Life is Full of Surprises

Tonight I went out into our back yard to snip off some sage leaves for a mushroom, sage cream sauce for my pasta. When I looked up from the sage plant, I noticed that one of the trees had sprouted a bunch of ripe cherries. I probably should have noticed this before, but was pleased with the discovery. I knew we had grapes and strawberries but the cherries are a real bonus. It's amazing what can grow in such a small space. Our back yard is smaller than our living room in the US but it is chock full of surprises. I think I see a cherry tart in our future.

We had another surprise last night. When SWMBO tried to turn on the light, the switch blew and we had no light in our living room. A call to an electrician later and the guy showed up, ON TIME. Fixed the light and didn't charge us. It turns out it was a fuse in the switch itself. You hear stories about horrible Belgium service, but we have often been pleasantly surprised.

Chocolate Wasted

The SunDevil has been in Belgium for a nice long visit. It was great to have her here over the Father's Day weekend. Something I had not thought about when we planned the trip. Since she arrived, we have been trying to share some of what we have found since she last visited over the holidays. At this point however, I think she is done with the old stuff. Perhaps me included.

The weather since she arrived has been very Belgian. Lots of sporadic rain and cooler temperatures. Very unlike the beautiful weather that we have had in the weeks leading up to her arrival. It has made finding fun things to do more of a challenge but we have managed as best we can. For example, this afternoon she baked some killer bannana chocolate chip cupcakes and tonight we tried some chocolate and a strawberry genever. The two shot glass sized bottles did not last long. The SunDevil made some references to getting "chocolate wasted".


For my part, I had a Nostradamus. Not sure that this beer would convey any prescience, but it is OK. The dominant note is a sweet malty flavor. At 9%, it is a pretty strong "donker". It has a bit of Chimay Bleu note to it, but not as refined. There is not enough hop to balance it out. Not bad but not a home run. Three and a half Drunk Monks.

Bad Beer Night

Bornem Double

Cereal nose. Smells like a bowl of grape nuts. Malty cereal flavor. Tastes like a bowl of grape nuts, without the crunch. I am not a big fan of grape nuts.

Bornem Triple

I cannot drink two mediocre beers in a row. Triple down the sink.

SWBO thinks I am too nice in my reviews. Not tonight. One Drunk Monk.

Bleary Eyed But Blogging

When I was traveling a lot for business, I had gotten to the point where I adapted to time zones quickly. As I write this however, I am feeling pretty exhausted. I was in Chicago for more than a week attending the American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting and returned to Belgium this morning on the red-eye.

I have been fortunate enough to travel in Business and First Class on many airlines. Given this experience, I have to say that American Airlines is among the least comfortable business class cabins I have ever experienced. Better than coach, but only just. I debated taking an Ambien before the flight, but I was a little concerned that it was not long enough and I would wake up feeling woozy. As a result, I did not sleep at all and returned to Belgium in a splendid mood.

While I was gone, SWMBO procured a few new beers for the blog. A good start on improving my mood. Tonight I am trying the Abbaye De St Amand. The beer is flavored with Juniper berries, which is also one of the key flavorings for gin, another beverage of which I am fond. The beer itself starts with some sweetness and citrus notes. The juniper is there, but very light adding an herbal component that complements the citrus well. There is a good balance of hop that counters the sweetness and gives the beer some structure. Three and a half Drunk Monks!

Back on the Bike

After about 10 days in the bike shop, my bike was finally ready. It didn't need 10 days of work, they just forgot that it was there. Ahhh, Belgium. I haven't really done much riding at all in about five or six years. There was a period in my late 30's where I was riding a lot, but travel and responsibility got in the way and my bikes just hung in the garage. Cycling seems to be the national sport of Belgium and everwhere you go there are cycling shops and groups of riders sporting team logo lycra. So it seemed natural that I try to get back on the bike.

I should make clear that I do not consider myself a cyclist. I like to ride my bikes. It is good exercise, scenic and generally enjoyable. I am not however, built like a cyclist. I am not tall and lean, but rather wide with short legs. Even if I wasn't fat, my torso is still built like a sail and I catch every bit of wind. I try to tell myself that the increased wind resistance makes it better exercise, but mostly it just slows me down.

Last year, the Tour de France's route took the race literally in front of my house. We didn't live here then, proving timing is everything, but there are photos to prove it.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.133177556714459.16096.114475351918013

Typical of this part of the world, our streets are mostly cobblestones which is why I think they picked us for that part of the Tour route. If you have never ridden a bike on cobblestones, all I can say is, they are no joke. The bumps are only half the issue. The bigger danger is the uneven and slippery surface. I have incredible respect for the racers who ride at speed over these things. I think I am going to have to become a much better rider before I feel comfortable clipping in to my road bike. As it is, I was riding my hybrid with much wider tires and felt like one slip and my teeth would be scattered across the road. Hopefully I can avoid injury long enough to get my bike handling skills back up to my high standards of mediocrity.

It was good to get back on the bike again this morning. My hinder is a bit tender from yesterdays ride, but not as bad as I expected. I wore my mountain biking shorts and a T-shirt because nobody wants to see my fat self squeezed into lycra like a neon Memorial Day bratwurst. (Something that has not ocurred to many of my Belgian counterparts). I figure I need to get below two bills before anything remotely resembling road cycling gear goes on my body. I tried to maintain as brisk a pace as possible, but my general level of fitness tells me that it may be a while before I join the peloton. Still, I am trying to tell myself that now in my mid forties, anything physical that I do is a positive. If nothing else, it offsets some of the beers that I am reviewing for this blog.

Sports Aren't The Same When You Can Fast Forward

Living in Europe is not always easy if you are a US sports fan. Sure we have ESPN America on the Belgacom Sports Package but that is no cure for the temporal displacement issue. 6-9 hours of time difference can make following your favorite team in real time a challenge. Most days the game starts at some ridiculous hour that we simply can't stay up for. So then you wake up and either try to avoid the internet all day so that you can watch it from the DVR the next evening or you just chuck the whole thing and check the box score in the morning.The real issue for me though, is that watching games in tape delay ruins the intensity and drama. If you can hit fast forward to see how it turns out, the life is sucked out of it. So we are stuck with a much lighter diet of sports than we had in the US. I do think we appreciate it more however when we have something on that we want to watch. Weekends are a little easier as there are usually a few games that start at a reasonable hour. Last night was one of those times when the time change benefitted us. Red Sox had a matinee game which hit us right at 7PM so we were able to watch the drubbing of the Tigers in real time. Almost felt like home.

As I mentioned, we have ESPN America on the Sports Package, which also gets us about a half dozen channels with cricket, snooker and soccer options. Haven't yet developed a taste for those, but if I live here long enough, who knows. Before we left the US, SWMBO and I bought the MLB.TV package, which is really great. We stream the games in high definition to our computer and string that through an HDMI cable to the flat screen. It is a little choppy sometimes, but the image is excellent. I think I will probably need to do the same thing with the NFL this fall, although it is less urgent with footbal. In Europe, ESPN America plays almost every US football game over the course of the week. So while you know the score, you can watch football almost every evening.

Our rigged internet viewing extends to other selections as well. We get our Daily Show and Stephen Colbert Quota this way, as well as South Park. When we first moved here we were able to purchase shows from itunes as well. Unfortunately, when we changed our billing address, that option went away. Belgian itunes does not have TV or Movies. Only music. Bad French Pop music at that.

Tonight is game 7 of the Bruins, Tampa Bay saga. I am rooting for the B's but I don't think I can stay up for the 2AM start. Hopefully they win and I won't mind watching the replay in the morning. Go Bruins!!

We are still here and Luxembourg is Nice

So class, what have we learned this weekend? How about not to believe lunatics with doomsday predictions and Luxembourg is a beautiful little country with a thing for winding roads.

SWMBO and I headed out for Luxembourg for the weekend Saturday morning bright and early. Weather was great and we took a very direct route. Less than two hours of drive time and we pulled into the center of Luxemburg City (And they are spelled differently). We really lucked out on the hotel front. SWMBO researched hotels and we wound up staying at the Parc Beau Arts. It is a little boutique hotel across from the palace and within a quick walk to all of the sights of the city. We got a great deal on a suite and the room was excellent. Very comfortable and tres chic. Possibly my favorite part though was the garage. They have an automated system where you drive your car into an elevator, press down and you end up facing a circular enclosure with a platform at the center. You drive onto the platform, empty your car and step out of the enclosure. Once out, you press another button, your car spins around to face you and then drops through the floor to be stored in a racking system below. It was all very James Bond and a fun start to the trip. Leaving the enclosure was an adventure as well, because the garage empties into a tunnel system that runs under the city and goes back to the hotel.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the city and sightseeing. Luxemburg City is a fairly small city but it has substantial elevation changes. I would recommend better walking shoes than we were wearing. By the end of the day we were beat, but it was good exercise and we saw some really interesting sights. We headed back to the hotel after sightseeing to get ready for dinner. We ate at Le Bouquet Garni, which has a Michelin Star and I can see why. We both ordered the Menu de Asperge (Asparagus tasting menu). The food was absolutely amazing but not stuffy at all. Very relaxed. I asked our waiter about the matched wine tasting menu and he steered us away from it. He said with the flavors we would be happier with a single wine and recommended a Pouilly Fume from the Loire. The wine save us 40 euro and was excellent. You have to appreciate honest waitstaff.

This morning we woke up reasonably early. Had a nice breakfast in the hotel. (Have I mentioned that croissants here are awesome?) Had more fun retrieving our car and then hit the road. Our itinerary was Chateau Beaufort followed by Castle Vianden. Both in the Little Switzerland part of Luxembourg. The route we took was incredibly scenic and in many ways reminiscent of the Swiss countryside north of Geneva. The roads really made me miss my old Cayman S. Switchback after switchback. These roads are made for sportscars and motorcycles. If you are looking for a great place in Europe to drive, this would not be a bad choice. The castles were interesting and the driving was fun. I am glad the Rapture didn't happen and ruin the good time.

So what about the beer? Well, it was a bit uninspiring. I only had a Bofferding which as it's unfortunate name may suggest, was not stellar. The beers of Luxembourg seem to trend toward their eastern neighbors in Germany rather than their Western neighbors in Belgium. The Bofferding is a pilsner style beer and seems to be the everymans beer in the area. It is not bad, a little like a Becks. After trudging up the hills of the city, it was quite refreshing, but it is not a beer that you would go out of your way to get.