Starting to say goodbye

Yesterday we went to visit Mini Europe in Brussels, a park with about 90 maquettes of famous buildings in the European Union. The London Houses of Parliament with Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower of Paris, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Acropolis of Athens, but also lesser known buildings - you can all see them there in a scale of 1:25. Very instructive and entertaining.

The Eiffel Tower amidst other monuments

El Escorial, near Madrid, Spain, a convent residence built by Philip II as a remembrance of his victory over French troops in 1577

The Grote Markt (Grand Place) in Brussels

It also felt as if we were starting to say goodbye. It ocurred to me that as a result of its long and eventful history, Europe is blessed with an incredible amount of invaluable treasures. I was a little saddened by the idea that in New Zealand we won't have the opportunity to visit places with such historic dimensions. On the other hand, what good does it do when we rarely visit them and spend our time stressing ourselves in unhealthy office buildings where the deadlines are mostly set on "yesterday"?

New Zealand is blessed with its magnificent nature, something that I can also deeply appreciate. Hopefully we will make time to savour it.