Three countries in one day, 2 birthday cakes, and everyone still asks about Trump and the domestic situation in the USA [View all]

[DFW]

I got up at 6:15 so that I would have time to grab breakfast in the hotel (included) in Paris, take the métro (changing once) to the Gare du Nord, and making my train up to Brussels in plenty of time. My first appointment was out in the boonies, but near a tiny provincial commuter train station, and my colleagues picked me up there. I was done quickly, and my other Belgian colleague picked me up there, and drove me to his house. I had never been there, but it was just us two and his wife and son, so there was no need for fancier digs. Being Belgian, they had prepared a pastry run for my birthday, and had some calorie-laden bomb with thick sweet whipped cream, stracciatella chocolate shavings, meringue and raspberries. Let Belgium be Belgium.

Our discussions were a little more involved, but we got through them, and then his wife asked the inevitable question: what really IS going on back there. She had just gotten back from the USA, visiting her sister, who had married a guy in Texas, and an old friend, who had moved to New York. No one was happy, of course, but more to the point, what lies ahead? Belgium, after all, is the nominal capital of the EU as well as NATO HQ. America cutting that kind of a long-standing connection is not a trivial subject in a small country whose budget depends on taxes brought in from people stationed at the one or the other.

My Belgian colleague excused himself, as he had other things to do, and I finished up some tea and some paperwork, and then his wife drove me back into Sprout City so I could get my afternoon train back to Düsseldorf. Luckily, there actually WAS one through train from Brussels to Düsseldorf leaving at about 5:30 PM, and I had a reserved seat on it. Not being a German train (thank goodness), it was almost on time, and I then got a commuter train from Düsseldorf Central to the Airport train station (8 minutes), and my wife picked me up there. She had asked me on the phone if I had eaten dinner. I said they served us a small snack on the train. "Mmm-Hmm," she commented, and said she would make sure there was "something else," in case I was still hungry.

Her idea of a little "something else" was some thin chicken filets sautéed in a thick Japanese teriyaki sauce with some chopped chives sprinkled on top. Some river rice to go under it. Some "black roots," also known as "salsify," on the side, as well as a salad of thinly sliced cucumbers in a light dressing of oil, vinegar and mustard, with some ground dried oregano on top. This was topped off with a hybrid German-American (not enough cream cheese) cheese cake and a home-made raspberry compote to go on top of it. To drink, she had bought a bunch of blood oranges (in season now) and squeezed a few for fresh juice. Proof is posted below.

And some people still ask why I have trouble losing weight (while she still has a figure like a model, even at age 73). So, it is now almost 10:30 PM. I have to be in the Netherlands Friday, but I'm taking tomorrow off. RHIP!! If ya gotta turn 73, this is definitely one way to do it!

If anyone is within 50 Km of Düsseldorf and is hungry, we do have a few leftovers.........