A Month in Europe: Belgium (and a bit of color theory)
What to say about Belgium? Maybe it was my favorite part of the trip because my time spent there was so unexpectedly warm and calm. After the intensity of Paris, I decided to stay in a small town in West Flanders called Kortrijk. My method for choosing, was pretty arbitrary. I went onto Airbnb and basically found the most lovely looking home in Belgium. Lo and behold, I found a beautiful bungalow with a huge backyard, a room with lot's of windows (light is really important to me), and was only a few minutes away from the train station. From Paris to Kortrijk I learned my five words of Dutch rather sheepishly. Hello, thank-you, sorry, please, I'm-lost. I felt jittery and a little keyed up as I traveled, but it was like finally letting out a breath I hadn't even known I was holding in. Fields, cows, nature, quiet town, rain. My hosts, Kortrijk natives, Hilde and Jan telling me about their town. Realizing yet again the immense history that even unexpected places like this hold. Fresh bread from the oven. Lazy days sketching, writing, dreaming. Something like renewal. A bit of guilt over not "doing", but then the feeling yet again that slowing down is just as necessary as speeding up.