Dear Belgium,
We got off to a bad start. I'm sorry -- I came to you tired. More tired than I knew. And my job at NATO was grueling. You also are divinely dysfunctional and dreary. But please know in your beautiful, gilded Grand Place, I drank lots of strong Belgian beers with visiting friends and stumbled to the finish line of my first marathon. Your chocolate and pommes frit are the world's best. My husband Nick adores you. You were an easy launching pad for visits to Sardinia, Oxford, Malta, Rome, Vienna, Tallinn, Vilnius, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Auchen, Oberammergau, Tbilisi, Baku, Sarajevo, Lisbon, Madrid, Reims, Lanzarote, Majorca (twice), Paris (a few times), London (a lot), and Sidmouth (even more). And yet I never made it to Ghent and Antwerp. You are the temporary home to life-long friends who were our "Brussels family" -- Barbara and Rick, Zabby and Zadam, Zia and Zeenat. I also made friends at NATO, from all over the world, who helped me through. Your international school was life-altering for my eldest. Sighting the lion of Waterloo always made my boys exclaim with glee. Your parks are big and green and fun. Thank you for the wonderful memories. See you soon.
Love Jennifer
