Where do I begin?!
I had the most amazing, most magical four days ever! And
since it were so magical, am gonna write everything about it in detail across
four blog posts.
I made my way to the Elles Tournent Dames Draaein Brussels
International Female Film Festival and given that we are in the celebratory
mood of our 10th wedding anniversary, the husband joined too. This
was our first proper holiday – with just the two of us – post Madam’s entry
into our lives, so I was thoroughly excited. We spoke to Madam about her
parents taking off together for a few days and she gave us her blessings. So,
we left her with my mom and our helper and the two of us took off.
I was so excited right from the start that I even looked
forward to the long flight with its stopover in Dubai (not one of my favourite
airports for sure – the food is super expensive, the bathrooms are too few, and
it is generally over crowded and yes, I am spoilt rotten by Singapore’s Changi
airport!). I started the celebrations right from the first leg of the flight –
that took off at 1:30am from Singapore to Dubai – with a couple of movies (a
terrible Malayalam film called “Kunjiramayanam” and something else that I don’t
even recall anymore) and wine to go along. We passed our transit in Dubai –
first at a random overpriced café and then at McDonalds (only sane food place I
think) and then took the next leg of the flight which was pretty eventless and
on which. I watched another movie – the Kannada film “U turn”, which was a non
surprising thriller but with an excellent lead actress.
Once we arrived in Brussels at their local time 12:45pm, we
were greeted by the sub zero temperature as well as the volunteer from the film
festival who came to pick us up. We had a nice time chatting with her as she
figured the route to the hotel. We got lost once too, but thankfully that was
in a beautiful residential area away from the city, so no complaints!
Soon she dropped us at our Hotel Retro, which was pretty
nice. We checked in and then walked to the Turkish kebab place right opposite
and had one of the most amazing meals ever! Am not usually a huge fan of middle
eastern food but this was to die for! After feeling pretty full and happy, we
got back to the hotel for a short nap before the opening night event in the
evening.
After a good siesta, we quickly got ready and decided to
walk the 1.5kms to the venue, in -3 degree celsius weather. I was initially
skeptical about whether I would be able to handle this because I feel cold at 24
degrees in Singapore, but I seemingly survived pretty well. By the time we got
out of the hotel at around 6:30pm, it was already dark outside and pretty
chilly. But we walked through the beautiful streets of Brussels and I began to
fall in love with the city. We had been to Brussels a few years ago with both
sets of parents, but hardly got to spend any time there – just a few hours, as
part of the vast itinerary that was part of the tour package. But this time we
were exploring it by foot, and it was great!
We found our way to Bozar, a centre for the arts and the
venue of the opening night. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the festival
organizers, were fed some wine and Iranian nuts, and were introduced to the
translators who were to translate the opening night’s Iranian film that was screening
with French subtitles. We also met some fellow film makers – and together we watched
the film with the help of the translators.
Post the screening, we walked back to our hotel, again ate
at the Turkish kebab place (seriously, SUPER yum!!) and then hit the bed like a
couple of logs because we were SO exhausted from the long flight, the jet lag
and the walk in the cold.
End of Day 1 and I already love Brussels.
 |
| In transit at Dubai |
 |
| Opening night at Bozar, with the festival brochure! |
189 more to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment