Missing Sarmale

I am sailing... stormy waters... to be near you...

Probably more than in any other country I lived in, there are long weekends in Belgium all year round. They seem to be more Christian (see the free days for Ascension, or August 15) and more prone to cherish historical moments (probably they celebrate the end of every war, then victory days, etc) . Not to forget national day, then the day of the Flemish community, of the Waloon community... All the best for the poor citizen who doesn't get more than 20 paid holidays per year anyway.

Taking advantage of one of these situations, last weekend was rather long indeed. Starting Wednesday afternoon and unfortunately ending Monday morning. Thursday, off for Ascension. Friday, off cause it's such a pity to spoil such a nice weekend. Ok, it depended from business to business, but my company was nice enough to give us the treat.

On Friday evening, we went to the seaside, in Oostende. No, of course not to sunbathe, don't be ridiculous. 12°C and raining is not really the right context. Normally we go to enjoy long walks on the deseted beach while trying not to be blown away by the wind. This time, there was a nice event in the harbour with lots of sailing ships on display. It stank of smoked fish, hot wafles, and rain.

Then, we had this brillinant idea. Let's go sailing. There were several ships a day that went our on the sea for a while, so why not. It was not that expensive anyway, and although it was cloudy, it hadn't rained for the whole day. Ha, ha, I did just say it stank of rain... Well, clearly my nose was right, cause half an hour before we had to meet up to go on the boat, it started raining. No, I rephrase, pouring down. I did mention the wind too, no? I generally looked like this.

Forgetting about the two five-year-olds that screamed the whole way, the trip was generally fine. No dream sunset or dry seats, but hey, the real side of the sea. It all ended up a bit too soon, I mean my t-shirt was still dry, but with a good cold beer. Hoorai! Here's also a picture of the ship itself, Nele, anchored in the harbour.
Did I mention that we have free next Monday too? Whitmonday.

posted by Dana @ 2:06 pm