Formula One and good friends

Sunday was a travel day; Taxi from Hasselt to Brussels International Airport, flight to Frankfurt International Airport, collect luggage and rental car and begin drive to the Mainz Hilton. On the way ( a 20 minute drive) a call comes in from Frank and Bernd.
Bernd lives outside of Weisbadden and had just picked up his pal Frank, who lives in Monoco, at the airport. They suggest that I take a taxi up to Frank's house later that night to watch the final and deciding Formula I race on television. Bernd would pick me up but there will be wine and beer flowing as part of the festivities and they would like to play it safe. I agree and continue on to my hotel to check in.
The Mainz Hilton is 3 times more expensive than the two hotels I stayed at in Belgium and it looks like so many German hotels that are in the "middle" price range. It has not been updated since the late 60's when it was built so there is lots of dark wood with gold accent. The location is great, with the Rhine on one side and Mainz old town on the other. The weather was cold and drizzling but I headed out anyway.
After returning from my walk I got ready and went down to the taxi line. I was warned by Bernd to check with my driver before leaving to make certain that he knew his way around Weisbadden since, according to Bernd, the folks of Weisbadden and the Folks of Mainz don't care for eachother very much even though they sit accross the Rhine from eachother. My cabbie assured me he could find his way, but we still had to call Bernd to get us down the road the final 4 kilometers.
Bernd's wife Gabby was waiting out front to wave me in and, after the hugs and kisses of introduction, we headed upstairs to the big screen for Formula I. Frank and Bernd exchanged their oppinions in English for my benefit, only using German for the curses hurled at eachother when debating the better team and/or driver. Gabby brought round the beer, wine, chocolates and other treats while chiding we three guys for our devotion to the race.
After the race, where team Fararri beat team Mercedes, both Frank and Bernd vowed to trade their Mercedes in for Fararri's at the earliest opportunity.
We had a "rustic German" meal of Pumpkin soup followed by plates of cheese, sausages & meats, and bread. Of course I tried everything, had more wine and beer along with a final toast of Grappa.
Bernd and Frank told me when they would pick me up the next morning before calling for a Taxi. I got back to the hotel, got my stuff ready for the next morning, and went to bed...happy to be in Germany again.

Italian Dinner- Hasselt, Belgium

Tonight's dinner was fantastic. A little Italian restaurant on a side street proved to be just what I needed. They did not have a table available, so I sat at the bar and had a glass of red wine and ordered my meal. Once a table opened up I was seated and soon after my bruschetta arrived.
With the cold weather and the lingering effects of jet lag, the red wine, bruschetta and pasta were a perfect meal to have before my one mile walk back to the hotel.

Goose Band - Hasselt Genever Festival

While sitting inside a pub, waiting for some lunch I saw this "Band" go by. What is surprising is that, on the main road in front of the restaurant there were literally hundreds of people yet, down this side street, no one ventured.
I don't know what these two guys (or the geese for that matter) do for a day job, but they really seemed to be enjoying themselves today....maybe it was the Genever...

http://www.jeneverfeesten.de/

Dog Cart - Hasselt Genever Festival

Like most European Festivals, the Hasselt (Belgium) Genever Festival brings out plenty of unique and original entertainment. This is one of three dog carts that would go through the crowds, drawing plenty of folks who wanted to pet the dogs or grab an apple to eat.

Day Three - Genever a drink as great as its' name

Day Three already. Day two was all work, nothing to report...

Here is the famed Genever, a distilled drink that reminded me of Schnapps. Here you can see a "berry" flavored Genever on the right and a "Lemon" Genever on the right. This is basically a two day drinking festival, again, in true European tradition, there seems to be no center for this festival. You can walk down any street or into any square in the downtown region and come across a number of stands selling Genever. There are people everywhere and, other than drinking Genever, Beer, or eating food, there is not much reason for the gathering.

www.jeneverfeesten.be

Day One - Brussels

Well, here I am in Belgium, "Center of Europe", capital of the European Union, etc., etc.Day one was a bit different than my other trips in that it involved "free time", not my own time to do as I please, but time not spent in meetings doing "work". I was being driven around by a customer, seeing the sights of Brussels.The flight arrived at the Brussels airport at 1 PM and by 1:30 I was off on a drive-by of all that is Brussels. Now, by 1 PM Brussels time, I had been up 25 hours with only a short 2 hour nap on the flight between Minneapolis and Amsterdam, but I was feeling pretty good.The first thing my host was quick to point out was the Atomium (http://www.atomium.de/), a giant structure in the shape of an atom of iron, built for the 1958 Worlds fair.