Bonjour Bruxelles

AND... I'M BACK! I took a long break from my blog, because we were busy with our move from Stockholm to Brussels. Now that we’ve settled into our new home, it felt like the right moment to reflect on our time in Stockholm, to give you an update on everything that happened during the past few months and my first impressions of our new city.

AT HOME IN STOCKHOLM

I must confess, it took me quite a while to feel really at home in Stockholm. Even though the Swedes are sociable and very civilized, you won’t find yourself having a lot of small talk when crossing the city. As soon as we arrived, I focussed on getting my blog online, which was a really cool process. The life of a blogger is completely free, you can do whatever you want and go wherever your creativity takes you. However, it can also get lonely, especially in a city where you don’t know a single soul..

But at one point, I think after a year, I collected some valuable friends, created a routine that worked, was working as a sports instructor for Mom in Balance, enjoyed everything Stockholm has to offer.. And I was HOME.

NATURALLY TRENDY, BEAUTIFUL, CONSTANTLY CHANGING STOCKHOLM

Because of the undeniable seasons in Sweden, it’s a city that’s constantly changing. During winter time, it’s cold, days are dark and short, but the Swedes compensate this by celebrating many traditions (hello cinnamon bun day!). I learned that chilling on the couch on a Friday evening is something not to be ashamed, but proud of. Its even a verb called ‘mysa’, which is best translated as ‘chilling’ and involves taco’s, popcorn and lots of (and then some more) candy.

When the first beams of sun appear from the sky, people are standing still in the middle of the sidewalk, turn their face towards the sun and take it all in (and yes, after a dark winter, this is exactly what I did last year). Then in summertime, the city changes completely, hardly anybody spends their evenings at home, but heads to the park with a barbecue and spends every weekend at one of the islands surrounding Stockholm.

Stockholm is also close to nature, with countless parks to choose from. It’s built on and surrounded by many islands, all connected by bridges. Wherever you go, you’re overlooking the water and I’m afraid I won’t ever find a jog as stunning as the one I had in Stockholm.

Not only the city is stunning, but so are its inhabitants. Both men and women take extremely good care of themselves, by going to one of the numerous gyms in town, wearing the latest Scandi trends, by close-to-professional make-up and hair and by taking coffee breaks several times a day. This makes for a super inspiring environment to live in; hip and happening.

DON'T GET TOO COMFY...

And just when I was getting comfortable in our Nordic city, Mark received an offer for a new job and off we went to Brussels. And boy did it go fast! Mark called me on a Thursday afternoon to tell me we’d be moving that Monday 😱

The movers came next day and we invited our friends to our goodbye-drink that evening. We were warmed by all the friends who came and the party felt as bitter sweet as our completely empty apartment we were celebrating in ;-) When everybody left, we had one last drink, took some time to have one final walk through our home, then closed the door and headed to our hotel room at Grand Central (super nice hotel, with a great location, a nice breakfast and wonderful decoration). We spend a lovely last weekend eating our way through our favorite spots in the city, I enjoyed my final coffee date with a friend and her lovely new born and then..

We flew to our new city, where the house search would start next morning.

Saying goodbye to all the lovely ladies I trained at Mom in Balance, moving out all our stuff, the only photo we took at our goodbye party 🙊, the last drink with the two of us in our apartment and our last day in Stockholm♥️ 🇸🇪

BRUSSEL, BRUSSELS OR BRUXELLES?

The night we arrived, I immediately felt the international vibe in Brussels. The officially languages in Belgium are Dutch (Flamish), French (Walloon) and even German, but Brussels is mainly French. This French vibe is felt everywhere in the city, from interior and clothing to the food (Hello oysters on market places). I was warned by some people that people from Brussels would be impatient and not that friendly, but so far this feels far from the truth for me. People are warm, sociable and eager to help. At times I even feel like I’ve taken some of the Swedish culture with me, because I’m soooooo not used to random people starting a conversation. The first reaction that pops into my head is ‘what does this person want from me?!’, before realizing it’s just amazingly sociable :-)

SO, WHAT'S NEXT?

Now that we’re in Brussels, it means building up our lives up again from scratch. As scary as that may feel sometimes, it also comes with endless possibilities! I want to make the transition from ‘Världens bästa kanelbullar’ to ‘les croissants délicieux’, so I need to dust off my knowledge of the french language. In a few weeks my classes start and I’m super excited!

Apart from these classes and this blog, I’m also on the hunt for an exciting job in Brussels. I’ve gotten a lot out of this blog and I still do, but I’m in a serious need of the high pace and the structure that comes with a regular job and, even more important, some fun colleagues!

Where this will lead me an my blog, I don’t know! A new job might leave less time to write my blog, but on the other hand it might give me more inspiration. Instead of thinking and analyzing over this, seeing the bumps on the road before I’ve even begun driving, I decided to just start that car.

I will keep you posted on this and I’ll be back to share some nice hotspots I discovered in this lovely city!

A bientôt! Mieke