I am looking at blogging again because I miss it, and found this post lying dormant in my posts list, started many moons ago... "In Belgium... Leeks can be seen growing deep in rich, muddy soil from almost any road The sun is barely above the flat horizon at 9:30 AM in winter, staying above the horizon past ten in midsummer Seeing hard core bikers is very common... All ages! All weather! Belgium is the perfect country for bikers, with long, single lane paved roads winding for miles between fields and villages The apples are incredibly good... I LOVE apples, and the Braeburns have something special in Belgium that the ones at home don't have. The pastries, the bread, the vegetables, the cheese, the fries... the food in general is so, so good The dialects are so varying from area to area, that couples that marry from villages ten miles apart will have a bit of vocabulary to sort out between them. From one end of the country to the next, the local language will vary so far as to be completely unintelligible to the visiting fellow-countryman. And we are talking distances of a two hour drive at most. [When I began to study Dutch I worked hard and was proud of my progress. But upon meeting my future family and hearing what was actually spoken some fifteen years ago, it may as well have been Chinese. Eventually over the years I have sorted out the general sounds of the dialect enough to comprehend and even speak a little, but I will never be a fluent speaker of it. It is not even a written language. Thankfully Dutch is actually spoken to the shopkeeper, librarian, doctor, stranger, non dialect speaker and to God: all worship is conducted in the formal language.] Chocolate is a breakfast item. And most other times of day as well. Conversations are fun: a lot of energy is put into discussing even everyday subjects. The warm meal is midday, but the hostess will provide your warm home cooked meal at night if she knows you had sandwiches for lunch. They have medicine for everything, easily accessible, affordable, sensibly and generously dispensed. Doctors is most cases are top-notch and able to see you quickly and compared to the states, cheaply. However, as with many cultures, those of the most venerable generation (the 80-plussers) have an abundance of medical theory, whether useful or entertaining, [however, the following are with a Belgian slant] such as: Going without socks on a cold floor gives you a bladder infection Chocolate after dinner helps you burp (not sure how useful that info is, which was proffered to me by a great-grandmother, who also added:) A spoonful of sugar can be substituted for the chocolate, if you are out of chocolate Eating leeks makes for an over active bladder. If you cast any doubt on the above statements before the sage dispenser of them, they will be instantly reaffirmed with such energy that you will begin to believe them yourself." ...though we are in the middle of busy summer days, with a sudden wave of "homesickness" I miss Belgium!