All Articles (Page 65)
Raglan Castle, Wales
While Belgium has hundreds of beautiful castles to explore, sometimes it’s nice to step beyond our borders and step into the history of another country. One of our favourite non-Belgian castles is the late-Medieval Raglan Castle, in Wales.
Etiquette Wine Bar in Brussels
For almost 7 years, we’ve been searching for the perfect wine bar in Brussels. Last night, by chance, we may just have found it at Etiquette Wines.
Adare Manor Hotel, County Limerick, Ireland
While castles are a pretty common sight across the continent, many of us non-Europeans still dream of staying in one. Adare Manor, in county Limerick, Ireland, is the perfect place to play out your Lord and Lady of the Manor fantasies.
The Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland
As a photographer, I am always looking for destinations rich in natural beauty. While I love architecture and other man-made tourist sites, there is something particularly special about naturally occurring landmarks. One such place is the Cliffs of Moher, on Ireland’s west coast.
Belgian Boudin Blanc
As my food hero, Anthony Bourdain, says, every culture has its own version of ‘meat in tube form’. Belgium is no exception. Although boudin isn’t a strictly Belgian invention, it’s part of the fabric of food culture here and love it, or hate it, everyone has an opinion on it.
Charcuterie is one of the (many) foods we’ve developed a passion for, since moving to Europe. Sausages, hams and patés, weren’t my cup of tea back in Canada, but Europeans take cured meats to a whole other mouth-watering level. That said, many years passed, before I dared taste the pasty looking boudin.
The Internet Saved My Expat Life
I wrote this post way back in 2006, about a year after we arrived in Belgium. I’m not joking when I say, I couldn’t have survived here without the internet. It was how I met friends, started a new career and stayed connected with friends and family.
My dependence on the internet has become even more pervasive over my expat years. Now I’m connected 24/7 via my smartphone. We have Facebook, Twitter and blogs on every topic under the sun. Most of these things barely existed when I wrote this post.
We share why Reykjavik, Iceland’s Keflavik Airport has the world’s best airport layover and share the top things to do in Reykjavik including the Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa.
We can explore the world, worry-free, with our house-sitters at home
Andrew and I travel often and, at least once a year, we are away from home for more than a couple of weeks. People often ask me what we do with our cats and if I worry about leaving our flat empty. The truth is I used to worry about our pets and our home, when we were on the road, but two years ago I discovered a great solution for travelling expats – house-sitters.
Ok, before you say it, I know exactly what you are thinking, because in all honesty, I though it too. You let strangers stay in your house while you’re gone… with your cats and all of your stuff? Isn’t that weird and, well, dangerous? Well, sure, it would be if I just grabbed the first person to walk down my street and handed them the keys to our flat. But that’s not exactly how we’ve gone about it. And I promise you, we’ve had no regrets, other than not finding house-sitters sooner.
Royal Military Museum
Today I’m thrilled to host a guest post written by the lovely Janice, a brand new expat in Brussels. Janice’s post covers a topic I have very little experience with but I get asked about frequently – How the heck do you entertain kids in Belgium? Luckily Janice offers some great ideas for teen-friendly activities in Brussels.