27 Nov 2015

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE


1. It was a real lazy week. I couldn't go out anywhere, first the weather was lousy it was very cold and it rained and then in Brussels everything was closed. The films I had recorded on TV where all starting too late because of the extended News repeating always the same and showing always the same pictures, at least it seemed so to me.

2. I had the intention to finally pull out of the flower pots the faded plants but it rained too much. So it is postponed. A "girl" I knew from Art school called me and suggested to have lunch together which we did. Unfortunately she only talks about her aches and pains and especially about her intestinal problems, which was not really appropriated for a lunch together.

3. Here where I live we don't notice anything about the mess in Brussels, not even more police. Life goes on like usual and we see what happens on TV. My cleaning lady told me that in her area there are lots of soldiers and policemen standing around, freezing and getting wet. Poor guys.

4. As I go on holidays to the Red Sea in Egypt on Monday, I had some shopping to do and then went to Nicole and we talked about our forthcoming holidays. People are teasing us they say we escape the terrorist attacks in Brussels and look for shelter in Egypt. Anyway when your time has come you can even break your neck falling down the basement steps which indeed happened to a neighbor 3 years ago.

5. I drove my neighbor late afternoon to Brussels in the hospital where she gets her monthly eye shot. Besides that there was the usual traffic mess we noticed nothing special. The hospital had only one entrance open but it is a very huge one so we first didn't even realize that the entrance in the back was closed we saw it when we returned home. We didn't see any policemen or soldiers only people in wheelchairs. In the evening news our prime minister announced that the terrorist level was now reduced to n°3 and his usual blabla, the only thing which interested people was if the Brussels Christmas market would be opened, I think otherwise there would have been a revolution, the storekeepers and the restaurants etc had already suffered enough !









more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

26 Nov 2015

BRUSSELS LOCKDOWN

According to the world wide News I must live in a kind of Beiruth in the middle of the war !

I myself, don't notice anything around me, except that we have more people coming from Brussels doing their shopping in Waterloo and combine it with a visit to the Lion. As Brussels is still in lockdown, they come here it's only 15 km and we have the same stores.

As an anti-terror police operation was underway in Brussels to search for Paris attackers, police asked residents to not share details of the operations on social media on Sunday evening. So instead, Belgians shared a lot of cat photos.Have a look here

This is typical Belgian humor! Nevertheless, we all don't understand nothing anymore ! On one side terrorist alert remains for this week on level 4 which is the maximum and therefore the lockdown should be valid for everybody but no, the schools are open and the metro is running. From people living in Waterloo and working in Brussels, lockdown or not the majority went to work.

The tourists take pictures of soldiers and policemen and tanks with the beautiful background of a historical building ! Very special as souvenir.

The Brussels' population is fed up with these exaggerated long lasting security measurements and therefore a list is published in newspapers where you can read what is open or not !



I had no time yet to go to Brussels and check myself, but I looked at the Webcam of the Grand'Place yesterday morning and it looks rather normal to me !

As the weather was and is so bad during the lockdown, people would have stayed home anyway!

The terrorists are certainly rubbing their hands and are happy with the result caused by their Paris attack ! (except maybe they didn't appreciate the cats !)



according to the UK Newspaper "Independent"



24 Nov 2015

FIRST FROST

Today when I opened the shutters the world looked white ! There was frost on the hedges, the plants the streets and much to Mr. G's annoyance also on his car !



It took him 20 min to get rid of the white stuff




Our green grass had turned to white grass







and the hedges were white too.



Our whole garden looked so cold that after aqua gym I didn't put my nose outside despite a wonderful sunshine. But when the temperatures drop so drastically by 10°C it needs a little time to get adjusted.

While in Brussels center and two municipalities, there are more policemen and soldiers walking around than normal people, nothing has changed here. The schools are open and the kids angry because in Brussels they are closed !



more participants here

23 Nov 2015

WEEKEND REVIEW November 21

No trips to Brussels this weekend. The alert state in Brussels center had been raised to its maximum on a scale from 1 to 4 and now it was 4. Metros, museums, cinemas, theaters,  bars and restaurants were closed and even the supermarkets and shops remained closed.



The town looked empty, but there were still some people underway. Mostly younger once, who wanted to show that they are not afraid of terrorists. I watched all this on TV, we didn't notice anything. Everything was open as usual and it was rather strange that only a few km far there was almost a war situation.

Fortunately our theater was far away from Brussels in a little town and we didn't miss the play.



First we had supper in the theater restaurant and then we watched the play which was so funny that our belly hurt when we came out. It was the story of a man who wanted to get rid of his girlfriend but was such a coward that he needed the help of his best friend. After the friend fell in love with the girl the girl left them both ! Sounds a bit simple but wasn't. The three young actors were really very good.

It became very cool on Sunday and there were even some snowflakes amongst the rain drops ! In Brussels still everything was closed. Today even the schools, and University will stay closed, much to the joy of the kids I think !  There were lots of interviews of people on TV, who weren't happy at all with all these security efforts, they found it exaggerated and said that it is exactly what the terrorists wanted ! Terrorizing !

I went to Ilona and we had tea together and chatted, there was nothing in her area neither.