It's like another life. Part One

You may have noticed.  As much as we love California, we also love to get away from it for extended periods. It's like trying out a different life. Could you live the way they do?

Breakfast, from our kitchen window

I think I could get used to Belgium pretty easily. So what's different? First, there is living without a car. In Danville, it simply can't be done. I remember once trying to take the bus home from school, with one of the cars in the shop. There are buses at DVC and there is a bus stop at the end of our block. Why not give it a try, I thought. So I get on the bus at DVC, 20 min. later I'm at BART in Walnut Creek, 20 min. after that I am in Alamo at the bus stop for the line that runs by our house. I checked the schedule,  turns out the next bus will arrive in only 16 hours! It seems the bus only runs for the high school and hence only twice a day. The nearest bus to my house is about 4 miles away.  You really do need the car.

Here, I live 100 steps from a bus stop that will take me to the train station and from there to wherever I want to go. Or if I walk a little further west, I catch a line that goes to one of my two schools (There is a French & a Dutch university. Completely separate.  An interesting story for  another post.)

Place Flagey, Transportation Hub

If I go east there is a stop for the bus to the other school. The bus costs 45 € per month because we don't qualify for any of the many discounts a Belgian might claim. About 1.5 € a day. Compare that to BART. The trip to school is a 2 min. walk, & a 7 min. ride.

No, I don't miss the car at all. Last weekend we were on the train to Antwerp. We left the house about 8:30 we got there about 10:00. Cost for two door-to-door round-trip including metro? 17 €.  Amsterdam would be a bit more maybe 35 €. Pretty good, pretty cheap.  Even a Californian can live without a car.