Eff You Money

[Valuebo]

1 hour ago, Eldad said:

America is good about natural spaces. England and Europe are much better on city beautification. I am assuming the very rich and monarchies paid for it all many years ago. Americans think you are crazy if you don’t build something as cheaply as possible unless it’s a private home or private club or something. Then they go and spend 20k every summer to go vacation in Europe. Aesthetics in your living area are very important to mental well being and happiness imo. 

 

Absolutely. I've been living nearly all my life in what I still to this day call the most beautiful (albeit small) city in the world. I used to think people claiming their kid, house, city, country, ... is the best are silly but I do kind of believe this for my city.  Obviously this is extremely subjective and you can choose many parameters to try and debate this, but in the end everyone values things differently.

 

I still absolutely love going to the other side of the world, visiting awe inspiring nature or crazy cities like Tokyo, Bangkok or New York and then coming back to my small and well known city. It is the complete opposite and some form of safe haven where I can relax and soak up the beauty of the architecture and my memories here.

 

Picture below (gonna dox myself here but that is fine) from a couple months ago in my home city and there are many well preserved historical spots like it. I'd hate to one day leave and never come back here, despite traveling for months every year already. It's truly part of my identity.

 

Anyway, your post reminded me and made me reflect on this. So thanks for the discussion.

 

 

[Sweet]

15 minutes ago, boilermaker75 said:

 

We had a pond and loved it. We put a couple of goldfish in it and then were giving goldfish away as they multiplied. Frogs fond it. Our daughter won a gold fish at a carnival by throwing a ping pong ball into a jar. That fish was over 20 years old living in the pond when a blue heron found our pond. 

Bastard heron.  Would have shot it.

 

I probably check my pond and how this years tadpoles are doing about 5-10 times a day.

 

I thought about getting some small fish, but I was worried they might eat the tadpoles.

 

Frogs often don’t have many places to go in cities, and since we are the only ones that have a pond they all seem to come to mine.  Our pond is small - maybe 2m by 2m, but I could 20 frogs in it a few weeks ago.

 

In a couple of weeks all the tadpoles will get their legs and start climbing out.  I’d put more small ponds in around the house when the kids are older and if the wife lets me.  If she doesn’t I’ll buy some land and do something with it.  I just like seeing what wildlife I can attract to the garden.  We put in some California lilac a  couple of years ago and it took off, when I go near the bush you hear a swarm of bees, love it.

 

people don’t realise that the small things they do in their garden can have a big impact on the immediate wildlife.  

[adesigar]

Looks like the Netherlands or Belgium.

[Sweet]

6 minutes ago, Valuebo said:

 

Absolutely. I've been living nearly all my life in what I still to this day call the most beautiful (albeit small) city in the world. I used to think people claiming their kid, house, city, country, ... is the best are silly but I do kind of believe this for my city.  Obviously this is extremely subjective and you can choose many parameters to try and debate this, but in the end everyone values things differently.

 

I still absolutely love going to the other side of the world, visiting awe inspiring nature or crazy cities like Tokyo, Bangkok or New York and then coming back to my small and well known city. It is the complete opposite and some form of safe haven where I can relax and soak up the beauty of the architecture and my memories here.

 

Picture below (gonna dox myself here but that is fine) from a couple months ago in my home city and there are many well preserved historical spots like it. I'd hate to one day leave and never come back here, despite traveling for months every year already. It's truly part of my identity.

 

Anyway, your post reminded me and made me reflect on this. So thanks for the discussion.

 

 

This reminds me of Ghent.  Is it?

 

I was once there with work, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

 

Spent a few days and nights in the place, the main square was beautiful and canals right off it.  Didn’t want to leave.

[Valuebo]

9 minutes ago, Sweet said:

This reminds me of Ghent.  Is it?

 

I was once there with work, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

 

Spent a few days and nights in the place, the main square was beautiful and canals right off it.  Didn’t want to leave.

 

Yes, it's Ghent. I always tell people all over the world to not necessarily go to Bruges or Antwerp but head straight to Ghent when coming from Brussels. Ghent has even more charm than Bruges and far less tourists and chocolade shops. It's a student city with thus lots of younger people but obviously has evolved to become one of the more expensive places to buy or rent a home in Belgium. 

Edited 11 hours ago by Valuebo

[Sweet]

7 minutes ago, Valuebo said:

 

Yes, it's Ghent. I always tell people all over the world to not necessarily go to Bruges or Antwerp but head straight to Ghent when coming from Brussels. Ghent has even more charm than Bruges and far less tourists and chocolade shops. It's a student city with thus lots of younger people but obviously has evolved to become one of the more expensive places to buy or rent a home in Belgium. 

 

Yeh we were at the university actually for a few days, at a conference.  I don’t have pictures on my phones, but I have some great shots of the cathedrals.  The weather was great the week we were there, and the beer was the best I’ve ever had, even with the higher alcohol content.  I was standing near the bottom of the main square, and this bagpipe player appeared and started playing, it was very moving given the surroundings.  I’m going to dig some pictures out tomorrow and post some of that lovely place.

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Sweet

[Valuebo]

Would be great to see those pictures! Great to hear you had such a great time!

 

I'm actually in the market for a new home here. Visiting a couple this week. So exciting times. Luckily (and obviously) we don't pay the eye popping prices of Amsterdam or London but it's definitely getting expensive for regular young people to buy here, especially since so many people like it here but the city itself is so very small. Truly blessed to be in a situation where I can just decide to live here in all comfort without sacrifices.

Edited 11 hours ago by Valuebo

[boilermaker75]

40 minutes ago, Sweet said:

Bastard heron.  Would have shot it.

 

I probably check my pond and how this years tadpoles are doing about 5-10 times a day.

 

I thought about getting some small fish, but I was worried they might eat the tadpoles.

 

Frogs often don’t have many places to go in cities, and since we are the only ones that have a pond they all seem to come to mine.  Our pond is small - maybe 2m by 2m, but I could 20 frogs in it a few weeks ago.

 

In a couple of weeks all the tadpoles will get their legs and start climbing out.  I’d put more small ponds in around the house when the kids are older and if the wife lets me.  If she doesn’t I’ll buy some land and do something with it.  I just like seeing what wildlife I can attract to the garden.  We put in some California lilac a  couple of years ago and it took off, when I go near the bush you hear a swarm of bees, love it.

 

people don’t realise that the small things they do in their garden can have a big impact on the immediate wildlife.  

 

Here was our pond before the bastard heron devastated it. 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by boilermaker75

[Parsad]

5 hours ago, Valuebo said:

 

Yes, it's Ghent. I always tell people all over the world to not necessarily go to Bruges or Antwerp but head straight to Ghent when coming from Brussels. Ghent has even more charm than Bruges and far less tourists and chocolade shops. It's a student city with thus lots of younger people but obviously has evolved to become one of the more expensive places to buy or rent a home in Belgium. 

 

Will do that next time I'm in Brussels.  Was there last October, but didn't have time to go further north.  Cheers!

[Sweet]

7 hours ago, boilermaker75 said:

 

Here was our pond before the bastard heron devastated it. 

 

Wow, your pond is way bigger and better than mine.  Is the heron still an issue are any of those fish still alive?  I’ve always wondered, do the fish tolerate frogs in the pond?

[Sweet]

9 hours ago, Valuebo said:

Would be great to see those pictures! Great to hear you had such a great time!

 

I'm actually in the market for a new home here. Visiting a couple this week. So exciting times. Luckily (and obviously) we don't pay the eye popping prices of Amsterdam or London but it's definitely getting expensive for regular young people to buy here, especially since so many people like it here but the city itself is so very small. Truly blessed to be in a situation where I can just decide to live here in all comfort without sacrifices.

 

The picture of the bridge, looking at the two cathedrals, it's like an AI image.. it's just too perfect.  One of the best pictures I have ever taken.  Even when I was there I remember thinking this place is barely real.

 

I went to Bruges in Belgium, it was nice, but I much preferred Ghent.

[skanjete]

I studied for years in Ghent and it's really beautiful and a very pleasant place to stay. I've visited most of the major cities in Europe and the cities that charmed me most are Barcelona and Prague. Prague is like the exponent of Ghent. It's like entering a medieval fairy tale.

[Valuebo]

32 minutes ago, Sweet said:

 

The picture of the bridge, looking at the two cathedrals, it's like an AI image.. it's just too perfect.  One of the best pictures I have ever taken.  Even when I was there I remember thinking this place is barely real.

 

I went to Bruges in Belgium, it was nice, but I much preferred Ghent.

 

Oh yeah, the Sint-Michiels bridge is one of the best and most famous spots here to see the most impressive architectural landmarks all at once! 

 

What is crazy is that the Sint Michiels church (it was to your right side when you took the first picture) was meant to have a tower of 134m in height initially in the 1600's. To compare, the Sint Baafs cathedral is "only" 89 meters. Sadly they ran out of money back in the day so it go stuck at 80-something meters and a flat tower roof. I've jokingly posited amongst friends before that they should make a big wooden terrace on the flat surface of the Sint Michiels Tower, ask an entrance fee for what surely would be the best historical landscape view in Belgium and invest it back in the city!

 

In any case, it shows the absolute wealth we also had in the The Netherlands / Flemish regio at the time.

[Valuebo]

22 minutes ago, skanjete said:

I studied for years in Ghent and it's really beautiful and a very pleasant place to stay. I've visited most of the major cities in Europe and the cities that charmed me most are Barcelona and Prague. Prague is like the exponent of Ghent. It's like entering a medieval fairy tale.

 

Agreed! My absolute personal European favorites are probably Lissabon, Prague and Rome. But the list is endless. Just to name a few others I love: Krakau, Budapest, Porto, Siena, Matera, Lecce, Copenhagen, Granada, ...  But the list is truly endless and then you don't even mention all the obvious ones. I think we sometimes forget how lucky we are to live here in Europe.

 

---

 

Anyway, sorry to derail this topic further! I'd say my number is 3-4 million personal NW to feel truly wealthy whilst also having a partner. I'm well over halfway there in my thirties but for a good part that's because of an inheritance that helped kickstart this further. I'm fully motivated to keep doing my own projects and grow opportunities whilst not becoming a slave to my properties / general material wealth. Living the good life is fun but without the other side of the coin, you kinda start taking things for granted and can appreciate those good times less.

Edited 1 hour ago by Valuebo

[Valuebo]

5 hours ago, Parsad said:

 

Will do that next time I'm in Brussels.  Was there last October, but didn't have time to go further north.  Cheers!

 

Feel free to reach out of you would like so tips in terms of sightseeing and bars/food you should try out!

[boilermaker75]

2 hours ago, Sweet said:

Wow, your pond is way bigger and better than mine.  Is the heron still an issue are any of those fish still alive?  I’ve always wondered, do the fish tolerate frogs in the pond?

 

We tried everything to stop the blue heron--fishing wire to trip it, netting over the pond, etc. but it eventually got all the fish. Upset and frustrated I filled it in

 

Blue Herons are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, so we couldn't harm it.

 

We never had many frogs. But there did not seem to be an issue with the fish. Our Dachshund used to love to swim in the pond, we could not keep her out!