"Dresche"--a unique Belgian word

We all know the Inuit have (or perhaps before global warming, had) 12 or more words for "snow" since this was such a part of their culture...the first of the season: fluffy, floating, massive irregular flakes was distinguished from miniscule icy crystals that fall out of the air as the temps get so cold the moisture is squeezed out of it like shards from a breaking crystal goblet. Well, the Belgians are no different, in that they have unique words for the weather here, too...Dresche is an exclusively Belgian French word that means the drenching rain one gets that consists of heavy drops that come upon you suddenly. One minute the sky is blue, the next it's positively green and the rain is soaking you to the skivvies. If you've read Matthew's post, you know that we've just broken an almost 2-week straight raining event. If it didn't rain in the morning for taking the kids to school, then it was teeming down at lunch when we were doing errands or misting when we picked them up in the evening. All this when Matthew's parents were here: good thing they're accustomed to this from their 18 month stay in Brussels a few years ago or we'd have been very discouraged on their behalves.

Here are a few pictures of our trip down to the Grand Place and Place Ste Catherine for the Christmas market...it was one of those breaks in the rain that we timed just right--this picture is us looking up at the 1697 tower (10 or so storeys high surrounded by much lower buildings) with blue LED lights chasing up and down, draped to the massive christmas tree in the centre and then to the other buildings of the square...I think I'm saying "Oooooh, that's so pretty!" as we're gawking up. My father in law is in the far left of the scene catching our reaction on video...perhaps he'll send me a clip for me to share with you on this blog.

Here's a second picture of surprisingly good weather--but you can see from this that the air is misty, the clouds are turbulent grey in the distance and surfaces are wet. This is taken from the top of a lovely and modern ferris wheel that is in place for the month of December to celebrate the season. It was unlike anything I'd rode in before: sleek space-shuttle like enclosed gondolas, massive white steel that looked like it could withstand any "dresche" or wind--natural or nuclear. The price was tres chere, but very worth it, as we couldn't have seen these sights or heard the squeals of delight from our children in any other way. Definitely this will be worth watching on Grandpa's video of their holiday! Below us (in the picture) is a skating rink and vendor's shacks that temporarily take over this walking avenue. It was crowded and chaotic, but a great day. (A note: I think if you look into the horizon of this photo you can get an idea of how the tower in Grand Place is so spectacular: towers of churches and ancient civic buildings are the only ones allowed to touch the sky in this area, in order that they stand out and signal to onlookers their great importance.

I'll write again soon about another tower: the bell tower in Brugge: On our brief holiday to the coast, both Matthew and I climbed this tower only to look out and be assaulted with another kind of rain: sleet coming straight at us with a biting wind and temps hovering around zero: this is our winter...ah well, at least it's not SNOW!