Bruges is one of those cities who will almost always be mentioned in travel “bucket lists” for Europe destinations. And it is for sure one of the most visited cities in Belgium – if not the most visited. This is simply because it somehow looks too pretty to be real, a bit like a town that would come straight out of the illustrations of a fairy-tale book.
I said in last month’s review that February was one of my least favourite months of the year and that I was looking forward for it to end, but it actually wasn’t that bad, and it turned out to be a pretty good month with some pretty cool highlights! Favourites: Snow: We had some snow in January, but it was nothing compared to the first weeks of February when we had pretty heavy snow that stayed for days. Of course, here it never lasts a long time so you don’t actually have time to get tired of or annoyed by it, and it just makes everything feel magical, even though it’s absolutely freezing! Baby turtles: I told you last month that I had adopted a turtles’ nest through an initiative of two amazing bloggers… well the babies hatched this month and Markus and Micah sent me the cutest pictures of my baby turtles making their way towards the sea. I was so proud for my babies, and contributing to something like this made me want …
In December, I was nominated by the lovely family of Our Crossings, to participate in a 10 Day Travel Photo Challenge. The goal of the challenge was to post each day, for 10 days, one travel picture without mentioning the location or anything else.
The first month of the year is already coming to an end and my very positive energy from the start of the year is already wearing off a bit – yay! I hope you all had a good start of the year despite the world situation that hasn’t changed much. This month’s highlights: Adopting a turtle’s nest! After reading this post on Markus and Micah’s blog, I immediately decided to sponsor a turtle’s nest. Markus and Micah have the nicest blog where they publish really interesting posts on a wide variety of subject, one of them being climate change. I highly recommend checking their blog out – if you don’t know it already – as I’m sure you will love it! Through them, I adopted a turtle’s nest to protect the turtles in their region, as they are an endangered and very vulnerable species. I received pictures from the hatchery and I’m extremely happy to be able to contribute to this amazing project of theirs! Cooking and baking: I have tried many new recipes this …
During the month of December, I took part in Green December, an initiative organised by the global movement NOW!, which tackles many challenges of our time, and the month of December was dedicated to climate and the fight against climate change. During the month of December, all the participants received one e-mail per week, containing daily actions to take in order to tackle climate change, resolve the environmental crisis and be, overall, more mindful of our impact on the planet. For each day, the tips came with a small explanation about why that specific action was useful and important, so I also learned many things just by reading the e-mails. Even though I have pretty much always been aware of climate change and global warming, I can’t say I have always actively taken action against it. This is something that I recently decided to change, and I have slowly made my way towards a more conscious lifestyle, choosing more sustainable and environmentally-friendly options. Of course, I still have a lot to work on, but it’s …
The title of my last annual review was “a year of traveling”, and this surely doesn’t apply for 2020! The pandemic and related travel restrictions affected all of us, and of course the amount of traveling I could do this year was very limited. I won’t go on about how terrible this year was for so many, how many disruptions, losses and pain it caused, as it would be an understatement. From start to finish, it was not a good year for the world. However, despite all of this, it was, for me, a year of many lessons. 2020 Recap: About a year ago, in January, I went to Rotterdam for a weekend to see a friend. I didn’t write a blog post about it as it was mostly made of walking around, but I still have many nice pictures of that trip! Then, right before COVID hit Europe, my mum came to see me in Brussels and we went on a day trip to the wonderful Bruges. It was absolutely lovely but the cold …
Even though it is a cold month, December is nevertheless one of my favourites of the year: it is festive and feels very cosy, and the holidays, even though they were different this year, are, at the very least, a nice break! On top of it, the days start getting longer, and the new year approaching always brings some hope. My favourite things about this month: The festive vibe: even though there weren’t Christmas markets in Belgium this year, the streets and shops were still nicely decorated, as well as individual houses. In my own flat, I put up cute fairy lights everywhere – you never have too much of them – and streamed a fireplace video from Youtube almost all the time, it was so cosy! Indulging… in gingerbread cookies, spiced drinks and festive biscuits. You can obviously do this all year round, but I was extra motivated this month – and it also made my home smell amazing, which is always a good thing. The holidays also gave me more time to read …
Ghent is one of Belgium’s biggest cities, and probably one of the most beautiful ones. Even though it is far less famous than Brussels and Bruges, it is absolutely worth the visit as this small city is filled with cute streets and pretty buildings, its history is long and interesting, and its art scene rich.
The first thing that gets me really excited about winter and December in general is Christmas and, more precisely, Christmas markets. There is something about them which makes me feel so festive and puts me in a great mood. Because of the pandemic, there won’t be any Christmas markets here in Belgium this year, so I thought that I would just dedicate a post to the most festive city I have known and lived in: Vienna. Each year, there are many markets to be discovered throughout the city, and each of them has its own specific vibe and atmosphere. Discovering them all was one of my greatest joys when I lived there, and I miss it a lot! So, get ready for some cute wooden houses, fairy lights, cinnamon and spices, delicious food, delicate ornaments and tacky Christmas mugs, with, on the background, one of the most gorgeous cities in the world! The City Hall: The Christmas market in front of the Rathaus in Vienna is probably the most famous and iconic. Not only it …
November has always been one of my least favourite months because it is usually so gloomy, the days get considerably shorter, it marks the end of autumn and the beginning of summer [edit: as you can see, I am not ready for winter ahah], and it is definitely not as festive as December. Plus, this year, the country was in lockdown for the whole month, which didn’t help. However, despite all that, it was better than I thought.
