Brussels Diaries: The Feel of A City

When you move to a new place, even for a few months, at first you feel like an overly excited tourist.

You walk around with your camera, trying our local foods (in case of Belgium - also local beers) and just look at the world through rosy shades of a city neophyte.

Then you might get into a little bit of a funk. When you already saw all the sights, learned the necessary metro stations and got into a routine, you hit that part of adaptation, when you are neither here nor there - not a tourist anymore, but still not a local.

Until THAT day comes. (Please, read also The sense of HOME)

The day when you suddenly feel like you belong, for the first time.

The day when everything around you feels very nice and familiar, like the city accepted you finally.

I don't remember THAT day in Jaroměř and don't really know if it happened at all - I was way too young. I have numerous very bright memories about those times though - golden Christmas mistletoes, old parks, bars with wooden tables, where I always received a tall glass of the best orange juice ever.

I remember THAT day in Chiang Mai. I was walking back from Sunday Walking Street Market, carrying a new pair of artisanal shoes. The weather was grim for the first time since I moved there, and as I arrived in Santitham (which was my area), it started to drizzle. It wasn't even a full-on real rain, but it changed everything. The city looked completely different - it felt like autumn (the one that never comes to that part of the world), like hot cinnamon lattes and warm socks, like sitting at home and writing short stories, like peaceful creative time free from mind-blowing Thai heat. I was walking along the streets and tail lights were reflecting in the wet asphalt.

In this moment I thought: "Shit, I can actually live here!". It was a very unusual thought for me - before I was quite sure that Chiang Mai is only a stop for me (a very hot, sweaty, sunny, 4-months long stop). The next day the sun came out, it became even hotter and I changed my mind about living in Chiang Mai forever. But ever since that day I knew I belonged.

THAT day in Palermo became a 12-months long series of THOSE days - full of fun, friendships, love, travel, food and wine. Probably this is the reason why I'm still here - it wasn't only one moment of belonging. It was reinforced every day with more amazing things happening to me.

And this brings us to THAT day in Brussels. Funny enough, it was the day when I finally committed to buying a city transportation pass. Somehow this piece of plastic with my photo made me feel like I truly belong - no more searching for a ticket machine or buying them more expensively from a bus driver, now I can move freely everywhere I want. I remember that Saturday - I went to buy candles, then worked from a cute coffee shop and enjoyed the incredibly sunny weather (a real treat for Brussels). And felt at peace, like I actually live and belong there.

 

So this brings us to this moment. I'm back in Palermo, where I know I'm at home. And now, drinking a wonderfully strong espresso in the kitchen of my new apartment, I know that the only reason to ever leave the place where I'm so happy is to experience the feel of a city again. To have a day of euphoria because you successfully found your place once again. Not many feelings can compare to it.

Thank you for reading until this point! I wish you a wonderful sunny day and leave you for now.

See you!