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Useless Things Need Love Too

Useless Things Need Love Too

Category Archives: Travel

The End of an Era or: Thank You All

01 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by TGBII in Blogging, Food, Life as We Know It, Music Review, Podcasting, Rant, Silent Sunday, Sounds Like Saturday, Spinning Sunday, Talking Tuesday, The Less Desirables Network, Travel, Video

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asylum: Tales from the Devereaux Diaries Podcast, Beeswax Vinyl Daily, Discogs, Fan Interference, Forsyth Magazines, Greater Winston-Salem Inc., Honu Global Podcast, Lewisville-Clemmons Chamber, Life, Music, The BCPF, The Beer Dads, The Less Desirables, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town, Underdog Records, Video, WSNC

Salutations™!!

As you may or may not know, Dear Reader, I have written this blog “every day” (at least FOR every day) since November 1, 2014. That was right after, well a month and a half after, my honeymoon. I did the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums of All Time list (the 2012 list that matters) and reviewed that. I did the Honeymoon Chronicles. I have posted while traveling. I have started several podcasts since then.

Today is November 1, 2021. That’s 2,557 days. 2,557 blog posts. On October 1, I started counting down for this. That’s what that number has been. Probably over 750k words because when I was on, it was verbose. Especially in the early days, I had a special rule that said I had to have at least 250 words per post. Usually, it was over 500 but had to be at least 250.

As you may have noticed over the last two years, there’s been a bit of a shortage of topics to talk about. Most of the stuff I post anymore is just “piggybacks” off of my podcasts or other blogs. I’ll admit my heart hasn’t really been in it but I have to keep up streaks. I can’t let something go.

I loved posting in the beginning. There were a lot of cool things to talk about. It could be a rant. It could be a review. It could be an observation. It could just be spouting off about something, I mean look at the subtitle of this blog. I used to really love writing. That has waned, a lot. I think some of it has to do with time, which I have very little of, at least free time, anymore.

I’ve lifted my fingers from my laptop…

The pandemic threw things into disarray even more. At least pre-C-19, I had places to go, people to rub against, things to see and do. That’s where I drew a lot of inspiration for this blog that may or may not have been 100% true and accurate. You know that technically, I write this blog as a character and not as myself. That’s why it’s always signed “Scorp” short for Scorpio, short for ScorpioNC, the name I’ve used most of my adult “online” life. Scorp had a lot of things to say, sometimes just to rile people up, especially during the RS List days. Not all of it was how I actually felt. That’s creative license and I used it.

I think the key word in that last sentence is “creative.” Once the pandemic hit, and I found myself working on so much research and writing on The Man Who Ate the Town to keep up with what food and beverage establishments in WSNC that I became a bit burned out on writing. Because my scope was limited, so was my writing channel. I didn’t want to write so much but I also didn’t want to let this thing go. At least not then.

It went from making sure I had a post in before midnight to constitute that day’s post to “eh, I’ll write the whole week’s worth on Sunday.” And, that’s what happened. I was getting up early on Sunday to write Monday’s, Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s, Thursday’s, Friday’s, and Saturday’s posts. Saturdays are fairly easy because it’s just picking a video to play for Sounds Like Saturday. But, skip back to five months ago, and every day it was a “Now Normal Chronicle” post about a video of something, mostly anniversaries of albums. That’s because it was easy to pull off. I think it was an interesting topic. So much that everything that Beeswax Vinyl Daily is, is exactly that. Music history. So, I didn’t see the need to post that every day, any longer.

It’s not fair to you, Dear Reader, to have to endure my boredom and frustrations. I don’t know if “fair” is the right word. You can just not read it, that’s okay. But, I haven’t stopped getting new followers and readers. I haven’t stopped getting likes on a good number of posts, mostly the food ones or where I say something profound (at least in my head). It’s not fair to me either, though. I started this to mean something. I still want it to mean something. At first, I missed being a “journalist” and this was the way for me to do that, bring you something exciting or at least entertaining. Through all these years, I think, especially in the beginning, that this was at least entertaining. It’s become a chore for me.

So, here we are, again, November 1, 2021. Seven years, to the day, that I started the NABLOPOMO (National Blog Posting Month) “30-Day Challenge” that I just couldn’t stop writing (thanks a lot Kristen Daukas). I am announcing that I am stopping the “every day posting” that I have committed to and somewhat adhered to, effective today. But, what does that mean? It means that there won’t be a dedicated Monday-Sunday daily blog post. But, I am not giving up blogging altogether. I do still plan on doing Sounds Like Saturdays and Spinning (or Silent) Sundays. I want this blog to go on.

But, that’s not all. I will be going back to the spirit of this blog and that’s posting with purpose. If I have something to say, to announce, to rant about, to promote, then I’ll come and post about those things. The blog is still here. In addition to that, I’m working on a weekly blog post along the lines of what was “Talking Tuesday” posts for seven weeks in 2016. It’s basically a blog post that is in podcast form. In fact, I am planning to start a Useless Things Need Love, Too podcast for those. I may look at the Wheeler’s Dog platform and do one on here (or its own website) and then do a BONUS episode each week on Patreon. I’m weighing my options.

It comes down to this, I changed my “daily” focus from this blog to the Beeswax Vinyl Daily and trust me, that takes up not only my work time but my free time, too. I put more hours into that than almost any podcast I do or have ever done. It’s my daily release. This used to be. This used to mean so much to me, and it really still does, but it’s not a priority. That’s its sad reality and sad truth. But, I still love it and I’m going to keep it. I think I’m going to take a virtual page out of the book of my friends Honu Global and refurbish, refinish, reimagine what this blog will be.

I thank all of you who may have read these ramblings daily, at least in the beginning. Thank you if this is your first time. Thank you if this is your last time. Thank you for pushing me through. Thank you for just being mildly interested. Thank you for tuning in to see what kind of train wreck it may be.

Once again, I’m not quitting this, I’m just repurposing it.

Until next time, same blog channel at SOME blog time…
Tim out.

—
“This is about me.” – Me

Around the World or: 2550+7

25 Monday Oct 2021

Posted by TGBII in Food, Life as We Know It, Travel

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Euro Deli Mart, Finnigan's Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen, Greensboro, Scottish Gourmet USA, Super G Mart, The BCPF

Salutations™!!

On Saturday, The BCPF and I made an international trip without leaving the state.

We headed to Greensboro where we visited a business I have been VERY excited for, Scottish Gourmet USA. I don’t have to explain how much I love all things Scottish. We purchased haggis, black pudding, and back bacon. We also got some clementine and malt whisky marmalade, Laphroaig Handmade Fudge, Walker’s Shortbread Scottie Dogs, and a glass thistle ornament for The BCPF. The owners were a fantastic older couple where he’s from Scotland and she’s from the US. We loved it there. We will go back.

Missing the sausages, the thistle ornament, the coffee, the mustard, but this is a lot of the booty we got on Saturday!!

Next, we went to Euro Deli Mart where we tried almost everything in the deli case, including headcheese that I have never had before. Of course, it’s not cheese at all. It’s made from various parts of the head but usually does not include the brain, eyes, or ears of the animal. Tongues, feet, or hearts can be used, though. We bought some “no junk” Polish sausage (that’s how owner Gosia described it) and dried kabanos-style sausages which remind me of fresher Slim Jims. We also got authentic German mustard, Caponata eggplant salad, gingerbread knots, and coffee. We loved talking with Gosia and loved this store. We will go back. It’s also just about three minutes from where The BCPF works so she can stop in if we need her to.

Next, we took our first trip to Super G Mart. Super Global Mart is a humongous international grocery store. This thing, that is more than just groceries – with bodega-type stores with accessories, cell phones, and such; a few international restaurants; a used appliance store – is like a Super Walmart with all this stuff. Mostly, it’s Asian, Latin food items with a live tilapia tank and live blue crabs, fresh fish market, and so on. We purchased a single-serving espresso-making pot, an 8″ bamboo steamer, Turkish Delight, falafel mix, Crystal hot sauce, and Cholula Chipotle (both of which we could get anywhere), and some chestnuts. I have to say that while it was cool seeing all of that, it was very overwhelming and a lot to take in. We are glad that we know where it is so when we get back to the Country Spinner.

We then met up with the Joneses at Finnigan’s Wake to get one more night with The BCPF and me (where we met if you read my blog post last Monday), get a picture with Opie, and relive some of our history.

So, we hit Scotland, Eastern Europe, Asia, South/Central/Latin America, and Ireland. It was a great international day. It was like traveling without really traveling. I love my time with The BCPF and when we do things like that (and traveling for real) I love my time even more. I recommend Scottish Gourmet and Euro Deli Mart for sure, Super G for an experience, and Finnigan’s Wake before this Saturday when they close forever.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Our family-owned grocery store specializes in Eastern European imports that bring the taste of home and beyond to the Triad.” – Euro Deli Mart

About Last Night or: One for the Ages

03 Friday Sep 2021

Posted by TGBII in Food, Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, The Less Desirables Network, Travel

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Blacksburg, Chef Eric Brownlee, Kimpton Cardinal Hotel, The BCPF, The Katharine Brasserie and Bar, The Less Desirables Network, The Man Who Ate the Town, WSNC

Salutations™!!

Last night, Chef Eric Brownlee and his staff at The Katharine Brasserie made The BCPF’s and my anniversary dinner (and experience) one of the most memorable.

Steak Tartare from The Katharine

We had foie gras, locally-sourced chanterelle mushrooms, NC oysters, beef tartare, mussels, NC trout, steak au poirve (with peppercorns), duck breast, and three sorbets (lemon-lime, passionfruit, strawberry (with strawberry-flavored Pop Rocks). There wasn’t a thing that I didn’t like. I’m not usually one for mushrooms but those chanterelles were great.

If I had to pick a favorite, the mussels, the steak, the oysters, heck… really, all of it. I can’t choose. We were treated with a bottle of champagne, compliments of the house, and had a few beverages before dinner. The hotel did a fantastic job, as well. The room was fantastic and the people were so accommodating (including another complimentary bottle of champagne (or sparkling white). We were treated like royalty and I have to say, I liked it.

We got up this morning and headed back down to The Katharine to have breakfast and The BCPF had an omelet and I had the Croque Monsieur but I modified it to make it a Croque Madam (with egg on top). Such a wonderful time.

Today, we’re heading to Blacksburg, Virginia. I’ve never been (never really cared to go) but The BCPF has a high school friend, whom she’s not seen since high school, opened a new used book store up there and we decided to take a day trip. So, off we go…

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I want to make you one just so you’ll take a picture!” – Krista, Kristen, Crystal (we never got her name straight)

The Story of Seven Years or: Comóradh

02 Thursday Sep 2021

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

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Anniversary, Life, Marriage, Scotland, The BCPF, Wedding, WSNC

Salutations™!!

Today marks the seventh anniversary of The BCPF’s and my wedding day. Here’s how it happened:

Alright, it’s time for the wedding story. So The BCPF had stuffed her wedding dress into a vacuum bag and sucked the dickens out of the bag until it was a brick of white mess. Of course, I had to take her word for it because I didn’t get to see it. As I mentioned in the last post, I already had the kilt and had to do the “hiring” of the accessories. She unleashed the dress and handed it off to the concierge (or the castle’s equivalent) and they sent it off to have it pressed. So we were set. We got up, had breakfast (more haggis and black pudding), and then went back to the lobby to wait for what-happens-next.

We had hired a wedding planner, Kimmie Brown of Litú, was a treat and a lifesaver for us. Kimmie handled getting all the paperwork put together, she and her husband, George, served as our witnesses, she got the piper, Andrew, hired the photographer, Michaela Waddell, and lined up and directing us through the process of the registrar. Priceless, I tell ya, priceless. Also, we had already pre-selected our vows and ceremonies. So when the time came, we were pretty much prepared. I put on the kilt kit that turned into a much more involved procedure than putting on a tuxedo. The kilt shirt, first. The kilt, next. The waistcoat, the socks, the flashes, the ghillie brogues (shoes) and then the sporran (the man purse of awesomeness), which held it (mostly) in place. The prince Charlie jacket was next to last and then the sgian-dubh (pronounced skee-un-doo) which is a small knife that rounds out the ensemble. I’ve lost a bit of weight since I was originally fitted for the kilt so it was a bit loose. Tradition says that I don’t wear a belt with the prince Charlie jacket, but in the future, I certainly will wear one (I have already purchased one to wear once back home). And the part everyone has asked me… yes, I went unbreeched. Aye, that means I didn’t wear anything under the kilt. If you’re gonna do it, do it Scottish, I say.

I wasn’t allowed anywhere near The BCPF while she got ready, but when it was time for the wedding (noon for us in Edinburgh, 7pm for our friends back home), the piper piped me downstairs to the “gun room.” The gun room doubles as a chapel for the religious ceremonies and we used it as a location for our civil, non-religious, ceremony. The registrar talked with me a few minutes and then Andrew piped The BCPF down to the door and then after making sure she was ready, piped her down to me. She was BEAUTIFUL. I don’t have pics of her at the altar, just yet, so we’ll have to wait until the photographer sends me the collection. I cried, no shame in telling. We exchanged words, vows, and rings. We kissed. We signed the paperwork. Michaela shot us all over the grounds of the castle and that was it. It truly was much more glamorous than I just described but without pictures, I can’t do it justice. It was simple, but wonderful. She was my wife, my bride, my life’s partner – which she already was. Dang, I love that woman!

But, as is the story of our lives, there was no rest for the wicked. We had to jump out of our formal wear and into civilian clothes and run back into town to get our last-minute shopping done. We bought stuff for 3B (my 12-year old son) and my mother. We had reservations at the castle for dinner so we headed back and took our place in the Library Bar, drank some complimentary champagne, talked to a slew of Americans who were also taking holiday, and then went down to the Dungeon Dining Room to have our wedding supper.

We started with an amuse bouche which included a mushroom mousse and bread. The BCPF had a chicken pate and I had a beef carpaccio. Our minds not being still and sound at the time, I forget what the actual dish was, but there is a picture of it. For the main course she had a slab of pork and I had venison with beet sauce. I’ve never been big on venison (or beets for that matter), but man this was delicious. For dessert I had a raspberry flan dish, and of course, Grand Marnier. A truly lovely food experience.

Up early the next morning as we had a train to catch from Edinburgh to our next destination, London.

We had hoped to take a trip to somewhere for our anniversary, but it wasn’t in the cards for several reasons and most of those reasons were not financial. But, we’ll be together today, are spending the night out, having a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and enjoying each other. That’s what matters, right?

I love you Stephanie! More and more every day. I love our life together, even when things aren’t the brightest, you’re always my shining beacon of happiness. MUAH!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Love grows more tremendously full, swift, poignant, as the years multiply.” Zane Grey

Anniversary #2 (this year) or: The Decade

31 Saturday Jul 2021

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

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Anniversary, Engagement, Life, The BCPF

Salutations™!!

It was 10 years ago, at the end of a perfect day, on a boat, under fireworks in the “Most Magical Place on Earth,” Walt Disney World, that I asked the woman that I love, my everything, my The BCPF to be my bride. She said yes and we spent the next six days celebrating in Disney style and WDW was very much willing to participate. We got buttons that said we were engaged and everywhere we went, Cast Members (Disney’s name for their employees) came from all directions to congratulate us. We got free desserts, preferential seating, and more. It was like we were royalty. Truth be known, we feel like we’re still celebrating and are royalty.

So, we have now been through two of the four main anniversaries we celebrate each year. The first was the “dating anniversary” on July 21, and now this one. The next one isn’t until September, but like I said, we celebrate every day. I do so love that woman as I have stated ad nauseum but I won’t stop saying it or proving it! Yay, us, Stephanie!!! I want to celebrate this for many, many, many, many years to come!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“There’s only one thing that could make it more perfect…” – Me

Eleven Years Mine or: Falling Every Day

21 Wednesday Jul 2021

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel, Video

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Anniversary, Life, Life as It is, The BCPF, Wedding

Salutations™!!

Today is the 11th anniversary of The BCPF’s and my first date. Mind you, she was The BCPF before we were officially dating. She got her name before this. Which, by the way, if you’re new or have forgotten what BCPF stands for… it’s Beautiful Close Personal Friend. But, I took her to Charlotte to see Cowboy Junkies, a band that I had heard of but knew nothing about, but she was certainly a fan of.

But, before we went to Charlotte, when I picked her up from her mother’s house, I had written a song for her. I told her about it two days before, when I held her hand for the first time and told her that I loved her. “Oh, and I should warn you, I wrote you a song.” Yeah, before we ever started dating, I wrote her a song about how I felt. It was no secret but I felt the song told the story. So, there I was at her mom’s doorstep, guitar in hand and she opens the door. I handed her the lyric sheet (I suppose she still has that somewhere) and commenced playing and singing.

It must have worked because here we are, 11 years later, almost 7 of them married, and I still love her and she still loves me. We go through ups and downs, but not because of each other. In this 11 years, I can count on about three fingers where we had a row, and a couple of those fingers’ tally would be suspect. We’ve been to foreign lands, magical lands, mountainous lands, beachfront lands, windy lands, beany lands, and I can’t wait to see what land we land in next. I love you, Stephanie, more than anything other than my son in this world. Here’s to another 50 or so (yeah, I’d be 100 but so what?). And, here’s the song for you guys to enjoy and hear my confession which turned to profession. Enjoy!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I heard what you said. Tried my best not to get my hopes up. I know what I said. Should have known somehow I would mess up. I tried to warn myself this would happen. I can’t even listen to my own advice. I think I’m falling, it’s a long way down without a net. Don’t let me hit the ground. I feel I’m crawling. I think I’m falling.” – “Fallen” (Beeman)

Memories Lane or: Six Starts Part 11

14 Monday Sep 2020

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

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Bruges, Brussels, Europe, Honeymoon, Sofitel Europe, The BCPF, Travel

Salutations™!!

I promise that this is the last of the “Honeymoon Chronicles” retelling. That means that September 13 and 14 from six years ago is this…

So, last we visited we had had a very beer-filled day in Bruges; high gravity and The Beer Museum and what not.  Well, this is Bruges – Belgium, I say – so beer was going to be a recurring theme as long as I can help it.

DSCN1773

Sex shop on the left/Toy shop on the right

After buying our chocolates and animal-fat-cone-shaped jelly candies, we made our way back to the hotel to drop off the goodies and then went out to get some dinner.  We wandered around looking for a place to eat.  Trying to not go back to the “Ol’ Standby” De Vier Winden, we stopped and looked at several menus before stopping in a cute little bistro type place, that in a completely rookie mistake we forgot to document with either pictures or writing it down.

DSCN1774

Kneeling at the Beer Wall

Anywhat, as I said, there was more beer.  I had a Pauwel Kwak, which is a lovely 8.4%ABV Amber Ale.  It’s charm also includes, as does most European beer, its own specialty glass. However, this glass was bulbous at the bottom, wide at the top, long in the middle and fits into a wooden handle.  The idea is the handle is there to ensure your hands don’t warm the glass.  The first bit is annoying because I thought the glass was going to move, but the design is true and the glass moved nary a bit.  The BCPF had some wine, a rosé, I believe.

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Coconut beer

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Kwak

We had had a great deal of food and beer for the day so we skipped appetizers and just ordered main courses.  She had rabbit with cheese croquets and I had shrimp in a saffron sauce.  Both were tasty, perfectly prepared and as is the case with just about every other dish on this trip, nothing but fabulous flavors abounding. Afterwards, we just walked back to the hotel and had our now-routine Grand Marnier and Sprite in the Oud Huis de Peellaert bar.  Early to bed, early to rise.  Well, we did watch some BBC (the only English speaking television there) news, reality and game shows.  We actually, talked about how we miss those, just this week.

DSCN1785

Neptune in Koningin Astrid Park

Our last day in Bruges we got up and found some lace to buy for our mothers and some other Bruges-made souvenirs before we stopped in front of a very strange combination of toy/hobby shop on the right and a sex shop on the left.  They weren’t really “together” but the wall between them was barely wider than me.  Then we moved down the street to the famous “Beer Wall.”  Said huh…?  Wall o’beer?  For serious?  YES for serious.  Holy dang!  At the end of this wall was a tasting station.  I say tasting, you paid for the beer, but there was a huge selection.  One that I saw that I just could not pass up was Mongozo’s Cocunut Beer.  It was only 3.6%ABV but holy dang! it was some fabulous beer.  Light, clean, very refreshing and very coconutty.  I loved it.  The BCPF, at this point, had had enough, I think.  She did taste mine but that was about it.

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Swans in the pond at Koningin Astrid Park

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Picnic in Koningin Astrid Park

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Statue of Koningin Astrid

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On an old bridge in Bruges

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Bonne Jovi

We wandered a bit more through the old city and came upon the beautiful Koningin Astrid Park which has a statue of Neptune (as far as I can tell) in the middle of a little pond.  The thing that I thought the most awesome about it was there were actual swans and a little swan bridge that enabled them to get out of the water easily.  The whole thing was quite serene.  A group of about 8 college kids brought blankets and picnic baskets and set up a mid-afternoon picnic, with wine and snacks. They were laughing and drinking and it was just cool to watch that.  Felt good to watch the scene.  We had stopped along the way at a little candy shop so while sitting on a bench watching the kids and swans, we ate a little of the goodies we got. Great stuff.

DSCN1812

Belfort at Night, Bruges

Then came more beer.  We stopped for a few and they were potent.  After that we walked through the streets taking pictures of many of the old canals and bridges.  Then we ended up back in the square where we stopped at, you guessed it, De Vier Winden; we just couldn’t stay away.  We had our “very best friend,” Vincent, again.  We had more beer and some fries.  We watched as a group of guys (and some young ladies) carried a guy to the square, and left him standing in the middle.  That’s not odd, but the fact that they had him tied to a lamp post, plastic-wrapped with a sign and wine and dolled up in make up was.  It turns out he was getting married the next weekend and this is somewhat a tradition.  The sign translates to “I’m Good Jovi. Half nun half Bon Jovi.”  I’m not sure what “the faith” part at the bottom was.  He was taking it well and laughed it off.

DSCN1820

Apple Pie

More walking and looking until that night we ate in the square (not at De Vier Winden).  As we approached the square we hear the bells in the Belfort and it sounded like it was being accompanied by other instruments.  It seemed like it never stopped.  As we sat to eat dinner at a street cafe called the Golden Stretcher Café or La Civière d’or Au Petit Café we asked the server (don’t remember his name) about the bells.  He said it was the closing night of the bell tower concert season.  He said there were accompanists and if the entire song was performed it would play over 24 hours. Wow. Anyway, it was beautiful to hear and beautiful to look at from our seats.  Whilst eating there The BCPF had croquets (she wasn’t ready for full-on dinner, yet) while I had a steak, rare.  We, of course, had beer and I opted for dessert. She wanted the apple pie but didn’t know that she could eat it.  I wanted something and even though I’m not a fan of apple pie, I got it so she could have some.  It was really good pie.  Off to the hotel, and up the next morning to head to one of my least favorite cities in the world, Brussels. But first, more Grand Marnier.

The train was on time and we were in “first class.”  The ticket, however was an “any Belgian train” ticket and we left earlier than expected.  We arrived at the Brussels station two hours before our driver was to pick us up.  So we waited in a little food court and waited until the time we were supposed to be picked up and went back to the platform we arrived at and did what the instructions we had said to do.  We never saw this driver. We even begged someone to tell us how to find the hired cars and they were rude. We ended up having to get a taxi to our hotel.  Strike one for Brussels this trip.

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Manneken Pis

We get to our hotel and I must say that if you ever get the chance to stay at a Sofitel, do it!!!  I’m a travel agent and I recommend them anytime I can (note: I am no longer a travel agent but I STILL recommend Sofitel). That hotel was one of the nicest in which we’ve ever stayed.  I can’t really say what it was about it, but it just felt cozy.  The room was spacious, had a great view of a neighborhood street, the lobby was immaculate and the staff was so very friendly. We went up and put our luggage away and went to the only place that I enjoy in the city, The Grand Place.  We had to find our way to the “Metro.”  We didn’t even know that Brussels had a Metro. The metro station didn’t look like it was in any good shape; like they were just building it but I understand that it has been around for a long time.  It was a big construction zone and it was hard to traverse. Strike two, Brussels.

DSCN1868

Salmon appetizer

We finally got there and unlike last year, they had flowers out and the place was really nicely decorated.  It’s majestic and historic. Full of shops and restaurants, the Grand Place is a bright spot in one of the dirtiest, most miserable cities I’ve ever been in.  We decided to eat at a restaurant called La Chaloupe d’Or.  The BCPF had a goat cheese, honey and rosemary pie that came in a filo shell and I had a meatloaf in savory sauce. The food at this restaurant was fantastic. The BCPF talks about that being one of her favorite meals.  Of course, there was beer.  I have to say while this restaurant was fabulous when it comes to food, the service was kind of crappy and to even use the restroom you have to pay €.35 just to be in there.  That ticked me off. After this, we skipped dessert and went exploring.

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Main course at BE Cafe Marche Jourdan

We ended up in a record store where The BCPF purchased a CD that included Ric Ocasek teaming up with Billy Corgan. She also bought a Band of Horses disc.  We then went to the Hard Rock Cafe and looked around. I saw Vinnie Vincent’s (one-time guitarist with KISS) boots and a set list from a David Bowie concert.  We wandered down to to the Manneken Pis (the statue of the little boy that is taking a pee) which happens to be one of the nation’s landmarks.  We made a point to see it last year, too.  We then made our way back to The Grand Place and had waffles and lambics, cherry and peach, at a place called Aroma.  We made our way back to the hotel, including taking a wrong turn trying to get to the correct Metro station.  I HATE BRUSSELS!

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Amuse Bouche – BE Cafe Marche Jourdan

We relaxed for a bit for our last night in Europe and did our airline check-ins and all that jazz.  We then decided to walk down to the restaurant, BE Cafe Marche Jourdan, to have dinner.  It’s a 4 star restaurant with the prices to match, but as with everything else on this trip, we didn’t hold back.  We looked over the menu and ordered the salmon appetizer, trout with cauliflower sauce and shrimp and a selection of sweets for dessert.  Here’s the funny story about this: the prices were up there and we overheard a neighboring table talk about getting bread or an appetizer.  Out to our table came a very, very small piece of salmon on a thin slice of cucumber.  The BCPF and I looked at it and looked at each other and then looked back, again, at the small ramekin containing the itty-bitty piece of fish.  We laughed.  We couldn’t believe this was the appetizer, especially at these prices.  We wanted, so badly, to tell the neighboring table to not expect much.  We ate the sliver of fish-on-a-cuke and said we didn’t know what we’d do if the entree was that small.  Again, we reiterated to each other, this can’t be the appetizer.  Well, it wasn’t. It was an amuse-bouche. Then we laughed harder.  The appetizer was a good size portion and the entree was as well.  And the fish (the waitress commented, “so, fish and fish?”) was perfectly prepared, tender and delightful.  We had plenty of beer, again, knowing that this was our last night in Europe. The last night of our honeymoon.

Not to give so much away or TMI, I ran a bath for The BCPF and we just enjoyed holding each other in the water.  Nothing too graphic, just enjoying each other.  We slept very well that night.  We got up, got showered, ready to go and received the call that our car was waiting for us downstairs.  They took us to the airport and somehow we had no problems (this is Brussels after all).  The flight back was uneventful, which is always the best way to fly.

And, so, Dear Reader, we concluded our honeymoon, our wedding trip. Here we are, five months later and all is well.  I love that woman with all my heart and she really is my saving grace.  We both hope you enjoyed reading about the honeymoon and wedding.  I know it was long (this one is well over 2000 words) and it was a journey.  I hope you felt like you were there with us.  If you have any questions, comments or want to take a trip like this for your self, please let me know.  I love to talk travel and this trip was so wonderful, I’ll talk your ear off. The whole trip was amazing – a dream – and writing this for you was great; being able to walk through those memories again. It’s hard to believe The Honeymoon Chronicles have come to a close.  Thanks for reading about it.

So, there ya have it, all the honeymoon. I love my wife and I am so glad we got to have this trip. It was the last big one that we took. Hopefully, we’ll get to do it again soon. And, hopefully, the world opens back up so we can, too. Thank you, Dear Reader, for reading this. I truly appreciate it!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“A country like Belgium, or socialist countries in central Europe spend more money on art education than the United States, which is a really puzzling thought.” – Mikhail Baryshnikov

Memories Lane or: Six Starts Part 10

12 Saturday Sep 2020

Posted by TGBII in Beer, Food, Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Beer, Belgium, Bruges, Europe, Food, France, Honeymoon, Paris, The BCPF, Travel

Salutations™!!

I know it’s Saturday but I need to get through this. Honestly, it gets hard to keep up when I’m skipping and chopping up the days. But, that being said, I’m really enjoying my own blog walking down this path. The BCPF and I talk about our honeymoon all the time but these accounts from when it happened, is fascinating to me. I honestly don’t go back to read my own blog much, so this is funny how I chose to word things. Anywhat! Back to the story. And I will warn you, this is a long one.:

So, Disneyland Paris and Dinner in Bespin down, the last day in Paris was a welcome change.  Yes, there would be walking but that’s okay, it was a little more relaxed than what we’d done up to then.  We had a tour scheduled for that day, A Bohemian Walking Tour, and we had to meet up with the group at The Pantheon.  That fact alone was great; it’s a world famous landmark in, and of, itself.  But, first, we had to get there.

We took the Métro from Opéra to Maubert-Mutualité station and emptied into a street market, conveniently called Maubert-Mutualité Market.  Now, we can maneuver Métro routes like nobody’s business, but once we get off the rail and onto the streets, that’s the only time I have trouble getting around.  Orientation is the problem, not map reading. I can read the maps but figuring out which direction is east/west/north/south is the problem.  We decided we were early enough before our tour that we could afford to explore and wander about (we were about an hour and a half ahead of time).  The BCPF picked a direction and we went that way.

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Produce Shop in Latin Quarter

This is was the mother lode of the stuff we look for: neighborhood streets, shops, bakeries, butcher shops, apartments, flower shops, etc. I have said it before, we look for the neighborhoods, to see how the natives live.  That means more to us than sightseeing, although, that’s fun, too.  That’s why we take the walking tours, we get to see how lives are lived as well as history.  That’s what we had, here. Commercialism and tourist areas were at an absolute minimum, here; right in the Latin Quarter. Parisian life, indeed.  So upon looking for The Pantheon we figured we’d eat.  A street crossing lent a number of options, including a bakery where people were piling in and out (quite quickly, may I add).  We decided on Le Petit Cardinal and sat on the sidewalk watching schoolkids walking in small groups together to school with their backpacks, young executives on bicycles going to work, men and women in business attire riding scooters; a bit of everything.

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Croque Madame of The BCPF

When the server came to take our order and before she could say more than bonjour, I told her immediately, “je ne parle pas français (I don’t speak French).”  She stopped in her tracks, turned on a dime and went back inside, only to reemerge with an English menu.  The BCPF took the usual, croque madame, and I took a flatbread pizza.  We ate, taking in the great sunny day, watching life hustle and bustle by – hectic, yet subtle – whilst the lunch crowd moved in around us.  Between bites, I noticed a directional sign across the street indicating the direction of The Pantheon… BINGO! We paid and moved on towards the landmark.

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Scorp and His Twin

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The Facade of The Pantheon, Paris

 

 

 

 

Up a few hills and past a school, in which a shload of high schoolers were sitting about with books, bag lunches and being cool little Parisian hipsters.  We finally made it to The Pantheon.  The Pantheon is an 18th Century former church dedicated to St. Genevive. It also serves as a necropolis and has since become a memorial to some of history’s greats including Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Émile Zola, Louis Braille, Alexandre Dumas and Marie Curie.  It’s of Gothic architecture and looks quite Greek, at least to me.  We wandered around it because we were still about 20 minutes before the tour.  There was this crazy statue that was a temporary exhibit of a very large, naked, Asian-appearing man.  Oddly, enough, he is shaped just like me, so here’s a picture of me standing next to it.  I wish we had taken a pic of what it was, but we didn’t.

So we meandered around the gates of The Pantheon until we saw other people who appeared to be tourists and we inquired if they were waiting on a tour. They were a group of 7 friends (some couples) from Australia.  They said they were and then a short, but personable young man popped up and indicated that he was our tour guide.  He asked if he could finish his cigarette and coffee as he had been eating his lunch, mixing with the other locals enjoying their surroundings.  None of us had any problems with that and after he prepared himself, we learned his name was Arthur.  That was my grandfather’s name, so I found it pretty awesome.  He gave us a little history of The Pantheon and told us that university was only about $150 per semester, which is depressing, really, knowing what I owe for college and I’m feeling more and more and more like my degree is not only useless, but a scam.  Enough of that, though.

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The Gardens at Luxembourg Palace

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The Honeymooners’ Kiss

 

 

 

 

Arthur took us through the streets of the Latin Quarter and told us stories of architecture, history, landmarks. We stopped at the French Senate that is inside Luxembourg Palace located at Luxembourg Gardens.  This is one absolutely beautiful building, garden and, obviously, popular destination for Parisians and tourists, alike.  It was a massive expanse of grounds that truly was an immaculate garden.  Benches and people lined the stroll ways. Picnics were also happening. It was lovely.  Then there was the jolie fountain area pictured here where Arthur said it was rated one of the 10 best places to kiss in Paris. Well, I don’t know if it was connerie (French for BS) or not, but it was a great place for us to do so, I’d say.

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The First Guillotine Test was Supposedly Performed Here

He led us through side streets and past what he said was the oldest café in Paris.  That’s nice, but then he took us to a side garden where the first-ever test of the Guillotine was performed.  Macabre maybe, but cool, I think.  From there he led us to the oldest church (at least one of the two vying for the title) in Paris. Inside, The BCPF lit a candle, which has become a tradition for her in the historic churches we visit.  I usually stand to the side and hold things for her so she can have her time. Being non-religious, I am still respectful of others’ views and customs. One of the last places we crossed in front of during this tour was a hotel.  It was, in a way, the hotel: supposedly, the former apartment building that Jim Morrison died in.  I was never a big fan of The Doors, but still, it’s very interesting.

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Ma Salle a Manger (My Dining Room)

We then made our way to a small (and by small I mean minute) eatery called Ma Salle a Manger (My Dining Room).  I think my dining room is bigger than this. Don’t get me wrong, it was a lovely little place but I’m a big boy, even going to the bathroom was hard – lots of ducking and sucking in to maneuver.  We, along with Arthur, had wine and beer with our new Australian friends, of which we remember no names.  Included in our tour price was charcuterie and fromage.   Arthur knew the girl that was minding the shop and got us a few little extra cheeses in there.  It was very good.

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Our Tour Guide, Arthur

One thing I remember talking about was the money.  We all paid for our alcohol with cash.  The Australians told us that they hated American money.  Not for any political reasons, mind you, but because of its appearance.  They said that it was all the same color and all the same size. Euros and Australian monies are all different colors and sizes for different denominations.  We hadn’t really thought about it, it’s what we’ve always known.  There are a few variances in the money now, of course, but for the most part, it’s all that forest green and gray.

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The BCPF Drinking Ricard and Playing Pétanque

Arthur, then took us to a little courtyard and proceeded to mix up Ricard and water, to cut it. A licorice-like flavored thing, it was quite strong and quite fun to drink.  In this courtyard he introduced us to Pétanque, a bocce ball-esque game where you toss semi-hollow metal balls as closely as possible to a smaller, wooden ball. We all played, we all had fun.  Arthur then gave us the opportunity to continue the tour or to disband.  The Aussies had other plans to go back to the hotel and get ready for and they all opted out.

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Scorp Circling Point Zero

We asked if we could continue with him and he basically gave us a private tour for the next 45 minutes or so.  He took us past sanitariums and landmarks, eventually getting us back to Notre Dame, yet again.  He took us to Point Zero and told us the tradition of standing and turning on it. Doing so will ensure the circling individuals will return to Paris. Again, could be more connerie, but we didn’t take a chance, we circled it.

Before Arthur left us, we inquired about recommendations for dinner.  He gave us “instructions” on how to get to where he thought would be good for us and we said our goodbyes.  Arthur was fun and we glad that we got to take his tour.  We made our way toward the Métro and prepared to head where Arthur told us.  

(Arthur) had given us the info for a restaurant that he recommended as a good “closer” for Paris. He recommended Le Relais Gascon. Told us how to find it and sent us on our way.

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Le Relais Gascon restaurant

We took the Metro to the Pigalle station and exited to the street.  Because it was hard to understand every word that Arthur said , we basically were going to be winging it once we got off the train.  I did hear him say something about  a hill.  We looked around and noticed a hill. So we walked up it – by then we had gotten really good at hills. At the top of the hill and at a crossroad, there stood Le Relais Gascon.  We had found it.  We sat outside, as we did just about everywhere in Paris.  It had gotten a wee bit chilly.  I once more indicated Je ne parle pas français and they said, no problem and brought us English menus.

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The BCPF and Scorp having rosé.

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Avocado with grey shrimp and Russian dressing

 

 

 

 

One thing that we got on our Honeyfund fund raiser was “Wine in France and Beer in Belgium.”  So to satisfy that and to have a picture to thank JayCo & JenCo with, we had a nice rosé and we enjoyed it.  We then ordered appetizers.  The BCPF had a whole avocado covered with grey shrimp (basically bay shrimp) and a house-made Russian dressing.  She said it was great. I had pâté and it was quite flavorful.

Then on to the entrées. The BCPF had chicken with mushroom gravy and potato chips (not like the crisps we eat out of a bag, but grated potatoes).  She didn’t really care for that, she said. I had steak tartare. 4 nights in Paris, 3 nights of steak tartare.  I was addicted to that stuff.  Three different restaurants with steak tartare and three different ways of preparing it.  All three tasted different.  This one was more Worcestershire based. That’s not a bad thing, I like Worcestershire sauce.  I’m not really sure if that’s what it was but it did taste like it. It was delish!  However, I’d still say out of the three this was my least favorite; but still delish.  On to some dessert!

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Chicken and mushroom gravy

The BCPF had chocolate mousse and, as she sits here while I write this, said it was go-oo-oo-oo-ood!  I had a banana  split and it was yummy but nothing spectacular.  As usual, I finished my meal off with a snifter of Grand Marnier. Overall, we enjoyed the restaurant but it wasn’t our favorite of Paris. We made our way back to the Metro station and back to our hôtel (the proper French way to spell it). A great end to a great day.

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Steak tartare

The next morning we make our way down to the lobby where we awaited a driver to take us to the train station so we could move on to our next destination.  We got to the train station and had some croissants and coffee.  Something about French coffee, it doesn’t wig out my Tourette Syndrome like caffeine-laden American coffee.  Which is good, because I didn’t want to be jittery at that time. The reason for that is there was a presence of armed French officers, either military or police carrying the machine guns, just like under the Eiffel Tower. I’m supposing the ISIS threat at the time in Europe led them to that, but I’m not really sure. We also saw the apprehension of a thief. Thievery is apparently an epidemic in the train stations. I know we told the same beggar woman “allez!!” several times and the same to another bum. Homeless people I feel for, bums, I don’t.

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Banana Split in Paris

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Chocolate mousse in Paris

 

 

 

 

Finally, our train arrived and again, we had first class tix.  We put our bags in the racks and rode on to Brussels so that we could take the connector to Bruges.  Whilst riding we had come pastries, tea (me) and coffee (The BCPF).  It was about an hour and a half and quite peaceful.  I spent time trying to update my blog, but the WiFi on the train was spotty.  Present, but spotty. 

We arrived in Brussels and had to figure out where we were supposed to pick up the train to Bruges.  The train station in Brussels is but one reason why I hate that city; it is so darned confusing. I had to ask one of the rude workers in transportation which train I was supposed to get on because the only thing that they have that indicates trains is the Departures and even though we were departing we couldn’t find the right train to be on.  Anywhat! The worker told me to just get on ____ train (I can’t remember which one) it leaves at ____ time.  I thanked her and she just nodded.  Anyway we wait and wait and wait for the train. It arrives and we get on in a bum-rush of people.  Stuffing our luggage under and in-between seats, we sat down breathing heavy and worn out but ready to move on.

We arrived in Bruges and worked our way out to the taxi stand and waited in line to get a ride to our hotel.  The driver loaded our bags and drove us to a lovely old hotel.  On the way there, all on cobblestone streets, he pointed out several churches, a brewery, pointed us in the direction of the square, etc.  A very good driver, he was.  

Checking into Oud Huis de Peellaert, we marveled at how beautiful the hotel was. There was much to marvel at in this old place, mostly good, and some truly odd.  The view from our room was something just out of a storybook, or what you’d think a small Belgian town would look, historic and timeless.  The floor of the bathroom was heated.  As is the case with most European hotels, you had to use your room key in a slot to enable the lights and other electronics.  The odd thing about this one was that it was a true key on a weighted dongle and not a credit card-like passkey.  Also, we were to leave the key at the front desk when we left, which, if we forgot something, then the desk attendants, who never complained, certainly didn’t look pleased. It’s okay, they dealt with it, fantastically.

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Braces in the halls of Oud Huis de Peellaert

Another odd thing in this hotel, not in our path, but the opposite end of the hall, there were structural braces in the hall.  Not just there, but THERE! See the picture, won’t you?

Well, we settled our stuff in, took in the view and decided to go out and see what this small town held for us.  We dropped off the key and walked out the front door.  We glanced toward the skyline and looked for a clue as to where to go. We saw what were looking for and headed to the left.

We passed by a few small restaurants and came to a small square.  In this square there were a few police officers. They were setting up seats in front of a trailer/stage where an orchestra would play later that day. Let it be known that that was the only time we saw any police during our entire Bruges stay.  We moved on down a street. Street is a misnomer as there was no cars in this street, although some horse-drawn carriages were.

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Belfort, the Bell Tower of Bruges

We passed by chocolatiers, lacemakers, lace sellers, more restaurants and a beer museum.  Mmmm hmmm, a beer museum. But, that comes later.  We heard and saw what it was we were looking for. Bruges is visually best known for one thing.  It’s primary landmark, and if you’ve seen the film In Bruges, then you know it already, is the Belfort, or Belfry of Bruges.  It’s a 13th Century bell tower and has 366 steps to the top, in which I am way too lazy to climb. It’s the center attraction in the Markt, a market square that is full of restaurants, shops, a post office and some government buildings.

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Beers at De Vier Winden, Bruges

As we were now getting a little hungry we decided to sit down for a small snack and, of course, Belgian beer.  So, we ended up at a restaurant to the right of the Belfort called De Vier Winden (German for The Four Winds) where we had frittes with both mayonnaise and ketchup and Leffe Braun.  We also had a great server named Vincent.  He liked us, as well, because we ate there more than once and he kept calling us his “very best friends.”  The frittes, french fries – after all true french fries were created in Belgium, not France – were delicious and hit the spot and the beer, well Leffe is awesome and hard to go wrong.  We then decided that we were ready for a nap.  C’mon, we’ve at this point been going, non-stop, for 11 days, straight.  It was quite needed.

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The BCPF and Scorp on their horse-drawn carriage ride in Bruges

 

 

 

 

We returned to the square later that evening and after walking about a mile (plus) out of the way to find an ATM, returned to the square, yet again, to pay for a horse-drawn carriage ride through the historic city.  This was no ordinary carriage ride. The driver and her friend drove the horse quite quickly. At one point the horse was actually trotting and not just strolling through the city. It was probably the fastest carriage ride we’d ever taken. The driver stopped halfway through the tour to feed the horse and let it get water.  We took that opportunity to get some pictures and enjoy the rest.  It was a fun, but strange ride.  We ended back at the square about 45 minutes (the ride was fast, not the tour) and we went back to De Vier Winden since we were already familiar with it.  Vincent was waiting for us there and greeted us as his “very best friends,” yet again.

The BCPF had some wine whilst I had the biggest glass of Hoegaarden Raspberry known to man.  It was hugantic! She had shrimp croquettes and I had cheese croquettes for appetizers.  They were both spectaculicious!  For dinner, she had a chicken florentine stew and I had rabbit.  Dessert was, of course, a Belgian waffle for The BCPF and crème brulèe for me.  All was very delicious. She was especially taken by the croquettes and got them, when she could, from other restaurants.  We then returned to the hotel and stopped in at the bar for a night cap. Any guesses as to what I had?  Have you been reading, Dear Reader? I’ll give you three guesses and first two won’t count.  Okay, okay, I’ll tell you, it was, of course, Grand Marnier and The BCPF had Sprite. She was living dangerously.

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A bridge in Bruges with The BCPF

Breakfast the next morning was a cold/dry bar with cereals, lox, toast, etc.  Basically, it was the same shite we’d had everywhere else.  Nothing, really, to remark about.  Then, we were out and about. We had a 2pm appointment for one of the city tours with earphone guide, but we were up and out early so we had time to kill.  We did what we do and took a different turn and walked the streets to see what else we could wander upon.  We crossed some bridges that are older than most everything we have here in “The States,” walked the streets, doing some people watching and ended up at a little market square. At this square there was a few different things: fish (because why not?) and other seafood, scarves, t-shirts, etc. The BCPF loves some scarves, as I think I’ve mentioned, and these were actually made by the people that were there selling them.  They had a large loom there that they used to make said scarves.  She wasn’t going to buy one but I kind of insisted.  She loved it.

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Drinking a Straffe Hendrik by Brouwerij De Halve Maan Brugge

 

 

 

 

We made our way to the Markt again and whilst waiting on the tour bus, we had a few beverages. The BCPF had a Belgian cafe mocha with hot chocolate and coffee and I had a few beers. These beers were Straffe Hendrik by De Halve Maan Brewery in Bruges, a fantastic 11% ABV monster and the Tripel Karmeliet from Bosteels Brewery, a great 8.4% ABV Tripel.  One thing that I noticed about Belgium and their restaurants, when they serve beer, they serve it with glasses that have logos that match each and every beer.

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Bonne-Chière Windmill

We then walked across the square and got on the tour bus.  It was really a run-of-the-mill tour, nothing major.  We saw a couple of things like the Bonne-Chière Windmill, two more bell towers, including those older than the Belfort. There was also a VW Microbus carrying a wedding party. Interesting.  Then back to the square where we exited the bus.

We walked up the street to The Beer Museum. See, I told you I’d get there.  Admission included walking up a  ridiculous amount stairs to grab an iPad of some sort that would play the part of tour guide for us.  It showed the history of beer, both in the world and in Bruges. It showed the positive and negative aspects of beer in history. The highlight of the museum tour, though, was the three tokens each we received to exchange for beer samples.  And, yes, The BCPF drank beer! She says that it was Belgium that fully turned her on to it. We tried Kriek (cherry) lambics, hefty high-gravity beers and other smooth and strong Belgian beers.  Quite delish, all.

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Drinking beer samples at The Beer Museum, Bruges

Feeling quite sluggish and more than slightly inebriated, we stumbled about looking for things to buy for souvenirs and found a chocolate factory that tickled our fancies. One thing about Bruges, it’s known for a few things. Specifically, it’s known for its Belgian lace (especially bobbins-made), Belgian chocolate, Belgian beer and Belfort.  Anywhat! We proceeded to purchase a 36-pc box of chocolates (variety assortment) and a dozen “animal fat jellies.” Basically, jelly- (like jelly beans, not as in PB&J) filled candies that are shaped like noses and are called “neuzekes” (noses), oddly enough.  I mention the animal fat because the girl who sold them to us was quite adamant about informing us due to the fact that she sold some to a Muslim couple and they didn’t know. We got them in a tin and have finished those off, definitely. Remarkably, those things (and the chocolates) held up quite nicely.

That’s what’s we were doing on September 10, 11, 12 six years ago. Sorry it was so long, but I didn’t want to get any further behind. I will finish the whole story on Monday, which was the end of our honeymoon trip although the honeymoon is still happening.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“It’s like a f***ing fairytale or something.“ – Ken (Brendan Gleeson), In Bruges (2008)

Memories Lane or: Six Starts Part 9

10 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Anniversary, Disneyland Paris, Europe, Honeymoon, Life, Life as It is, Paris, The BCPF, Travel

Salutations™!!

I messed up yesterday, Dear Reader. I stopped before I was done. But, it was a long post and this one is, too, so we will double up next time I post about it. This is from six years ago yesterday. Briefly before that, though. Today is the 19th anniversary of finding out that my ex-wife and I were going to have our first (and only) child. That turned out to be 3B. So, yeah… Anywhat! Here’s the recounting.

When we last left off in Europe, we visited Disneyland Paris. That same day we decided that we were tired and wanted to get some food and then go back to the room and relax. That had been a long, long day.

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Capucine Café

The BCPF was put in charge of picking a location.  She said we were going to go in a direction, stay within a few blocks and just see what we saw.  There’s restaurants in every direction in Paris.  Well, except the direction we walked.  Don’t get me wrong, there were some restaurants but they were few and far between while nothing looked like it was special enough for us to spend one of our Parisian dinners eating at or in.  We wandered down a few more streets, changing both direction and area until we found a more populous rue (street en français).  Surely, something would be on this street.

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Lobot (Photo© Star Wars Wikia)

As we walked there came a loud roar and wail of sirens and flashing blue lights of motorcycle cops, leading the way for a black sedan with black tinted windows, followed by more motorcycle cops.  We looked at each other and asked who might that be?  We neither one knew.  So we stumbled upon a cozy looking restaurant called Capucine Café.  We stood looking at the street menu, trying to decide if this was the place or not.  One of the older serveurs (yes I spelled that correctly) motioned us to a table outside.  OK, we’ll take it.

We took our seats at small tables and after what seemed like 10 minutes someone finally brought out menus.  We didn’t know what to think.  We were tired so we weren’t going to get up and look for something else.  This or bust! Out came a serveur who very closely resembled Lobot from The Empire Strikes Back.  Not only did he look like Lobot, he had the same facial expression(less). I wish we’d taken a picture of him.

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The BCPF’s Soup

So we ordered beverages, wine for The BCPF, beer for me; sad to say I don’t remember which one.  She ordered a glass of wine.  They brought a bottle. Here’s the thing, the ladies who sat beside us – sisters, one from Oklahoma, one from Nebraska – kept ordering bottles of wine but Lobot would only bring them glasses.  This should have let us know something was up.  We ordered our appetizers: soup for her, tuna tartare for me.  We ordered our entrees at this time, too, but we’ll get back to that.  Lobot left and brought back the silverware. He put the soup spoon in front of me and the small fork in front of her.  Um, it’s backwards hoss, she got the soup.  So we switched the silverware and sipped our libations.  Then the apps arrive and Lobot sets the soup in front of me and the tuna in front of her.  We informed him of this and with a blank look on his face, he somehow managed to look confused at the same time.  He switched them. He had also left some bread on the table for us to share.

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Line of Security Bikes

All of a sudden, a bevy of motorcycle cops and a certain black sedan came back down the boulevard and stopped on the street in front of where we were.  The bikes got up on the sidewalk, lined up and parked.  Gentlemen in dark suits and earpieces all got out of the car.  We wanted to get the camera ready to take a picture in case it was Johnny Depp or Brangelina or Lady Gaga or whomever.  No one that we recognized was there.  The “secret service” detail promptly marched in to the restaurant and, from what we can tell, started drinking.  The sisters told us that the hubbub had just come from their hotel as the President   of Czech Republic was staying there and they had gone through that earlier.  This was just security detail, I guess.  Which begs the question, why weren’t they protecting him?  Was he having a meeting? Perhaps a “meeting” that required his “full attention?”  Conjecture.  I don’t know.  Anywhat!

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Mussels for The BCPF

After the importantish people went into the restaurant and we finished our appetizers, Lobot took the app plates and went away after I ordered another bottle of delightful barley and hops.  Then in about 3 minutes he came back, took away the silverware that was still on the table, took the bread and asked us if we wanted dessert.  The BCPF and I looked at each other, half thinking this was a joke and half confused beyond measure.  We informed Lobot that we hadn’t even eaten our main course, yet.  He nodded as if he understood.  Then, he still walked off with the bread and the silverware.  The sisters were laughing and said he was acting weird with them as well.  In another 2 minutes or so, he brought the bread and sat it on our table along with silverware.  My lady and I did all we could to keep the snickering to a minimum by covering it up with coughs and what-have-yous.

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Crepes

The mussels she ordered and the scallops dish that I ordered (this was the only dinner in Paris that wasn’t beef tartare for me) finally arrived and were all quite flavorful.  We were almost finished with the main course when the battalion of security came marching out single file and placing themselves upon their bikes, in their cars, to their positions.  They then proceeded toward the direction from whence they came.  Lobot returned to inquire (again) if we wanted dessert. A chocolate ganache for Mrs. Scorp and a crepe with Grand Marnier/sauce of some sort for Mr. Of course, as is customary for me in Paris, a snifter of Grand Marnier was ordered  We ate up our lovely desserts and I ordered a second Grand Marnier.  In a move that was totally un-Lobot-esque, when I requested the second, he not only nodded (which was his signature move) and actually glanced at my eyes and threw some weird creepy smirk at me; more like a “yeah drink up, buddy!” look that anything.  I just chuckled as he walked back in to get my bev.

Again, some of the best food we’ve had, as was all of Paris, but this has to be the weirdest, most peculiar dining experience we have ever had, together, or apart.  I guess Lando Calrissian had Lobot on standby all evening and that distracted him.  Who knows, but it truly was bizarre; totally.

lobot-stare

Lando: I think she had the soup. Lobot: Whatchyou talkin’ ’bout, Lando!?

Well, that’s the ending of a pretty good day.  Disney (even if it was less than perfect) and Lobot – hey! He’s now a Disney character… coincidence?  Hmmmm.  The BCPF and I speculated that perhaps Lobot was part of the security detail and was mixing in.  That could have been his awkwardness.  I doubt it, though.

That was crazy, but so darned good. Like I said, I will catch us up over the next few days. Tomorrow is 9/11 so I may or may not post about this. We’ll see. 

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Well done. Get them to the security tower, and keep it quiet. Move.” – Lando Calrissian to Lobot, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

Memories Lane or: Six Starts Part 8

09 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by TGBII in Honeymoon, Life as We Know It, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Anniversary, Disneyland Paris, Europe, Honeymoon, Life, Life as It is, Paris, The BCPF, Travel

Salutations™!!

In this post, I talk about what happened when we visited Disneyland Paris, six years ago today. Copied from the original “Honeymoon Chronicles” post.

Bonjour, mes amis. This is Day 3 in Paris! Oui, oh oui!

DSCN1431

Beautiful older couple on Paris sidewalk

When we last left the blogosphere of The Honeymoon Chronicles, The BCPF and I were wandering through the streets of Paris seeing the Eiffel Tower and watching some dude water the ivy on the garden wall.  One thing I did forget to say was in our street touring we ended up behind an older/elderly couple that were walking through the streets holding hands.  They seemed to be natives and looked happy and content. I told The BCPF that that would be us in about 30 years.  I had her take a picture with her digi-obscura and you can see the result here.

This day was something that I had been waiting on. We missed the opportunity last year and this year, we weren’t going to miss it. I’ve touted myself as a Disney guy over and over and over, and I’ve been to Walt Disney World fifteen times! So, it just seems natural that I’d visit other Disney theme parks. And, that’s what we did on this, the third Parisian day.

The way to Disneyland Paris is to find the RER A Train. RER means Réseau Express Régional or Regional Express Network. This train serves from the city proper into the outlying suburbs. This particular train was going to the Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy. That station is right at the gates of Disneyland Paris. So we took our tickets that we pre-purchased and walked up to the main gates of Paris’ “Happiest Place on Earth.” Disneyland Paris is made up of two theme parks in one: the “Magic Kingdom” part and Walt Disney Studios, which is DLP’s version of WDW’s Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

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Scorp really excited about Disneyland Paris

When we arrived, there was a giddiness that had already taken me over. When we got to the turnstiles I was about to hop them before they took the tickets. But, I didn’t. I held it together. Once through, though, I had settled down a bit. It looks a lot like the Magic Kingdom: firehouse, confectionery shops, outlet-like shops, and even a Casey’s Hot Dog shop. Casey’s doesn’t open until 11a there and we were about 10 minutes early. The BCPF and I have a tradition of going to Casey’s as the first thing-to-do on every trip to WDW so why not carry that tradition on to DLP? A couple of things that are different was that the dogs – all of which are foot longs – came prepackaged and there was no “fixin’s” bar. They came how they came, either with melted cheddar and bacon or without, and that’s pretty much how it is. Paris apparently doesn’t know what yellow mustard is, only Dijon mustard. While I love me some Dijon mustard, I want yellow mustard on my hot dog. So, a couple of dogs (mine with cheese and bacon, hers without) with fries and bottled sparkling water and we’re ready to move on.

Once you move off of Main Street U.S.A. (yes, that’s its name) the similarities to Magic Kingdom get a bit weird. Not dissimilar mind you, just weird. Did I mention it’s weird? Anyway, just like its Anaheim counterpart, this Disneyland’s castle is called Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant or Sleeping Beauty Castle (WDW has Cinderella Castle). As you can see the castle is pink. The inside of the castle has a few shops – glass and crystal making shop and a Christmas shop. The upstairs features stained glass windows and a spinning wheel, like the story. Underneath it there is an animatronic dragon in a grotto that is supposed to represent Maleficent. It’s actually pretty cool. You can then step out to the side and be under the bridge that connects the castle to the “land” and that covers the “moat.” A pretty and relaxing waterfall is present here as well. Not as spacious as Cinderella Castle, but appealing and interesting nonetheless.

Surrounding the castle, as is the case in both Disneyland California (DLC) and WDW, is a collection of “lands” that represent various themes. In WDW (the one I’m familiar with) there is, clockwise, Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. In DLP the lands are (in the same order): Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Discoveryland. There’s no equivalent for Liberty Square, which is the counterpart of New Orleans Square in DLC. Confused, yet? It’s not rocket surgery, but more info than you’d probably ever want to know. Some other oddities to me are that the haunted house ride is called the Phantom Manor instead of Haunted Mansion, the storyline is entirely in French, and sits right next to Big Thunder Mountain; and this after you pass the Legends of the Wild West which looks like the fort on Tom Sawyer Island in WDW. Those sit in Frontierland. Then we moved to Adventureland where we saw the DLC version of Swiss Family Tree House called Le Cabane des Robinson. The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was closed.

Moving on to Fantasyland there were some familiar rides like Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Peter Pan’s Flight, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, a carousel called “Lancelot’s Carousel” and Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (Cups, in DLP). But something we don’t have, which to me seems redundantly similar to Snow White, is Les 

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It’s a Small World Ride – Disneyland Paris

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Scorp and The BCPF on It’s a Small World in Disneyland Paris

Voyages de Pinocchio. I don’t know, it just seemed like it was rehashing her ride. Also, there’s Le Pays des Contes de Fées (Land of Fairy Tales), a mostly useless boat ride around a loop that shows models that represent various fairy tales. I know that sounds kind of harsh, but really, it seemed like they just needed to stuff something in a space and this was it. The theming was nice, but really, meh. The main attraction in this land, though, was It’s a Small World. The queue is actually outside and there’s an open court that, I’m sure, lends to queue management during the busy months. The DLP version actually has some American theming that you don’t see in the American version (at least not at WDW). Overall, there were several things that matched the WDW, but overall it kind of fell flat.

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Space Mountain: Mission 2 in Disneyland Paris

We moved on, then to the Tomorrowland equivalent: Discoveryland. There was Space Mountain: Mission 2 and Star Tours, Orbitron – Machines Volantes (Astro Orbitor) and touching on some Epcot action, Captain Eo starring Michael Jackson. There was also a very strange 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea thingy called Les Mystères du Nautilus that was basically a “life-size” model of The Nautilus that Capt. Nemo sailed in the story/film. It was a cool, shady distraction but really I don’t get why it was there.

DSCN1510

Les Tapis Volants – Flying Carpets over Agrabah Disneyland paris

 

 

 

 

So we decided to head over to the other park, “Walt Disney Studios,” which is kind of like a misnomer because there aren’t any studios there; not working studios, anyway. There we did ride the Studio Tram Backlot Tour which is very similar to the now-defunct ride of the same theme in WDW. We skipped around inside looking at some of the rides and comparing/contrasting with WDW. We also rode the Les Tapis Volants – Flying Carpets over Agrabah that are also in WDW. There’s a Twilight Zone Tower of Terror there. I’ve never ridden the one in WDW and wasn’t about to this time, either. Some of the other rides were Ratatouille: The Adventure (which we didn’t know anything about it so we didn’t get in line for it), Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop (like a drop zone/Tower of Terror-type ride), Rockin’ Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith (just like in WDW), Crush’s Coaster (not riding roller coasters) and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye (bumper cars). Interesting things, yes, but nothing I wanted to ride.

I’ll be honest here, I was just going through the motions mostly at this point. We’re not really “thrill ride riders” as much as we are “experiencers.” There was something of a letdown when it came to the whole “Magic Kingdom” and Studios aspect. Parts of my problems were as such: The park opened in April, 1992. It seems that most of the park was still stuck there. In Disneyland Paris you can see ceiling tiles, a/c units, cobwebs where they shouldn’t be, etc. There was no attention to detail and “keeping the magic alive” happening. They were fleecing money from the consumers and tourists only. I’m not naïve enough to believe that’s not what is happening in WDW but when I’m there, I get that air of mystery; mystique. Unless you’re really looking for it, you’re not going to find many things out of place. Notice I don’t say all, that’s virtually impossible, except Disney does a darn fine job of it. The ceiling tiles in It’s a Small World are painted black with other decorations giving the perception of depth and infinity. DLP there were tiles missing and you could see the a/c above holes in the drop-tile. I know I’m repeating but the illusion is lost there. The paint jobs on the attractions are old and tired. I’m thinking there should be a push in the Disney Company to capitalize on the fact that DLP is finally profitable. You’d think they’d want to do what WDW and DLC are doing, updating, renovating, refreshing their parks.

DSCN1500

Bride and Groom at Disneyland Paris

Now, all that being said I’m glad I saw it. Truly, even knowing what I know, I’d really hate to have missed seeing it. If my son wants to see it, I’ll definitely take him, in a heartbeat. However, as I said, I’ve seen it. I don’t ever have to go back. Been there/done that. I was so done with DLP that we didn’t even eat anything else there. In WDW, food is the main highlight of my trip. So that’s saying something.  But, hey! I was with my new bride, so that’s awesome, too.

One thing that I found cool outside of the parks proper was the inclusion of benchmarks of the other Disney parks in a “compass” and I’ve included them here.

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Walt Disney World Benchmark

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Disneyland (California) Benchmark

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Hong Kong Disneyland Benchmark

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Tokyo Disney Benchmark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to go back to Paris to see what we could find and where we could explore. That’s part of the next blog. This is already long, as it is. Next up in The Honeymoon Chronicles, it’s the most bizarre experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant.

Like I said, I would have always kicked myself for not going if we didn’t, but I am glad we did, even if I didn’t really care much for it. This is primarily the reason I don’t get excited about Disneyland in Anaheim. If it’s not WDW, I don’t want it. Anywhat! I’m out for today…

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“I’m a big Disneyland nut.” – John Lasseter

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