A Saturday Morning

It is a perfect Fall day, so this morning we went exploring in our new neighborhood. The weekends are a good time to walk because there aren't many cars on the roads. Its fairly peaceful and quiet. Up til today, we have tended to always go in one direction when we leave the apartment, which is towards: the grocery store/bank/metro/park, all of which are in the same general area. So today we turned right out of the front door instead of heading left. In this new direction, the tree-lined streets are primarily residential with brick brownstone type buildings and some small shops and cafes. In one square, on Rue Victor Hugo, there was a busy flea market in progress, so we wandered around looking at all varieties of crap and ended up buying three really cheap beer glasses. Now Rich has a slightly larger assortment of glasses to pair with the appropriate beers. We are wondering if the market is a regular event, because it would be a great place to pick up some other items we need for the apartment (dish drainer, frying pan, more beer glasses, clock). We'll have to check again in a couple of weeks. After a few more twists and turns we stumbled upon an inexpensive grocery store, part of a chain called 'Colruyt.' It is set up like a much smaller version of Costco, definitely a buy-in-bulk, no frills shopping experience. The store is located a couple of blocks from us and is closer and cheaper than the one we have been using, so I think its time to switch. We perused the store without buying anything and then continued on our way. Food must have been in our minds this morning, because we came upon another grocery store, 'Del Haize,' and had to go in and check it out. It is exactly like Safeway, with several small differences; you have to weigh your own produce and print out a little sticker with a bar code on it before you go to the cashier, the chocolate selection fills one side of an aisle - the entire length, and fantastic Belgian beer can be purchased for less than one euro. We gave in to our cravings and went shopping! Its good that we can only buy as much as we can carry, or we would have gone crazy.

Checking out the neighborhood was a very successful venture. We found a couple of cafes to try, a new grocery store that will save us money, and discovered that we are surrounded on all sides by pretty, well-maintained apartment buildings and houses. Its a nice feeling to like where you live.
~K