After breakfast we four spent the morning wandering Brussels looking for a bank/ATM to get cash. I might be doing the same later this week as I continue to quickly drain the euros I brought with me. I didn’t get cash yesterday because I am still not sure that I will need to, but more importantly I don’t know if I have the facilities to do so. I suppose I could accept to get screwed by exchanging USD for Euro.
One of the reasons for the need for cash was the chocolate and beer tour on which we embarked in the afternoon. The tour was really fun. I was surprised how many of the participants were from the US, including a couple from Charlotte, North Carolina and two young women who are roommates in St Petersburg, Florida. We stopped into three chocolatiers, sampling a couple of their sweets in each. From there we ambled around Brussels learning a bit of history. At one stop there was a very friendly cat that sauntered up to the group, and although I wanted to pet it, I resisted the urge. At that point we saw the statue of the peeing boy and started drinking beer. The group stopped into three beer places, drinking a couple of beers (short pours) in each. Wisely in the second bar we were served some cheese, meat, fries, and bread. Unwisely I volunteered to challenge the tour director in a down down contest. Being the suspicious type I saw that she was going to cheat by raising her glass before the time she claimed we’d start drinking, so it was game on and I gulped my small glass in one shot, defeating her (at least in my mind). I still have some skills from my hashing days…
Today is another travel day, destination Bruges via train. The BRAG tour officially starts tomorrow with a “get to know one another, get situated” day. On Friday we begin our migratory riding.
Wordle: five, my starter was CURSE
Connections: fail, Blue > Purple > X > X > X > X
Chocolate & beer tour was a blast.
Moules frites for dinner after was excellent too.
In the sauce was a whole lot of celery.
I’ll have to remember that when I make mussels at home someday.
Wordle in 5 and a letter short in 4.
It was a long day yesterday, followed by a brief-ish Games meeting and what felt like a long drive home, though there was no traffic to speak of. I was beat by the time I got there, and pretty much went straight to bed. The alarm woke me at 5, which is a testament to how tired I was, as I hardly ever let the alarm go off.
The tree man will be out Friday. For a reasonable $1k, he will make the tree lay down and leave us firewood. Barb, do you need any for your fire ring? Nice hickory!!
-FP
Yesterday I was going to chastise all you Europeans for not posting enough food pics, and then you posted a bunch, so I am happy! Those moules looked ah-mazing and the fries very Belgian and crispy! I had a moules frites in Paris once that I STILL think about.
We went to Delbar for dinner last night. It is SO crowded there and they run it kind of like a corporation, but the food is so damn good!
Today we get Finn for basically two weeks straight, except for I think one night.
It’s tough keeping up Jenka – when we are walking & eating & drinking.
LOL! So tough! I will forgive you. 🙂
Paulie, I keep forgetting to tell you that Mi Barrio is closing. You never talk about going there, but it is kind of a neighborhood staple.
Thanks, heard from Betsy. I really like Mi Barrio but don’t/didn’t eat there often because I could never figure out their hours.
I’m astonished that they’ve stayed open this long. 20 years ago I got take out there once, shortly after we moved in. The food literally looked like gray dog vomit and immediately went in the trash. I’ve never been back. I do hear tell of people liking that place though.
People really loooooooove it. I’ve personally never been there — when I lived in the neighborhood I went to Cantina la Casita and when I moved out of the neighborhood I started going to Pure.