of christmas trees and snow

Head uut aastat! Happy new year! Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! Bonne Année!

I’m back in Estonia for my christmas break. New year has arrived, tons of fireworks photos have been taken. But last year’s posts have not appeared here yet, so I’ll first introduce you to the monstrosity that posed as Brussels’ official christmas tree. Some may start thinking about pharmacies when seeing that. You’ll see why:

Apparently this is the first year Brussels has been experimenting like that with the official christmas tree. After the reception from the general public, I’m not sure they will want to pull stunts like that again. It really does look horrid, but it did provide me with some entertainment: just stand at the edge of the square and chuckle at the reactions from random tourists who have just noticed the giant apothecary sign pretending to be a tree. Hilarious, I can tell you. In comparison, I can show you my family’s lovely christmas tree in my Tallinn home:

Now this is a christmas tree! And yes, there are tiny elves and not-so-tiny mice on the tree. All handmade by my awesome mum (who, my the way, decided to knit me a cardigan before I have to return to Brussels. I’ll link her blog once she finishes it and gets the photos up). I have been enjoying my time with the family and I celebrated returning to my home kitchen by making this festive pumpkin cake:

It’s wonderful to be back home, but there is one thing I definitely did not miss in Brussels: snow. I have never been a big fan of winter. It shouldn’t really be surprising – it’s a miracle if you can still enjoy it after spending your entire life in Estonia and having to dive into knee-deep snow every day for five (sometimes even six) months every year to fight your way to the bus and then finding that the next bus has been cancelled and you are forced to wait for 20 minutes in -20 degrees. Yeah, I’m not that fond of winter.

Nearly two years ago, when I had a trip to England in January, I kept exclaiming “It’s so GREEN!”, amusing Matthijs with it. He didn’t see anything special in finding green grass in January. I didn’t even know it was possible for grass to stay green throughout winter! In Estonia it gets brown and yellow and ugly near the end of autumn and then disappears under the snow, so seeing the first green patch of grass when spring arrives is always a very happy day for me. Having lived in Brussels for a bit now, I can see why it was so amusing to Matthijs. Even if there is snow on the ground for a little bit, the grass stays green! What is that sorcery!? I miss colours during wintertime. Jumping back to the topic of that England trip… this is what greeted me the day I got back to Estonia:

Yes, it can be pretty. But for now I’ll just enjoy knowing that after my lovely vacation in Tallinn, I’ll return to Brussels where temperatures should still be at +10 degrees and the grass is green. I love Estonia, but I can’t stand winter.