Riding the Rails, The Hard Way

Here's a rather weird news story from the Belgian press that leaves you wondering whether you should be happy or still stay sad.  It turns out that in 2011 there was a drop of railroad suicides in Belgium by something like 20%.  Just over 100 people took their own lives in this manner.  They don't elaborate but I assume this is the result of throwing yourself in front of a moving train and not, for example, trying the Chef's Surprise in the dining car.  The fact that 70% of the rail suicides took place in Flanders, the more well-to-do northern half of Belgium, is puzzling.  Wallonia, the much poorer, French-speaking southern half of the country, would seem the more likely place for despondency.  But I think I've figured this one out: the trains are so habitually late in Wallonia that it's nearly impossible to know when to be waiting on the tracks for the next train.  In Flanders things run much more smoothly, so your chances of success naturally go up dramatically.  And, I guess, deadly. 
Here's one more odd bit of news from the same article: an additional 73 people tried to commit suicide last year by this means, but were unsuccessful.  Boy, talk about having a bad day: you finally decide you've had enough and want to end it all by throwing yourself in front of a train, and yet still find a way to mess up.  The train was going too slowly, or didn't weigh enough?? In this case, I believe Someone is telling you that you really were meant to keep on living.

Filly Filet - The Quarterhorse Pounder

Europeans find it extremely curious that the U.S. only a week ago removed the ban on the selling of horse meat for human consumption.  They've been pounding down ponies here for centuries, evidently without any terrible side-effects.  I've seen horse meat in the store; it doesn't look all that different from beef and, at least here in Belgium, costs about the same as good beef.  Seen it, yes; tried it, not yet...

Probably Didn't Have the Cable TV Back Then...

When was the last time you stayed in a hotel that was nearly 400 years old?  Here's where we spent Tuesday night, in the marvelous little city of Celle, in northen Germany, about a 5 hour drive from here.

Weihnachtsmarkt

In the post below, you see a typical Christmas market in France.  Now, here is one in northern Germany, in the beautiful little city of Celle, near Hannover.  If this doesn't make you feel like you're in Europe, nothing will.  By the way, they actually do have "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" here!

Marche de Noel



Today we visited the Marche de Noel, or Christmas Market, in Lille, the first large French city across the southern border of Belgium.  We've now visited markets in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and here and this one rates as one of the nicest.  It certainly did help that, for the first time in recent memory, the sun actually came out.
It's sad for us to realize that this will no doubt be our final European Christmas market.  They've all been a lot of fun and it's places like here where you really do recognize that "we're not in Kansas anymore."

Big Stomachs; Small Hearts?

A recent poll of Flemish (Dutch-speaking Belgians) living abroad included a question asking what they miss most from the Old Country.  Coming in a clear number one was "French" fries (which the Belgians, evidently correctly, claim as their own invention).  If you've tasted them here, you can see why this tops the list.  Among the top five responses were Belgian chocolate and beer (again, if you've tasted them, this comes as no surprise).  Finishing far back, in 8th place - even behind shrimp and bread - were family and friends.  Who needs people if you've got all the basic food groups covered (beer, chocolate, and fries)?

A Slow News Day...Very Slow

It must be hard for a newspaper to fill up every daily edition with meaty news.  Some days there just isn't all that much happening.  But hopefully there are always enough crises to at least make for an interesting front page.  I have to believe that it was the slowest day in history, judging by this story which made its way onto Page One of the Stars and Stripes just a couple of days ago:
"Sex With Animals Still Forbidden for Military"
I do have to admit, this one got my attention and so I read on.  Now I'm not sure which is sadder: the fact that S&S had to make this a front page item, or the fact that Congress is actually using its free time (read: Monday through Friday) to debate such things as part of the larger Defense Dept. budget proposal.
But, in case you're interested, bestiality is still a no-go for members of the armed forces.  Kind of makes you glad to be a civilian, right?