I've Never Met an Unhappy Squirrel

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What to write about Leuven, this has been a really great week and a perfect transition to going home. I came here to visit my friend Vanessa whom I haven't seen in about 2 years and who has been living here while doing her Masters. Thankfully Leuven is a pretty small town so it's easy to negotiate and get quickly familiar with. By the end of the week it seemed like I was also living here and I'm definitely sad to be leaving.

Some great highlights and quotes from the week:

Belgium's reputation as a bit of a quirky country is definitely solidified in my eyes.

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- random freaks roaming through the city during the longest day of the year event. It looks like I went to Mardi Gras, but I really just went to a sale.

- "I love Catholic Beer"

- getting invited onto a music trivia team by a local bartender. This guy played the best music (and vinyl!) so we always went when he was working.

- another bartender's strange fascination with otters and where in Canada he could come visit to see them.

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- the most delicious chicken ever sold a couple of doors down from Vanessa's place.

- going to a reenactment of the Battle of Waterloo. This was surprisingly cool and fun, and it's a good thing because Waterloo itself was none of these things.

- "I've never met an unhappy squirrel"

- bar hopping on the longest 'bar' in the world (really just a long square that is lined with bar after bar on both sides, ending in a high school of all things).

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- meeting some weird Norwegians with mini tobacco packs similar to chew that I mistook for him having a container of hair product on the table.

- learning that they sell fresh bread in vending machines here. It's very popular they claim.

- and of course, fries with mayo.

I should also mention Leuven's contributions to Belgium's great statue legacy because boy does it have the market cornered. There's a boy pouring beer over his head while reading a book, a hot air balloon full of people, a floating dead woman, a jester, a strange giant woman on a bench that looks more 'come hither' than a woman that ran a boarding house, and my personal favourite, a giant sewing needle with an upside down fly impaled on top of it. Belgium's reputation as a bit of a quirky country is definitely solidified in my eyes.

So overall, it's been an amazing two months off and it's going to be a bit strange coming home tomorrow and getting back to real life. But I'm looking forward to clean clothes and my apartment and a fun summer ahead so coming home will be good too. And hey, music trivia starts up its season again in September, so I just might have to come back!  Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!