goodbye housemate

Emily packed up and drove away on Thursday, the day after my return. She hasn't yet lined up a place for sure in Seattle, so we decided Little Dog would stay here. So it's just me & Little Dog here until I find a new housemate. New housemates seems to be in short supply in November. Also, I need to figure out some kind of puppy-sitting arrangement.

Yesterday was stormy, with gusts of wind and multiple thunderstorms passing through. One even broke off a branch of one of the many oak trees, which fell onto and shattered the windshield of Kate's car. The storms have all moved along down the road, and today is bright and sunny and cool.

belgium

four wrote this in my notebook:

"Note to self: Rent cabin for a week
in the late Autumn in Bomal Belgien
(near Durbuy). Cabin must have fire place
and wood. Wine + friends"

I think any future trip to Belgium will necessitate keeping a "beer journal". The beer in Belgium was really good, just as you might have suspected! Ryah in particular was ga-ga for it, as he is v tired of the Kölsch pilsners.

Readers may also be interested to know that FrenchBelgian fries are very popular in Belgium. There were "Friteur" stands and shops everywhere, serving up fries and other fried things, covered in various goopy sauces (mayo, curry ketchup, thousand island, etc). They were actually quite good. Somewhere around Liege we saw a stand selling Frites and Escargos.

Furthermore, there really are Belgian Waffles in Belgium. They come in two varieties, named for two cities in Belgium. The Brussels style is along the lines of what passes for a Belgian waffle in the United States: thick, light, not sweet, but topped with sweet cream or fruits. On the other hand there is the Liège style, which is extremely sweet, even a bit caramelized (delicious). Both are served as a snack by street vendors, such as by the beach.

Gasoline costs about $7.25 per gallon. Google happily interprets queries like "1.3 eur per liter / 30 miles per gallon in usd per mile", which tells us that the fuel cost alone for driving is 25 cents per mile(!) in an efficient small car.

In short, Belgium agrees well with its stereotypes.