melissa_bel's VirtualTourist Home Page

Finally Brussels... well... Ixelles, actually, one of the 19 "communes" who are making up Brussels. Ixelles, urban, cosmopolitan, bourgeois-bohemians, home for students, fashion-victims and new residents from the 4 corners of the world. I live in a street that would make people wonder if Belgium really deserves it name of "the flat land". Old trams are still the norm here... the spiffy new vehicles would never be able to go up and down the hills of ixelles! It's my new home... I cannot tell you how much I enjoy being to just walk for grocery shopping... something I missed in the US. Being able to go anywhere without depending on a car is bliss to me. Walking (and tripping, occasionally losing bits of shoeheel) in the cobblestone streets of my capital... I missed that.
It's good to be home!

I am in a limbo right now...
On hold... which allow me to think about the future. Soon (in a few weeks?) I will be back to Belgium and starting a new life. It's exciting and a little scary.
I will see my family again, finally but I'll be on own after that.
As it is the calm before the storm, I'm trying to make plans, picturing what I want to do, what will be my next move and reflecting on the past... What a journey yet.
Live and learn!

A new year, a new beginning.
Wherever you are, may 2005 be a great year and of course, keep on travellin'!

Now that I live out West, this city girl is discovering the real great outdoors, like Yellowstone National Park which is only 2-3 hours from where I live. I only visited the northern part of the Park (it is huge and you'll need a few days) but, I got to see a buffalo (page about Yellowstone coming shortly).

I always loved water! It's my favourite element, ever since I was a baby. See? One of my first excursion at the Lake, not too far from where I used to live. I am having a blast!

My high-school senior year trip to Turkey with my friends: Aurore, Anne-Sophie, Mani (would you stop it?) and Vinciane are goofing around in the beautiful site of early Christian churches in Cappadocia . We had a blast! First trip without my parents. We were the gang all the teachers were watching out*grin*.

Aaaaaaaaaaahhh... Euroreporter in Edimburgh! It was a great experience to work with my fellow students from such diverse background. We had to run 2 shows for the radio of the International Science Festival. From left to right and bottom to top: Marko (Finland), Andreas (Germany), Mireille (Netherlands), Thomas (UK), Alban (Belgium), Wyke (NL), Janos (Hungary), Kristofer (Sweden), Catherine (France), Zsuzsanna (H.), Jana (G.), Éléonore (F.), Sofie (Sw), Stephanie (UK), me and Piia (Fin).

You can tell a person by its friends... Here are some of the people whom I have been lucky to cross path with during my travels. Starting from Kari (from Norway), Wissal (my flatmate from Tunisia)and Esther (from Austria) whom I met in Rome while I was an Erasmus student. .