Monday, April 28, 2008


This weekend flew by. And, despite it marking the third straight weekend of go!go! go!, it was well worth the loss of quiet time. There is more than enough opportunity for solitude and regeneration coming up with my four day weekend that is but three days of work away.

K's parents arrived on Friday night, via Eurostar - England to Brussels in 2 hours. I finished a spin at the gym while K fought traffic to and from the station. We spent the entire weekend sharing some of our favourite restaurants and cafes. Their own personal/work related reasons for coming our way were uber-fantastically fun to take part in: Saturday included a tour of a soon to be dismantled exhibition of artifacts from around the tramping grounds of my favourite ancient short story character: Gilgamesh. But, I have to say, it was the field trip we took on Sunday that took the vegan cake. K's mom is an archaeologist, and she managed to wrangle group access to 6000 year old flint mines that are currently being excavated in a Belgian spot not too far from Brussels. I admit that while strapping on the safety gear and stepping, with trepidation, towards the 9 meter in length (SLIPPERY) ladder, I had some reservations. But, once I made my way down, and had a chance to poke around under the earth, I couldn't have been happier.

Before the descent we found a patch of the countryside and enjoyed a picnic that K and I put together, compliments of Flagey's weekend market stalls. Our picnic basket included:

Fresh tomatoes
1 baguette
bananas
apples
stuffed grape leaves
black and green olives
hummus
one of my super quick tabouli salads

We capped the weekend off with some vegan friendly Ethiopian food.


I admit to feeling pangs of guilt with not being able to make my usual flurry of posts. I can see the horizon though - no more weekends of mad rushing, travel, entertaining or work. With the exception of a four day trip to Germany coming up in mid-May I am very happy to say that I am bound to Brussels (and my kitchen) for the next few months.

7 comments:

Alicia said...

6000 years old is a lot! wow!
I hope you get some rest next weekend and cook lots of yummy tasty food. I'm going to Brussels next weekend! do you have any advice on where to eat?

VeganCowGirl said...

Hey Alice,
I am happy to suggest some restaurants for you -
Shanti is ok (but a bit pricey)
Dolma is great - but not all vegan
Fanny Thai (in the centre of the city) has some great dishes that they will make vegan
I don't recommend Den Teepot, but if you like really bland food it might be worth it
I would be happy to meet up for some vegan treats, let me know.

Anonymous said...

I love Ethiopian food! It's so vegan-friendly. =)

J said...

What a fun weekend! And getting to go look in an old mine like that, how neat!

Bianca said...

Now I'm drooling for some injera!

Theresa said...

Ethiopian! Yum! That injera looks so good!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

what a great picnic!