Jon Drinks to Belgium

Tour de Trappist, Part Deux

2014-04-27T07:08:00.005-04:00

Another beautiful Spring weekend in Brussels, so we decided to knock off the last two Trappist Monasteries that are open to the public, Achel and La Trappe.

Achel is the smallest of the Trappist producers and they make only two beers, a Blond and a Bruin. The Achel Bruin is probably my favorite beer next to Westvleteren and is my go to at our local pub. At the Abbey, it is possible to get the beers from the tap (van ‘t vat). This makes them lower in alcohol because they have not undergone a second fermentation in the bottle. The barrel beers are lighter and much less complex than their bottled version, which is probably why I was almost finished mine before remembering to take a photo.

The Achel monastery is not really set up for tourism. There is a small cafe where you can get the beers and snack, which seemed quite popular with local cyclists. Sitting directly on the border with the Netherlands, they also have a more extensive beer shop where they offer many other Belgian beers as well as the Abbey produced cheese. This too seemed quite popular. Overall though, the monastery is probably the least touristy of the ones available to the public. I am glad we made the time for it nonetheless as it was good to visit the home of one of my favorite beers.

La Trappe was next on the list. We arrived in time for a later lunch of a meat and cheese board paired with a couple of their beers. SWMBO went for the Blond, while I had a Bockbier followed by the Isid’or. The Bockbier is a very dark beer using chocolate malt and has rich notes of coffee, bitter chocolate and some hop. The Isid’or is named after a monk that used to brew at the monastery and is a lovely reddish Amber color with toffee flavors and light hop. Both were excellent and would rate a solid three and half Drunk Monks. Following the tour we also had the opportunity to try their Jubilaris beer. This was made to celebrate the 25th Anniverary of the Abbott of their Abbey and is very close to running out. This beer is a a bit darker than their Dubbel and has a stronger hop flavor but with a sweetness and maltiness that was quite nice as the afternoon cooled off. I would give it 4 Drunk Monks.

La Trappe is the only Trappist Beer producing monastery in the Netherlands. By Contrast to Achel, these monks bring their marketing A-game. They have a huge cafe where you can sample all of the beers including some very limited edition beers. They do quite a nice tour with a very enthusiastic tour guide and a surprisingly interesting movie about monastic life and beer. They also have the most well developed gift shop with all of the beers, breads, cheeses and chocolates produced by the monastery. They even sell monk-made bitterballen. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitterballen)

We recently had a conversation with the editor of Belgian Beer & Food Magazine (http://www.belgianbeerandfood.com) about the fact that the brewers, Trappist and otherwise, could do so much more with tourism if they wanted. Beer culture in the US has been booming for the last decade, with the awareness of Belgian beers really beginning to expand. The same can be said for the UK and some of the surrounding European countries as well. With the compact nature of the country, it would be possible to set up three or four really nice regional tours that could also feature some of the wonderful food from this country. I sincerely hope that Paul and his colleagues can help make that happen.

Following the tours, we made our way back to Brussels. We arrived home late and were pretty hungry so we headed to our local pub for dinner. As I sat down, our publican arrived with my glass Achel Bruin.

Back in Barcelona

2014-04-25T11:57:00.000-04:00

We spent Easter in Barcelona.

SWMBO’s parents were finishing up a cruise there and it seemed like a great opportunity to go to a city that we like, spend time with family and eat a lot of tapas.

A success on all counts.

It is interesting returning to a city where you have spent time previously. There is no temptation to see all of the sites, or force fit a schedule around certain activities. You can sleep in, read a book, linger in a café and not feel as though you are missing out on something better. The more we travel, the more we are inclined to behave this way anyway.

Our travel patterns these days tend to have one day where we do some hard core site seeing. I usually tease SWMBO that these are her forced marches, as she is usually the one to define the path we will take. The rest of our time however, is typically more relaxed. We still walk a lot, our strategy is to let ourselves get lost and try to see what we can see. Some of our best experiences have come by going off piste. Toss out the guide book and just wander. You tend to stumble upon something great or at least memorable.

Even when we are in siteseeing mode, it is often more tuned to taking in the scene. We will read the occasional plaque, maybe the odd information card, but we will seldom read more than a few and generally avoid the audio guides altogether. We take our time where we want and move on when we want. I would not suggest that this is the best way to explore the sites you visit, but it works for us.

We often refer to our travels as “Eating our way through Europe”. Generally we try to find little places, away from the touristed areas where we can sample simple, local food. Sometimes this is successful, sometimes not, but more often we have a good meal and a memory.

One place that is the exception that proves the rule for us is El Quim de la Bocqueria. Right off the Ramblas in the Bocqueria, in most places it’s location alone would have me avoiding it. That would be a mistake however. The first time SWMBO and I visited El Quim we came on it by chance. What we noticed first, was that the place was packed with locals. Always a good sign. So when a chair opened up, we jumped in. The place is worth going to just for the show. 5-6 guys cooking in an incredibly small space, food stacked high, serving patrons by reaching over the balanced ingredients. And the food is good. Is it the best tapas in Barcelona? I don’t know. But it is tasty, entertaining and one of our favorite places to go.

Tour de Trappist, Round 1

2014-04-13T14:30:00.002-04:00

Spring is the best time of the year in Belgium. When the weather is nice, the flowers blooming and the cafes are full of people. It is almost enough to make you forget the several months of rain that you have just endured. So to take advantage of the beautiful weather, SWMBO planned for us a driving trip to a couple of Trappist monasteries to see the sites and sample some of the monks products.

The first destination was Orval. About 2 hours from Brussels in the Luxembourg region of Belgium, Orval sits only a few kilometers from the French border. The weather was a bit touch and go early in our drive but by the time we reached Namur, the sun was out and the temperatures were rising. The Abbey at Orval is probably the most scenic of the monasteries that we have been to and is the site of some very well preserved ruins. We wandered the ruins for a while then peeked into the cathedral. The extreme quiet was a little intimidating so we left and went to their museum, trying but failing to maintain the silence.

By the time we finished in the museum, we were ready for lunch, so we went to the cafe associated with monastery. Many of the monasteries make beers that are specifically for the monks. They are referred to as Patersbiers and are generally lower in alcohol and would be classified as blondes. You can sample the Orval version only at the cafe, so this made lunch a little special. The beer itself is quite hoppy and refreshing. It was very easy to drink sitting in the sun enjoying our lunch.

After lunch, we walked back to our car and enjoyed looking at a collection of vintage MG’s and Triumphs that had stopped in the middle of their road rally to do the same thing that we had just done.

Next stop was Abbaye de Scourmont home of the most well known Trappist beer, Chimay. Leaving Orval, our GPS took us on a route that crossed into France and kept us away from most of the highways. We drove through pretty little towns and past fields bright yellow with blooming mustard. It is really a wonderful drive and it made me wish we were in one of those classic convertible MG’s.

The Abbey itself was pretty, but did not compare to Orval. The cafe for the Abbey reflects the popularity of their beers and is set up in a more touristy way. We also sampled the Chimay Doree which is their version of the Patersbier. Like the Orval it was more hopped than their other beers and considerably lighter. Again very crisp and refreshing although not as complex as the Orval.

At this point it was pretty late and we still had a long way to drive home. We purchased some cheese and bread also made by the Abbey for dinner and headed back to Brussels.

Spring Is Here

2014-03-30T14:36:00.001-04:00

It is officially Spring in Belgium. Both in accordance with the calendar and from a weather perspective. I am always struck by the wonders of the jet stream. While it is still snowing and cold in many parts of the US that are much more Southerly than Europe, here we are having mild temperatures and sunny days.

We have often said that when the weather is nice, there are few places that are more beautiful than Belgium. This weekend was a good example of that. With the warm weather, cafe’s disgorge tables and chairs into every available outdoor space. Squares fill up and sidewalks become an extension of the main service floor. And with this, every person able to walk, and some who can’t, stake out their spots for the afternoon.

After some negotiation about which medieval square we wanted to try find our space in, SWMBO and I headed for downtown. We went to the St. Catherine’s area of Brussels, an area we like very much. There are many restaurants and a few cafe’s where, if you can’t find a place to sit, can still order a glass of wine and some snacks and stand and wait for some tourist to vacate their seat. I pick on tourists, because they typically have somewhere to be and on a sunny day in Brussels a local would never relinquish their table in less than 2 hours. They are there for the duration.

We got to St. Catherine’s a little early, so the crowds were only beginning. We settled on a lovely little restaurant that we have passed several times but had never gone into. They have a spectacular raw bar set up outside and as SWMBO does not eat fish, we typically have passed by. This time though, I was in the mood for a Fruits de Mer and there are not many places that will do one for a single person. It turns out they also had a nice selection of meats on the menu so with that settled, we took a sunny table in their courtyard, ordered a bottle of wine and enjoyed our sunny Saturday like a couple of locals.

Obama Is Coming To Town

2014-03-23T14:26:00.000-04:00

Obama is visiting Belgium this week. The barkeep at our favorite local asked us what we would be doing during his visit? Would we go to Ieper for his visit to the American cemetery? As veterans of DC, we told him that we would do everything possible to avoid the inevitable traffic jams that his motorcade would cause.

He commented that Belgium became the de facto capital of the EU so that they could have visits like this but that they may have gotten more than they bargained for.

SWMBO and I chatted about this for a while and frankly, what other country could have been the seat of the EU? You can picture the discussion going something like this.

France?

The food is great but too many strikes.

Germany?

Do you really want to give those people that kind of power? Look at what happened last time.

Yeah, right.

OK how about Italy?

No, they strike more than the French and then there is the corruption.

Spain?

Seriously?

Right.

UK?

They don’t want to be part of the EU in the first place.

OK forget I asked.

The Netherlands?

Coffee shops + Prostitutes = Scandals

Yeah, bad idea.

Luxembourg?

Too rich to care.

What about the Scandanavian countries?

Too Cold.

Greece?

Now you are just messing with me.

Belgium?

Great food. Good Beer. No risk of power going to their head. Close to everywhere. Perfect!

Considerations For The Prospective Ex-Pat

2014-03-02T04:30:00.002-05:00

I was speaking with a colleague the other day about whether I would do an ex-pat assignment again. We were discussing how global our business is and that the demands might require that some of us relocate to various parts of the world. What I told my colleague is that I would, but I would do it differently than we did in this first experience. So, if you are considering a global assignment, these thoughts may help you as you consider the situation.

Define an End Date: We are on a permanent contract with no defined end date. The principle issue with this is we never know when the experience will end. It colors all of your decisions, particularly those that involve purchases that are discretionary. Little things like appliances you do without because you don't want something else that you will have to throw out at the end of your time because they work on 220 rather than 110. An end date gives your stay definition. You can always agree to an extension but without an end date, you always have some level of uncertainty.

The Trailing Spouse: I was worried when we were planning this move. SWMBO had worked full time for the entire time I knew her. She is a bit of an introvert and I was a little worried that she would feel isolated. It turns out that i did not need to worry as she has developed quite a social calendar with language classes, cooking lessons, book clubs, etc. to keep her busy. When you are negotiating, try to negotiate some things in for your significant other like language classes. Anything that will help them assimilate while you are immersed in your work environment.

Do not accept an American Vacation Allowance: We have a typical Belgian vacation allotment and it is perfect. We have met other expats however, who have the standard US 2-3 weeks of vacation. When you are overseas, this is completely unacceptable. The whole point of being an expat is immersing in the new culture and seeing a bit of where you live. With 2-3 weeks of holiday, you will use it going back to the US to visit family and friends and will not have the time to explore.

Negotiate the condition of your return visits: When I signed on, the company agreed to pay for one trip a year back to the US for the two of us, for the first three years of my contract. There were two factors here. First, negotiate the class of travel or negotiate a budget. We were stuck in cattle class for our returns without the possibility of upgrading. Secondly, negotiate for the duration of the contract. When that perk goes away, it is like a salary reduction.

Guarantee your compensation against large fluctuations in currency: This has not happened to us, but it is not too far fetched that if you are being paid in the local currency, that a currency fluctuation could have an impact to your lifestyle. The reason your company wants you there is because they can't find a local to take the position. Make sure they protect you.

Housing: We rent in Belgium and have a lovely old home. In some parts of the world however, I would try to negotiate a housing subsidy or the full cost. Cities like London are incredibly expensive and this can impact your happiness and that of the trailing spouse. Do not underestimate how the housing arrangement can influence your comfort level with the new location. Think about how the location provides access to community or how it might isolate you. It is probably the most important decision you will make.

Taxes: Most people do not realize it, but if you are an American, you must pay taxes on your income in both the country where the income is generated as well as the US. Uncle Sam always gets his cut.
You will likely get help with local taxes from the company but if you don't, negotiate this in. Think about the tax burden of your new country as well as that of the US and negotiate your compensation accordingly. It is likely you will be responsible for a much bigger tax payment than you ever considered in the US.

Would we consider another ex-pat assignment? I think we would. I would probably be looking for someplace a little warmer and drier than Belgium for the next one, but we are enjoying the experience. That being said, there is no place like home and I think after being away for 3 and a half years, going back to the US might be a little like an expat assignment for us. At least for a little while.

Christmas in Latvia

2013-12-28T10:18:00.004-05:00

It was supposed to be Thailand. When the Sun Devil said she would not be able to join us for Christmas in Europe, we had originally though that it would be a good time for us warm up a little in a resort in Thailand with a quick side trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Given the political unrest in Thailand and our relatively late planning, we decided to postpone that trip for a couple of shorter trips, a bit closer to home. Which is how we found ourselves on a propeller-driven Dash 8 on Baltic Air heading for Riga.

Riga sits on the Coast of Latvia and is split by the Daugava River. We arrived around mid-day, however being so far North, it was already beginning to look like dusk. We stayed at the Gallery Park Hotel, which was a good choice. The location was perfect, right between the Old Town and the Art Nouveau district. The hotel itself is a step back in time but looking fairly recently restored. The young staff were quite attentive and made our stay very pleasant.

After about 3 hours on a propeller airplane, we were quite hungry so set out to find some food after checking in. We wandered around for a little while until we found a small garage themed bar where we could get pork sandwiches and watch some hockey. As with almost all the meals that we had in Latvia, the food was simple but good. Overall, I would have to say that we were surprised with how good the food was. The service ranged from excellent to absent but as a whole you can eat quite well on a limited budget in Riga.

SWMBO and I have spent quite a bit of our travel time recently in countries that were formally behind the iron curtain. It is always interesting to see how the country has adapted since that time. Latvia will switch to the Euro on January 1 but for the moment, the Lat is still the currency. What is interesting is how inexpensive things like locally produced food can be while imported products are substantially more expensive. This seems to result in a very economically polarized environment. Bentlys and expensive restaurants on one end with the Riga Central Market on the other. Not much in the middle however.

The Riga Central Market is vast. It is centered around 5 Pavillions that are repurposed German Zeppelin hangars. Here you can buy anything, food, clothing, housewares, you name it and all at very low prices. The food quality looked excellent and if you are into Eastern Bloc Chic, the clothing pavilion may be right up your alley.

On Christmas Eve, we spent the morning wandering around the Art Nouveau District. It was very near our hotel and is really quite nice. I am often surprised at how much original architecture has been preserved in places like this. Particularly when one considers the successive Russian-Nazi-Russian Occupation history of Latvia. Many of the buildings seemed to be undergoing some level of restoration which is really good to see as some of these buildings are truly spectacular.

One thing that did strike me during our wandering of Riga was the number of security cameras. They are on most every corner. It definitely had a bit of Big Brother feel to the whole thing, which is surprising. Riga generally feels like a pretty safe place. There is very limited pan handling, particularly as compared to Brussels, and even later at night we never felt uncomfortable.

Six days was probably a little more time than we needed to see Riga. I think it would make a nice three or four day weekend, maybe tied to a trip to Tallinn or Vilnius. Next up will be Lisbon for the New Year!

Catching Up

2013-12-09T15:15:00.000-05:00

The last month has been a bit of a blur and the rest of the year will continue more of the same. The weekend following our trip to Edinburgh, we jetted off to Phoenix. Serendipitously, the largest meeting for my field was in Phoenix which gave me the opportunity to mix work with a bit of pleasure. With the Sun Devil living minutes from the convention center, we were able to stay at her place while I could spend my days learning the latest.

Every time we visit the Sun Devil, I am always envious of her. She is living in a great location with an array of fun places to eat and lots to do. And after almost 4 years in Belgium, the weather alone would be a reason to live there. We may have to move to Phoenix at the end of this journey just to dry out.

I think my favorite part of the trip was the last weekend. We went together to a Mexican market and bought some protein to toss on the grill and just had a nice evening. The following day we had to leave in the evening so we grilled some more food and watched football all afternoon. It was really nice to have family time. We don’t get to do that nearly enough and it make me value it all the more when we do.

We were home in Belgium for all of three days before heading out to Dubrovnik, Croatia. In contrast to Phoenix, the weather was fairly cold and sporadically wet. We chose Dubrovnik at the recommendation of SWMBO’s father. He had never been but thought it sounded interesting. A little internet research and we agreed. Although had we done more research we may have found out that we were going at the rainiest time of the year. On a positive note, going in the off season gave us an opportunity to see the city without the crowds that are typical of the summer months.

Dubrovnik is a lovely city. The old section is enclosed by a Medieval wall. The city was shelled during the war but UNESCO money has enabled much of the scars to be repaired. One or two cruise ships are in port every day dropping 5-6000 people into the center of the old town which makes it a bit crowded, but mercifully, they all leave before dinner leaving it to the locals and the few tourists in the local hotels. The food was really quite good. The menus are very fish centric for the most part but they have enough variety that SWMBO found good things too. One night we ate at a Bosnian restaurant with 4 tables. Obviously a husband and wife show. The food was very similar to Turkish food, which we like a lot. The complimentary house-made walnut liqueur didn’t hurt either.

I don’t normally speak about the hotels that we stay at but the Hilton in Dubrovnik really impressed me. They were very nice on our arrival and as a Hilton honors member, they upgraded our room. But what really blew me away was that during the check in process, someone must have noticed that it was SWMBO’s birthday from her passport. When we returned to our room, we had a bottle of Champagne courtesy of the hotel as well as a selection of deserts. Kudos to them. The staff really made our stay memorable.

While we were driving to the hotel, our cab driver mentioned that we may want to take a day trip to Montenegro or to Bosnia. Saturday was forecasted to be very rainy so we thought some time in the car wouldn't be bad. We settled on going to Mostar, Bosnia. It is about 2 hours from Dubrovnik and was the site of some very heavy fighting during the war. The city is separated by the Neretva River. Historically this was also the religious divide, with Catholics on one side, Muslim on the other. Until 1993 the 400 year old Stari Most bridge connected the two halves of the city. In 1993 the bridge was destroyed but has since been rebuilt. There are some very riveting videos of the fighting here on Youtube.

Nothing quite prepares you for leaving a city like Dubrovnik which while old, is still intact and then heading to a place where 20 years after the war, little repair has happened. Throughout the route, ruins of homes and entire neighborhoods stand empty. Once in Mostar you are struck by how many buildings have bullet holes through them. The Stari Most bridge may have been repaired but many of the buildings on either side of it have not. It is really sobering.

Edinburgh

2013-11-05T15:06:00.005-05:00

November is shaping up to be a busy travel month. We just finished All Saint’s day, which is a federal holiday in Belgium. Because we can’t get enough of rainy locations, we decided to take the long weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland. This time of the year, Edinburgh can be a real weather gamble, but against all odds, we had excellent weather two of the three days.

The castle in Edinburgh really sits on top of the city. It seems that everywhere you go there is a different view of the castle. Because it is compact, the city is very walkable, which is not the same thing as easy to walk. The elevation changes had our legs and feet hurting by the end of the weekend. At least the exercise helped to burn off the less than healthy Scottish food.

We really enjoyed the Scottish people. Everyone was really friendly and we met a couple of genuine characters. One of whom has written a book about Scottish history and promoting secession from the UK. He has nothing against the English, mind you…

Saturday was…wet. The rain was persistent and it was cold and windy. So naturally, it lent itself well to pub hopping. It seems that much of the city had the same idea, which wasn't apparent until later that evening when we were heading out to dinner. The number of people who were absolutely pissed (to use the local vernacular) at 7PM was impressive.

On Saturday we (meaning me) did a couple of Scotch tastings. One lesson learned from this is that if you tell the scotch purveyor that you don’t really have a budget in mind and that you are interested in something rare, they will pull out some scary expensive bottles of scotch for you to taste. As in all trade-offs in life, you get to taste some amazing Scotches but the flip side is that you will be purchasing one of these beauties as well. At least it didn’t break on the trip back to Brussels.

Our next trip should be drier and warmer. Next weekend we head to Phoenix. One of the biggest conferences for my work will be there next week and it gives us a great opportunity to visit the Sun Devil.

Trappist in Name Only

2013-10-30T15:35:00.000-04:00

Tonight was Den Engel night. We will be on a plane to Edinburgh tomorrow, so we had to make sure we fit it in. For the last week or so, Den Engel has had Gregorius Bruin, the newest Trappist beer from Austria on special http://www.stift-engelszell.at/cmsimple/. (albeit at 7.50 euro a glass) So, after my usual Trappist Achel (he just brings it without ordering) I ordered the Gregorius.

Marc, the Publican, came over and warned me that the difference between the Achel and the Gregorius was like the difference between a well aged whiskey and, well one that is not.

The Gregorius was, a little harsh. At 9.7% you could really taste the alcohol. It has flavors of coffee and burnt caramel and is generally bitter. On the drunk monk scale, a generous 2.

I am left thinking that Austrian monks have a very different outlook on life than Belgian monks. Austrian monks want you to atone for your sins. Belgian monks want to encourage more sinning.

I prefer the Belgian view.

Autumn

2013-10-27T06:39:00.000-04:00

Autumn in Belgium tends to be a mixed bag weather-wise. Absolutely spectacular crisp sunny days off set by miserable cold rainy days. So when the weather is nice, it is best to take advantage of it. Recently, that has meant visiting some breweries and trappist monasteries (along with their breweries).

Earlier in the month we visited Oud Beersel in the town of Beersel. Oud Beersel specializes in lambic beers. A lambic is a beer that is fermented using atmospheric yeasts and bacteria. The result of this are beers that tend to be tart, with a pretty unique flavor profile. They also tend to be lower in alcohol because the natural yeast do not convert the sugars to alcohol as efficiently.

SWMBO and I thought we would pop in for their once monthly English tour and then get some lunch afterward. We figured that the tour would be about 30-45 minutes with a brief tasting. It actually turned into three and a half hours of education with our enthusiastic guide giving us tastings of every beer they make.

Oud Beersel makes a few different versions of lambics, they make a basic lambic which is packaged in a 5L a in a box. It is very crisp with apple and pear notes and would be excellent on a hot summer day. They also make gueze. Gueze are lambics that are aged in wooden barrels for a couple of years before being blended into the final product. According to our tour guide, each barrel has its own micro-environment of yeasts and bacteria going back 50+ years. Consequently, each barrel develops its own personality and flavor profile. A byproduct of this is that lambic breweries do not clean anything. They want to preserve the environment that they have worked years to develop, so the brewery itself is covered in cobwebs and dust going back generations.

I had tried to introduce SWMBO to gueze once before, I believe it was a Cantillon, and she was not a fan. Because of the methods used, some of the gueze can rely on a lot of lactic fermentation from the many species of lactobacilli in the environment. This can give a very sour vinegar flavor. Oud Beersel works to keep this type of fermentation down to make a much more balanced beer. SWMBO actually liked these.

The other, and arguably more popular, lambics are krieks (cherry) and framboise (raspberry). These beers are made from a base lambic with a huge quantity of fruit placed in the barrel to macerate and add to the fermentation. Krieks and framboise are very popular year round in Belgium but especially so in the spring and summer where the fruity tartness and low alcohol make them the go to choice for a light lunch or aperitif. Oud Beersel’s kriek is really excellent, but their framboise is spectacular. It smells like a bowl of fresh raspberries. The fruit is well balanced by the lambic beer. it is not sweet, but rather tart and refreshing. On a drunk monk scale, certainly 4.5. Interestingly, our guide commented that they added a small percentage of kriek to the framboise for color because “consumers are stupid and they expect a framboise to be pink.” He also commented that the big producers used food coloring. All I know is that we brought samples of all of them home for further taste testing.

Following our trip to Oud Beersel, SWMBO signed up with a Flemish women’s group to tour the Abbey at Chimay, home to Chimay beer which is one of the best known Belgian beers outside of Belgium. SWMBO’s flemish is coming along nicely and is at a point where she can begin to have legitimate conversations with people and can follow along just fine with the flemish tour. With the tour, SWMBO was able to try Chimay Doree which is only available at the Abby and is the beer that the monks have with meals. I am very jealous that I have not yet had the opportunity to add this rarity to the beer list.

The weekend after our trip to Oud Beersel, we drove out to Westvleteren to pick up a couple of cases of the Westvleteren 12 that SWMBO reserved to get us through the winter. I have talked about this beer a couple of other times on the blog. It is excellent and has won the Best Beer in the World award on multiple occasions. The 2 hour drive from Brussels takes you through much of what constituted the front line during WWI. We did what we typically do when we make a run to the Abby. We had lunch in cafe. (The Abbey Pate is excellent.) Then we picked up our cases from the monks. Beer secured, we decided to drive through Ieper (Ypres) and visit a couple of WWI battlefields and cemeteries. The weather was beautiful, but it was a bit somber visiting the Menin Gate and then the cemetery at Polygon Wood. I always feel like I should know more about WWI whenever we drive through this area. The cemeteries and memorials dot the landscape and it is always surprising just how many people lost their lives in this area to accomplish very little. We also stopped by the American Cemetery at Flanders Fields to see if it was closed due to the Government Shutdown. Sure enough, it was.

Market Day

2013-09-28T10:29:00.001-04:00

Europe has amazing markets. Whenever we move back, I am sure that this will be the thing that I miss most. (maybe next to Den Engel). It is hard to describe the markets to someone who has never been to one. There is a tremendous variety and each one has its own particular character. The market in Antwerp is excellent. It is on Saturday mornings and it is big. My favorite part of many of these markets are the stands selling food to eat immediately. You have the oyster guys with champagne and white wine. There are the asian food vendors with lumpia (egg rolls) and Phad Thai. The moroccan vendors with durum pancakes filled with feta and honey. and it goes on.

We always time our market visits to the brunch hour. Glass of wine, something to munch on, then we shop for dinner. Today was tea and moroccan pancakes. Being Autumn, it is mushroom season and everywhere you look there are vendors selling amazing varieties of mushrooms. Cepes, black trumpet mushrooms, elk horns, you name it. A good excuse for mushroom pasta in my book.

Soon it will be the Chasse (Hunting season), and the markets will fill up with wild game. Rabbit, venison and wild boar. Not to mention Fois gras. I really think this is the best time of the year to be here.

In the US there are farmers markets and they are nice for what they are, but they are nothing like this. I love the fresh produce and the home baked items, but there is something special about being able to get a half dozen oysters, a glass of champagne while you are shopping for the week.

I think it is going to be hard to move home.

Beer Me

2013-09-07T14:51:00.003-04:00

This is the Annual Brussels Beer Weekend (http://www.belgianbrewers.be/en/events/belgian-beer-weekend-171/article/belgian-beer-weekend). It is our fourth. We moved here one week before the first one we attended back in 2010 and it has become how we mark time spent in Belgium. Three years, four Beer weekends.

As one would expect, Beer Weekend has proven to be a draw for visitors. Even from the first Beer Weekend, we have had people join us for each one. This year it was a collection of colleagues from around the globe. SWMBO (ever the hostess) picked up our Jeton and crowns to get our glasses and beer. Unfortunately we miscalculated. We thought that we would be getting the 33cl normal beer pours that we had in every previous year but this year they moved to small half pours. Probably an effort to reduce public drunkenness but it forced us to thwart their efforts by relocating to http://www.moederlambic.com for post festival beers.

In addition to Brussels Beer Weekend, it is also Reuzenfeest (http://www.reuzen.be) in our town. It is really hard to fully capture what Reuzenfeest is but essentially it is a festival with big paper mâché giants as the central characters. In addition to a parade of giants, we also have a big market featuring lots of junk food and yes, beer. Currently we are awaiting the fireworks which mark the halfway point of the festival.

Tomorrow, back to the Beer Festival with a couple of other co-workers. A light day, I think. It is a school night after all.

Alsatian Vacation

2013-08-18T13:08:00.001-04:00

Belgium being Belgium, we had a nice 4 day weekend in August due to a National Holiday. (Feast of the Assumption of Mary) 4 Day weekends mean finding someplace new to visit, so this time it was Alsace. From Brussels it is a four hour drive to Strasbourg so we decided to break it up by planning for lunch in Metz, which is in the Lorraine region just south of Luxembourg. Metz is a really lovely little town sitting literally in the middle of the Moselle River with beautiful Cathedral and a very scenic square, where we had lunch. It was a really good choice by SWMBO given the fact that we she had not researched it at all before choosing our destination. We spent a couple of hours sightseeing, eating and sightseeing some more before heading off for Strasbourg.

If I have to be honest, we were a little disappointed in our first impression of Strasbourg. The main square around the Cathedral is pretty touristy. In fairness, it is the high season, so the shear volumes of tourists contributed to that feel. Like most cities with a big tourist draw, it is possible to go a little off the beaten path and get away from the trinkets and trash. While we were there we found a couple of really nice places to eat and spent our Thursday evening and Friday wandering around taking in the sights. Unlike a lot of cities we have been to, there were not that many Americans. There were some, but Strasbourg must be far enough down most people’s lists that numbers are limited. There were plenty of Germans and Italians though.

One of the things that we enjoy most about trips like this is having our car. A car gives you the freedom to go and see places that you otherwise would not be able to or if you did as part of a tour, would need to adhere to someone else’s schedule. Most of all, it opens you up to random possibilities. Saturday was like that. SWMBO had suggested that we go visit Colmar which is a historic little city with a medieval old town. As we headed down the highway en route to Colmar, the GPS noted construction and offered us a bypass. The bypass put us on the Route des vins de Alsace (Asatian wine route). OK twist our arms. The rural route was a much better alternative to the freeway. The countryside in Alsace is spectacular and the wineries are really fun to visit as well. Probably our favorite experience, if not favorite wine, was at a little winery stand on the side of the road. When we stopped the Vintner was entertaining some Portuguese tourists. The stand was similar to a fruit stand you might see in the countryside except he was pouring wine tastings. Liberally pouring tastings. It was like a wine lemonade stand.

Driving through the countryside in France is really a nice experience. The small towns are very scenic and we have almost without exception, found the people to be warm and friendly. Mon francais c’est la merde. And yet, it is enough to break the ice. Usually that means that they use their impeccable english, but sometimes I have to man up and attempt to communicate. Results are mixed but we always seem to have a good time.

Today we drove home. All freeway this time. We had to get back because we leave for the US tomorrow and need to pack. It was a good day for driving home. A little rain and cooler temps made it not so hard to leave. It is interesting that driving habits seem to segregate by national origin. The Germans are all channeling Sebastian Vettel. The Dutch speed until they see a speed limit sign in which case they drive precisely the speed limit. The Brits drive like they own the place. The French do what they want. The Belgians are just bad drivers.

Has It Really Been That Long?

2013-08-11T10:49:00.001-04:00

In a few short days, we will have been living in Belgium for three years. It really is hard to believe. The time has flown by and it has brought into perspective the comments we have heard from other Ex-Pats. In general they follow the lines of; If you are here at 3 years, then you will be around for 5. If you make it to 7 years, you may never leave. I don’t know how true the last one is, but the former seems entirely plausible.

We just returned from three weeks in the US, which further reinforces the concept. On our arrival we happened to sit behind a mother and her two daughters who had just finished 9 months in the UK and were visiting family in Northern Michigan. She commented that she felt a little disconnected after being out of the US for that amount of time. We assured her that we knew what she meant and in fact the longer we are away, the more the disconnection sets in. The funny thing is, the disconnects are generally the small things, like the cultural touch-points that people take for granted. We do our best to stay on top of the US news and Belgian television makes sure that we don’t lose track of what is happening with the Kardashians, people engaged in wars du storage or American Picking. What you do lose however, is much of the local news, events and definitely anything that happens in US Prime Time. For any of those things, we are frankly, clueless. We also find ourselves making references to our reality, which our friends in the US have no visibility to, BBC television, Australian cooking shows, european news etc. You can’t win.

Invariably, our friends and family ask us “Are you homesick yet?” “When are you coming back?” “Are you sick of it yet?”. And the funny thing is, the answers to them are Yes and No, We have no idea, Sometimes but not all the time.

There is certainly the draw of coming back home and being closer to family and friends and this is why I don’t see us making Europe a permanent home. Homesickness comes in waves and generally is worse when the weather is crap and there is nothing to do, which for this spring was essentially the entire season. But then again, there are days like today when you go to a french market, find amazing bread, cheese, produce, etc. Have a glass of wine and something delicious to nibble on (today was moroccan crepes). Then move on to a little cafe and while away two hours with another glass of wine and apple tarts. So for those aspects, it does make it hard to be sick of it entirely. As for when we will come back, we honestly have no idea. I just got notice that I am eligible to achieve unlimited stay status which on the upside will make the annual residency work less annual, but on the downside means we are closer to turning this into an unlimited stay.

The other night we had some friends over. Two were colleagues from the US, one on a three month stay and the other on a 6 month stay to support some work we are doing here. Both are living in furnished corporate apartments in Brussels. We also invited another couple who are Brits and serial Ex-Pats (Germany, France, US, Belgium). It was fun to help out the Americans with getting settled here. (Identifying laundry detergent from fabric softener was the big win for both of them.) For us it was interesting in how different their experience is from ours. For one, they may be living here, but it is more akin to staying in a hotel than actually moving. They know when they are going back. There is no commitment and therefore no need to really immerse or develop connections. It is more Ex-Pat light.

We have much more in common with the serial Ex-Pats. We are here, with our stuff, and we need to make an effort for some level of assimilation. Where our US colleagues can maintain a certain distance from it, we cannot. We need to be more culturally sensitive, more accommodating and make more of an effort to figure out how everything works. It isn’t always easy. Can sometimes be incredibly frustrating. But it is also a wonderful learning experience.

So I don’t know if the Ex-Pat assumption will hold true and our three years in Belgium will turn into five. We still get to see the Sun Devil with reasonable frequency. Some of the other members of the family not so much, but they seem to like Skype. The lifestyle here is pretty comfortable and SWMBO’s Flemish is coming along well. My French is still crap, but good enough to get what we order most of the time. I think we will stick around for a bit longer. Besides, SWMBO’s list of places to visit continues to grow.

Hotels

2013-05-18T16:37:00.000-04:00

I travel. A lot.

When you travel a lot, you develop routines, habits, preferences and a lot of opinions. A few of my recent trips got me thinking about this where hotels are concerned.

For full disclosure, I am not a fan of budget hotels or Bed & Breakfasts. I have stayed in my share of them and as for the former I am fortunate enough not to have to patronize them and for the latter, enough have disappointed that any charm they may have isn't worth the risk that they lack it. Which more often than not, is the case.

For me, I like a full service hotel. I do not need extreme luxury, but I do want space, cleanliness and comfort. I prefer a hotel that has a real restaurant, preferably with a well appointed bar. I want check in to be pleasant and efficient. I have traveled a long way and just want to get through the process and get to my room. I do not care about a spa, but appreciate a quality fitness room. Even if I seldom use the gym clothes that I pack. What I do not like are gimmicks. I do not want a pillow menu. Don’t call me 20 seconds after I arrive in my room to ask if everything is OK. If it isn’t I will let you know. I do not need a leopard print bathrobe and slippers. Nobody wants to see that, least of all me.

A great example of what I like is the Yeatman in Porto, Portugal. The check in was a bit more involved than I would like, but the staff are friendly and helpful so it is not an issue. The rooms are classic but not stuffy. Most importantly they are comfortable. The furniture is functional and you feel like lingering. The bar area was really comfortable, had an incredible wine list. Our room had a nice garden area where, had it not been raining, I could easily picture ourselves opening a nice bottle of recently purchased port, ordering the cheese plate from room service and spending the evening looking at the view. Comfortable. Given the opportunity, we will be back.

By contrast is the W Hotel in Leicester Square. We had the opportunity to join a couple of friends in London to see the Book of Mormon,(Excellent) so She Who Must Be Obeyed booked us at the W which was very close to the theater. The W is everything I hate in a boutique hotel. It started poorly with the desk staff on our arrival. It seemed that our presence was a real burden to them. They were having a nice conversation and we had the audacity to step off the elevator. Once we got to our room. it was frankly, absurd. The middle of the room taken up by the sink, mirrors and shelves. The bed shoved to the side and the bathroom door identical to the closet. Cool colored lights were strategically placed throughout the room. Unfortunately these same cool colored lights turn into an IQ test as you try to locate the switches to turn them off in the evening. I am probably too old, too ugly and too unsophisticated to fully appreciate the W, but then again, at about $400 a night, should that matter?

Most recently, SWMBO and I checked into the Marmara Pera in Istanbul. Our first room violated the cleanliness requirement having not been serviced since it’s last guest. Apparently a fan of nut products. We were moved from the unclean room with the great view of the Bosphorus to the “better” room with the view of the urban decay. I give the hotel manager full marks for trying to sell on this. I think he may have developed his skills hawking carpets before moving to the hospitality industry. At least the room was clean. On the upside, the hotel has a great breakfast buffet.

What is interesting is the differences that you see between American hotels and their European cousins. American hotel rooms are generally larger, more plush and have bathrooms that do not cause you to spray water all over them. They also have sheets. Europeans, particularly of the Northern variety, prefer Duvets. This is not universal, but tends to hold true.

What I don’t get, is that in concept having a great hotel should not be that complex. Great bed, clean room, free internet, good food, better bar, efficient service. Is that really so hard?

Brugge Beer Festival

2013-02-03T11:41:00.003-05:00

Trolling for things to do this weekend, She Who Must Be Obeyed found the Brugge Beer Festival ( http://www.brugsbierfestival.be ). Brugge (or Bruges in French/ English) is a really scenic but very touristy town close to the Belgian Coast in Flanders. We have been many times as it is usually on people’s must see list for Belgium, but generally we try to avoid it, particularly during the high season. As this was the low season and they were hosting a beer festival, we got a hotel room and took the hour drive out Saturday morning.

Belgian Beer Festivals are an interesting way to spend an afternoon. The Brugge Beer Festival was no exception. The nice thing about this festival was the number of smaller breweries that were available. The Brussels Beer Weekend has a better atmosphere because it is outside in the middle of the Grand Place, but the number of breweries is limited due to the limited space. This festival by contrast was full of unique breweries with some really interesting options.

Which means, it is time for more Drunk Monks!

SWMBO and I gravitate toward different types of beers. She is a fan of the tripels predominantly and I like the darker beers, so this let us try a lot of different beers across a few styles. Another unique thing about this festival is that they did a 15 cl pour (sometimes a bit less) which is less than half of a typical bottle of beer. So you get a nice sample and can try more beers without getting completely impaired. Although to look at some of the attendees, they did not allow a small pour to get in the way of their impairment.

The first two beers were exactly the kind of beers that we went to the Festival to try. Bryggja Brewery and Henricus Brewery are too small to go to many shows and for this one, they paired up. The Bryggja Tripel had the herbal flavors and creamy mouthfeel you look for in a tripel. Easy to drink, probably a bit too easy. Three Drunk Monks.

The Henricus Brewery Paljas had a light sweetness and some hop. Not as good as the Bryggja. Two and a Half Drunk Monks.

While enjoying these first beers, SWMBO purchased a couple of raffle tickets and won a Duvel Gift Pack which she wielded, cudgel-like throughout the day cutting a swath through the inebriated crowds.

Next up, we had a couple of offerings from Sint Canarus. SWMBO went for the Sint Canarus Tripel which was very light with a citrusy/grassy flavor. It was interesting, but probably not our favorite. Two and a Half Drunk Monks.

I went for the Pere Canard Barrel Aged. This was a 10% alcohol deep, rich beer. The beer had lots of toffee and coffee flavors with a caramel sweetness. After 15 cl I felt like I just had a rich dessert. Three and a Half Drunk Monks.

After recovering, we went to the Fort Lapin booth. They have a great logo but these were probably our least favorite beers of the day. SWMBO got the Tripel (are you seeing a trend yet?) and I got the Quadrupel. The Tripel had a really interesting combination of citrus and pear with some herbal overtones. I didn’t care for the combination. It wasn't bad, just not my taste. Two and a Half Drunk Monks.

The Quadrupel is a dark heavily alcoholic beer. It was both sweet and bitter and both of us felt like it’s aftertaste was reminiscent of beef stew. It would probably make a great beer based stew but I was happy that I only had to drink half a bottle. Two and a Half Drunk Monks.

At this point we bumped into a couple of other Americans who were living in Germany and had come across by train for the weekend. The husband did not think that the beers tasted like beer. Obviously he has been drinking a lot of lagers. His disappointment in the Belgian Beer was obvious. They have not been in Europe for a year yet and it really sounded like they did not do a very good job negotiating the assignment. He only gets three weeks of vacation a year. I wonder how he will feel in August when everyone around him is taking the month off.

After talking to the American couple we wandered off to John Martin to get a Bourgogne Des Flandres. After two 10% beers it was nice to get back to a lower alcohol (5%) dark lambic. This beer had lambic sourness with a deep, rich almost date-like flavor. Three Drunk Monks.

While I was enjoying the lambic, SWMBO picked up a Gentse Strop from Roman Brewery (and shockingly, not a Tripel). The beer had malty flavor with some citrus but was overall a bit blah. Two Drunk Monks.

We took a little break at this point and enjoyed the people-watching. There are many interesting sartorial choices made at events like this. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

After our break, SWMBO and I decided to divide up and pick some different breweries. SWMBO went for a Jessenhofke Tripel which I have rated here before. True to form, it is still excellent. I went for a Prearis Quadrupel from Vliegende Paard Brouwers. The Prearis was easily my favorite beer of the day. Caramel and toffee notes, rich but very drinkable. Four Drunk Monks

Last up, SWMBO veered away from Tripels again and chose the Rebel Local IPA from Brouwers Verzet. This was SWMBO’s favorite of the day and it was excellent. Lightly hopped as compared to a US IPA. It had a complex combination of flavors with a citrusy finish. Four Drunk Monks.

My last of the afternoon was a La Trappe Quadrupel. Another high alcohol dark beer and like the Prearis, extremely tasty. Three and a Half Drunk Monks.

While we could have stayed and continued to taste away, as the afternoon moved on the crowds got worse and a bit more inebriated. We figured we would leave while we were still enjoying ourselves rather than wait for it to degenerate.

We left the festival, found some dinner and enjoyed wandering around Brugge at night. All in all a great day.

Snowmageddon, Belgian Style

2013-01-20T13:20:00.000-05:00

We have been getting some weather this week. A few days ago we got about 3 inches of sticky, wet snow. Today another 2 or three inches with more expected this evening. As someone who learned to drive in New Hampshire, these are pretty un-intimidating numbers, but like most things here, the Belgians have a way of making life more ~~difficult~~ interesting.

Like customer service, snow clean-up does not exist in Belgium. They do plow major highways, but only in a limited way. All other roads are treated like you might an annoying rattle on your car. If you ignore it long enough, maybe it will go away. Add to this cobblestones, narrow roads and on-street parking, and you have a recipe for mayhem.

So, I am anticipating the commute from hell in the morning. With the last snow, my normal 20 minute commute was an hour and twenty minutes. Tomorrow, could easily double it.

New Year, New Blog Post

2013-01-13T16:24:00.000-05:00

It’s been a long time since my last post. Since Istanbul, we have been to Prague (Also Vienna for SWMBO), London, Arizona, and Budapest.

The Mayans have been proved fallible, so against all odds, we live another year. The last few weeks have been full of New Year Resolutions articles, so I will not bother with that here. The fact is, I am not much of a resolution guy. The whole self-improvement angle doesn’t really get me going. We are who we are, and no amount of newly found self control is going to change our behaviors much. The only thing that changes behavior is boredom or consequence.

No time to be bored for us. Work has started back up after a few weeks of hiatus and that is crazy as always. SWMBO is busy planning our next set of trips. Next up looks like a weekend in Ghent for a concert, followed by Hamburg with the in-laws. Although we should probably find time to fit in something else before then.

2012 was a great year for us, the Sun Devil graduated and started Grad School. We traveled around Europe and had a lot of fun. Hopefully 2013 will be a bit more of the same. I hope for all who read this, that 2013 treats you well also.

Istanbul, Not Constantinople

2012-10-21T08:30:00.001-04:00

We took an long weekend last week to visit Istanbul. For however long we live here, our intention is to take advantage of how compact Europe really is. We have an ever rotating short list of places to see and Istanbul was certainly on that list. Istanbul is only a two and a half hour flight, but it is another world. The trip itself was a bit impromptu. A few weeks ago, I called up She Who Must Be Obeyed from my office after realizing that I still have quite a bit of vacation left to take this year. (It is Europe after all). We looked at a few different places and Istanbul hit the checkboxes for reasonably priced tickets, hotel and weather.

I am really glad that we went to Istanbul, but it is probably not high on my list of places that I would like to return. It may have something to do with the time of year. This was the off-season and consequently, the tourist numbers were down. This means that the hawker to tourist ratio was pretty high. Throughout the trip, you literally could not walk 30 feet in any direction and not encounter someone trying to sell you something, shine your shoes, or separate you from your Lira in some other fashion. Understanding that everyone needs to make a living in the ways that they can, it did not take long before the constant assault put me in a bit of a mood.

Undeterred, SWMBO planned out an epic march through the city. I really wish we had tracked all the walking we did on the first day, because it had to have been seven or eight miles. That first day, we hit all the major sites and did not use a cab or public transportation once.

Our first stop was the Grand Bazaar, principally because it was close to our hotel. It is impressive in scale, but I am surprised that it can support so many shops selling the same items. Grand is probably overselling it in typical Istanbul fashion. Most of the shops are filled with the usual trinkets and trash you would expect. All of them with someone shouting to you “My Friend, My Friend, where are you from?” “Something to please the beautiful Lady.”

I never knew I had so many friends in Turkey.

The Spice Market was a similar, if smaller scale experience. We did not purchase any spices while there. The open containers seemed too much of an opportunity to have your spices flavored with essence du vermin.

Probably the highlight of Istanbul would have to be the Hagia Sofia and Blue Mosque. I lump them together because they share a common area between them and we returned several times while we were there. The Hagia Sofia is truly amazing, largely as a result of its age. It has been there in its current form since 500AD. The Blue Mosque is a beautiful building but is 1000 years younger than the Hagia Sofia.

Close by the Hagia Sofia is the Basilica Cistern. It is quite large and has a couple of pillars that are footed with heads of Medusa. The cistern itself is filled with large Carp swimming between the pillars.

We visited several Mosques while we were in Istanbul. SWMBO had to wear hijab during the visits. With her Middle Eastern heritage, she can totally pull it off. The Mosques are very open and in some respect plain, except for the intricate tile-work. Unlike Christian cathedrals with statues and paintings, the Mosques are absent any of that imagery which makes the open space of these large buildings more impressive. The mosques are open to visit except during the daily prayer times. During which, the call to prayers can be deafening if you are close by.

The food in Istanbul is pretty decent. A lot of Kebabs, Kofte, and other lamb products.I had some very nice grilled lamb hearts on raw onion near the Spice Market. We also had a stew cooked in a sealed clay pot, complete with touristy flaming presentation. My beverage of choice for these meals was an Efes, the local pilsner beer. It would not generally be a go to beer for me, but complemented the spice of the grilled food. We also did the traditional Turkish tea and Turkish Coffee. I like the former, not so crazy about the latter.

The age of cities like Istanbul always has an impact on me. The fact that you can walk down the street and see buildings that are more than 1000 years old, and see roman ruins repurposed as building materials for later structures, is really impressive. It puts your own time in the world into perspective.

Elections

2012-10-11T15:42:00.001-04:00

Election Time

The best thing about a blog is that you are unencumbered by references or facts of any kind. Your unsubstantiated opinions and prejudices can be fully expressed. A little like the recent debate.

I have been observing the Belgian driving habits for a couple of years now. Originally, I thought the epically bad driving was the result of a lack of practice and driving instruction in general. I am beginning to question that now. I think it may be that everyone starts their vehicular experience with scooters. They dart everywhere, ignoring the rules of the road and add a level of chaos that is not to be taken lightly. I will consider myself lucky if I am able to leave this country without running one of them down.

Worse than the scooter riders are the motorcyclists. In Belgium, motorcyclists drive much like the scooters, only faster and more recklessly. Today I was driving home from work, at my usual 130kph (81mph). Traffic was heavy so the motorcyclist did what they always do, which is to lane split. you see this in the US when traffic is slow, but here it is common to see it at full speed. And understand, the roads are really narrow here. I am truly surprised that the roads don’t run red with blood. It’s amazing.

In other news, it is election time here, just like home. We cannot vote here yet. We need to have lived here five years and it has been just over 2. Feels longer. Still, we can observe the process. Every night people come by and fill our mail slot with pamphlets and flyers with particularly homely people on it. I am sure the slogans are riveting, but I miss the impact because they are in Flemish. Occasionally French, but they wont get elected here.

I am proud to say that we have filled in our absentee ballots ready to be sent back to the US and then ignored or rejected because of some loophole. We can't vote here, but we are still legal there.

And In Other Beer News...

2012-10-07T13:35:00.001-04:00

Rocky Mountain Oyster Beer?

Whoa, And I thought I didn't like fruit in my beer.

Americans are a Loud Species

2012-09-25T00:45:00.002-04:00

Ok, to be preemptive against my science pals. I know Americans are not a species. But we are loud. I am sitting at the hotel bar in San Diego and the noise from the semi-inebriated conference attendees is deafening. This is after the dinner at the Yard House that was also tinnitus inducing.

I am not sure why this is. Perhaps Americans are just more exuberant. Like a puppy. Europeans are generally not this loud. The Belgians have an excuse. When every army has leveled most of your towns, it probably engenders a more reserved attitude. We are fortunate that way. As Americans, We like to share and think people actually care what we have to say.

I have to say, it is refreshing. It is nice to come home and be among my vociferous American Family.

Except for maybe the chick from New Jersey who's voice could cut glass.

Lagging Jets

2012-09-13T14:32:00.001-04:00

I got about 4 hours of sleep on my flight last night. San Diego to Chicago was middle of the day, so no sleep to be had. Quick turn in Chicago, which fortunately came in two gates away from the Brussels leg of my flight. A pre dinner drink and two glasses of wine with dinner and I was out somewhere over Newfoundland. Woke up over the White Cliffs of Dover. So generally not bad as far as these trips usually go.

I really can’t complain too much. My company flies me Business Class on any long haul, so compared to my days in VC backed start-ups, I am living large. SWMBO informed me on this trip that I am less than 200K away from a million miles on United and lifetime Gold status. Considering I have about 350K on British Airways and another 400-500K on various other airlines, I have probably absorbed more than my fair share of solar radiation.

Landing in Brussels this morning, my driver was waiting for me. (Another perk of Big companies). He drove me home and I took a quick shower and headed into the office. (I drove myself. I don’t want people thinking I am losing touch.) Unfortunately I had meetings scheduled all afternoon. Normally I am pretty good with the jet lag. When you travel as much as I do, you lose some of your sense of temporal space, but you also develop coping mechanisms. As an example, rather than sleeping in and heading to the airport, I set my alarm for 3AM and worked until I needed to head to the airport. In this way, I guaranteed I would be able to sleep on my transatlantic. Right now I am trying to push through until about 9:30 so that I can be fully reset for the weekend. Which in itself is a little foolish because I will be heading back to the US next Thursday.

Hopefully, I will get a full 8 tonight and be ready to go in the morning.

More Travel Rules

2012-09-12T13:22:00.001-04:00

As I am sitting in the Red Carpet Club awaiting my flight home from San Diego, it seemed like an opportune time to add another installment to my Rules for Travel.

Deodorant is not optional people. Especially on international long haul flights.
One carry on and one personal item does Not mean garment bag, duffle, purse and duty free.
If you fly twice a year, don't be so indignant when the airline won't give you a "complementary" upgrade. No, they really don't care about your business.
if you take a call in the airline lounge, there is no need to yell. I do not care about your "BIG" deal.
Liquids in a plastic bag is no longer a new rule. There is no excuse to hold up security because you had no idea that your shampoo was a liquid. The corollary is that TSA does not care that your shampoo is expensive and is not available in a 3.4 oz bottle.
To the guy surreptitiously farting in Business Class. I know it was you.
You are flying to Brussels, not the Serengeti, leave the safari pants home.
Take the backpack off before getting on the plane. I would appreciate not being brained in the aisle seat because you are not spatially aware.
My headphones are on, that means I don't want to talk to you
My headphones are off, I still don't want to talk to you