breaking the ice

Brussels is not exactly famous for its sunny weather, and the month of August isn’t an exception. But, this year, all the records have been broken: only 40% of the already few normal hours of sunshine, and three times more rain than the already high average. According to the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, this is an “exceptional” phenomenon even for Brussels, which only takes place once every 30 years… Lucky me, I'm in Brussels again!

atrocious, prodigy, tidal, insurmountable, mischievously, close-cropped, svelte, husky, cold sore

Everything flows out of me
an infinite source
and I feel so invincible
my flowing course won’t dry

2001 Clara Humpel

For ages no one forced me on fair ground rides. On Thursday someone did and I actually enjoyed it. Apart from being in constant panic that I could loose my mobile phone, the adrenaline really kicked in and I wanted to do more and more. Which is a real trap, given that those things are bloody expensive and really short. Generally I have been experiencing Vienna as if I was a tourist lately. Being at Cobenzl, in Schönbrunn and at the Gloriette, having ice cream on Donauturm and so on. At the same time I have learnt some things more about the Bermuda triangular, a place with a lot of bars in Vienna. Drinking coke with red wine in the Stehachterl or dancing in Brennerei. All in all I can say it was a good decision to spend my holidays in Austria. I enjoyed Salzburg and I am rediscovering Vienna.
My new words are: candy floss and puddle

Ravenous, repulsive, innards my new words…

As I have been telling you a lot about the wedding already, it is only fair to show you a picture of the bride and the groom. They were amazingly beautiful. The wedding day was beautifully sunny. The couple managed to convince their guest to forebear traditional customs which for sure made the celebrations much more enjoyable for the newly weds themselves. The venue was also really romantic, in the renovated castle on a rock (called mountain) in Mattsee, one could see the lake from all three window-sides of the room; so romantic that it was cheesy. The most sustaining thing for me definitely is the pain in my feet though. I think I have not been wearing high heels for the last decade, which means that my feet have been in sneakers forever. Getting used to fine, female shoes would have been difficult even for a short while, but being in them for 12 hours did not only cause severe pain and blisters, no, it even resulted in sore muscles in my legs. I can tell you, that I do not feel to urge to wear high heels any time soon again, though they are very useful for making me seem significantly taller.

I found out today that there is not much difference between squeal and squeak. If I missed some essential differences, please inform me. I learned the word vile, which together with minging and rancid gives me the perfect ability to describe things I never wanted to see. As non-native it is still difficult to figure out if there are significant differences between vile, minging and rancid, but maybe someone of you out there can help.
And last but not least we had a very technical discussion about rug, carpet, fur and fleece. So hair on the animal is fur, taken off and worn or carried around is fleece and put on the floor is rug. I always thought English is a very simplistic language, where you miss a lot of words. There are so many things where in languages like German, Spanish or French you would have 3-5 words to describe different stages or slight differences. And then there is this carpet, rug, fleece, fur thing where English starts to be precise. Really funny odd.

I was at the hen party of a friend yesterday. She is going to be bride on Saturday and I am brides maid. The sad thing, I had a hang over and she did not. I was knocked out half the day and she started working at 8 am! Which leads to the word of the day: Sobriety! Additional word of the week – bumblebee.

Rain is a form of precipitation, other forms of which include snow, sleet, hail, and dew. Rain forms when separate drops of water fall to the Earth's surface from clouds. Not all rain reaches the surface, however; some evaporates while falling through dry air. When none of it reaches the ground, it is called virga, a phenomenon often seen in hot, dry desert regions. The scientific explanation of how rain forms and falls is called the Bergeron process.
New word: welding

Minging, Shandy, dressing gown and jaw seem to be my new words for this week!
Now I am off to brussels for the steering group meeting of the Council of Europe Affaires commission. I am actually looking foreward to be in Brussels, kind of like it in summer!

If she knew what she wants
(I'd be giving it to her)
If she knew what she needs
(I could give her that too)
If she knew what she wants
(But I can't see through her)
If she knew what she wants
I'd be giving it to her
Giving it to her

But she wants everything
(I can’t pretend to give her everything)
Or there's nothing she wants
(She don't want to sort it out)
I’m crazy for this girl
(But she don't know what she's looking for)
If she knew what she wants
I'd be giving it to her
Giving it to her

I'd say her values are corrupted
But she's open to change
Then one day she's satisfied
And the next I'll find her crying
And it's nothing she can explain

Some have a style
That they work hard to refine
So they walk a crooked line
But she won't understand
Why anyone would have to try
To walk a line when they could fly

No sense thinking I could rehabilitate her
When she's fine, fine, fine
She's got so many ideas travelling around in her head
She doesn't need nothing from mine