Places in Brussels - I (De Haus)

De Haus

Chaussée d'Ixelles 183

1050 Ixelles

Bruxelles

After three months, I have finally found a great place to have a drink in Brussels. Although I am fairly comfortable with the pubs in Place Saint Gery, De Haus (although pricey) is a whole different new level. 

According to its website, De Haus is what you make of it! Either you see it as a bar, salon, kitchen or shop, you are sure to have a pleasant time. Their selection of gins (their speciality) is an asset and it is worthy going there just to try their gin of the week.

The place is open until late (or until very late on Friday and Saturday). Expect it to be crowded on weekends.

#4 No closure

The present day marks one year from the date that Pedro arrived at London. So much has changed since then and, contrary to our initial intentions, so few was written about the numerous chapters deserving to be chronicled. It was one of the best years of his still short life.

This remarks are written from Portugal less than a month and a week since our main character first returned to Portugal. The transformation might not be visible on the outside, but it is burning on the inside. Sadness, happiness, lack of belonging, happiness for seeing old friends. Family. Nothing and at the same time but so much developed while he was away. So much left to see and do. The need to go back. The fear of losing important moment while away. Still, confusion and other mixed feelings cannot extinguish the will to keep on travelling and discovering something new. 

One thing is now clear. Once you live happily far from your place of birth and growing, you will never be completely at home again. Concomitantly, you will always carry pieces of your beloved places and people with you. 

No one ever said that the logbook was limited to a single destination. London is more than that. As such, the adventure goes on as our hero is about to embark in a new journey in the hearth of Europe. The Logbook remains open.

Short Note #16

'London, you mad, eccentric, cold, and outrageously expensive, fun and ridiculous place. You will always have a part of my heart.'

Ashleigh Davis, What It Feels Like to Leave London, here

Letters to Lisbon #1

Benfica... 

I am not a fanatic... Never was... At least if I compare myself with my football fellows... Specially the one that I saw crying like a baby when, last season, we lost everything at the last minute... It is incredible, but a great part of my happiness for winning the league will result of knowing how it will make some of my friends happy.

Today was one of the times that I have missed more not being in Lisbon. Anyway, some things are supposed to be lived together with your mates. It is impressive how much a three-year habit can become ingrained in your life... It was not only about the matches, but also about everything that surrounded them.... 

I have been thinking a lot. For long, and without the need to reflect on the subject, people heard me saying that I had nothing to come back to. It is becoming clear that such an assumption is too distanced from reality. Having my parents in London for a week and feeling alone once they left was the first signal. In revision period, the fun times are much less usual than they once were and you start missing family and the friends that have known you forever. And for some unknown reason, you start searching for flights back home on a daily basis.

The decision of not going back to Lisbon for some years (unless forced to) has finally hit me. It was not a punch. It felt more like one of those new super-fast trains. It is still what I want and hopefully what I will be able to do, but I finally came to understand what I am losing. People change, family grows, parents get older, friends get married or simply move to a new flat. Facebook is not enough.

The match was awesome, my hearth switched nervously from racing to nearly stillness throughout 90 minutes. However, I cannot stop feeling that I should have been in the stadium with my old time companions. 

TUDO A SALTARRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Short Note #15

White-collar workers sitted on the grass on their launch break without caring about their suits... London :)

London Lens #10

Short Note #14

How good is it to catch a tube driver, who tells jokes for 6 stations in a row :)