Let Your Feet Do The Walking!

I get down on Belgium and Belgians frequently. In all fairness, it's time to share a statistic that certainly puts them (and no doubt the rest of Europe) in a positive light, compared to the U.S.
In Belgium, only 46% of all trips under 2 miles are taken in a car. Care to guess what the percentage is in America? Higher. Higher.
Final answer: almost 96%.
Now compare the obesity rates between the two countries. If you've spent any time at all in Europe, you know how many fewer "large" folks there are here vice in America. It's not even close.
There is definitely something to be said about getting up on your hind legs and walking a bit.

United in Death

You don't have to travel very far in western Belgium to come upon a military cemetery. No real surprise, considering that Belgium "hosted" a huge part of the fighting in World War I. Just outside the city of Mons, now the home of NATO's military headquarters and just north of the French border, you come to St. Symphorien Cemetery, perhaps unique in all of Belgium. For here are buried soldiers believed to be the first and last to die in the Great War. One of the first battles of the war took place near Mons in August 1914 and the final front lines were only miles away, in November 1918. The last British death is believed to be Private George Ellison, killed on what would become Armistice Day, November 11th (1918).
But even more interesting is that this is one of the few "integrated" cemeteries, with German and British soldiers buried in a single location. There is almost an equal number from each nation (about 250 each) and, in one single location, a British captain and a German private are literally side-by-side.
It's a very quiet and thought-provoking place. It might be a good idea for people from all nations to pay this small cemetery a visit...

More Pretty Pictures

From our trip earlier this week to Stockholm. Read below for the details!

Sweet on Sweden!

We just returned from 3 marvelous days in Stockholm - this city instantly made its way onto our short list of favorite places in Europe. The weather was absolutely flawless, the sights unique, the streets immaculate, the people extremely friendly, the hotel breakfast large enough to feed a family of 10, and even the beer prices - we had been forewarned that they were outrageous - were almost within reason.
It's a city built on islands large enough that you don't often realize that water is everywhere around you. You can see it all here, from the city hall where the Nobel Prize banquet is held, to the quaint alleys in the city's oldest section, to the royal palace, to the first and largest outdoor museum village in all of Europe, to the almost indescribable museum built around a 375 year-old fighting ship which lay in 100 feet of water only a half mile from the shore before being raised in 1961.
And being on the same latitude as southern Alaska, even in mid-July the sun was up well before 4AM. What's not to like??

Is This Civilized, Or What?

What cars are to us Americans, bikes are to many northern Europeans, especially folks in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden. They are everywhere and all sorts of courtesies are paid to cyclists.
I think that at most gas stations in the States you now have to pay for air for your tires. Just think about that one for a minute. But here in Stockholm, not only is air for bike tires free, they actually put the air machines in small bike "parking lots" in the center of the city. These Swedes have definitely got the right idea.

And You Think Your Job Is Tough?

Taken in a small lane in the old part of Stockholm, at noon on a workday.

Your Guess Is As Good As Mine...

Suffice it to say, there must be a lot of differences between English and Swedish.

Cat's Night Out

While in this case curiosity did not kill the cat, it certainly made for a long, uncomfortable night for him.
We just got back from a great 3-day trip to Stockholm, only to find hot, muggy conditions in Belgium. To let in some fresh air, we opened all the windows in our house, screened or not (we've put screens in about half; they are almost unknown in most of Europe). The unscreened window in the bathroom opens to a small, extremely steep part of the roof, which empties into a horizontal metal rain trough.
It was dark outside by the time I closed the non-screened windows (queue the scary music...). Little did I know that big, gray Max had somehow decided to take a road trip out of the window, somewhere onto the trough below (or so we assume). The only way we learned of this was 6 hours later, as were waking up. We heard his tiny, muffled meowing and only slowly grasped what had happened: the guy had spent the entire night outside the window, somehow perched 15 feet above the deck on a trough measuring no more than a couple of inches. To say that he was happy to be back indoors is an understatement. He may never venture near a window again. Then again, Max is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so I guess we'd better check carefully each and every night...

Sunday Morning Market in Waterloo

This is a real treat, being able to buy fresh fruit and vegetables nearly every Sunday in the year, at the Waterloo train station, only 2 miles from our house. They sell just about everything here, from produce to purses to pillows to olives (one stand must have 15 different kinds) to suitcases to watches to escargot to house plants. As you can see, it's quite colorful.
As for prices, well, they are like most everything else in Belgium: not cheap. You can still occasionally find a bargain (house plants are a good example), but they're few and far between. Here are a couple of examples of what we pay for things:
* loaf of fresh bakery bread = $4.30
* apples = $1.30/lb.
* tomatoes = $1.09/lb.
* oven-roasted chicken = $9.75
* Gouda cheese = $9.70/lb.

Park...and Pay

Here in Belgium, you can tailgate someone, inches behind their rear bumper at 80 MPH, and no problem. You can do 100 MPH in a 55 MPH zone - also, no problem. As a motorcyclist, you can make your own "3rd lane," bobbing and weaving between the two "real" lanes of the highway - no problem once again. The bottom line: in 2 years here in Belgium I have never, ever seen any car pulled over by any police officer. Never. Once in awhile you can get caught by a speed camera but most of them function no better than the Belgian government.
Now, here's what you do if you're a real road criminal: park in a residential area with more than half of your car off the road (these streets are narrow!), up on the curb and partially on the sidewalk. This may sound odd, but it's quite common in many parts of Europe, especially where the roads are more like lanes. But evidently not so in Waterloo, Belgium.
Last Sunday we parked this way (exactly the same way two Belgian cars were parked), a block from a huge flea market in town. Imagine our surprise to return to find a parking ticket on the windshield. Apparently, a bit too much of the car was off the road.
So, what would be the appropriate penalty? Considering our license plates clearly identify us as non-Belgians, I'm thinking a warning might suffice. Dream on. OK - how about a fine of $25-30? Hey, you're in Belgium. The fine? $130! That's not a typo : $130. Because a pedestrian might not have a full 4 feet of sidewalk for his dog to poop on.
At least I'm not bitter about it...