamole next week and maybe some quesadillas or tacos.
OK, that gets us through Wednesday. I'll try to get caught up all the way later this afternoon.
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment