Sucky things about Brussels

First a quick correction .. what I thought was a Liege Waffle was in fact a Brussels Waffle. The Liege waffle is lighter, crisper, more uniform and served with a dusting of powdered sugar (corn starch). Still very good, not like what we Americans think of as waffles. The Brussels version remains my favorite, and I will seek to reproduce it when I get home. Unless I eat so much I can't stand any more.

We've seen some crime around here, like on Sunday morning two guys fighting over a girl and when she tried to intervene they turned on her, chased her away, and continued to fight until someone in a uniform (presumably police) separated them. Our female coworkers generally don't feel safe walking the streets after dark, and when the sun sets the unsavory characters come out. Beggars and bums, peeing, begging. It isn't pretty.

The traffic here sucks too. We've been taking the Metro around and when it takes about an hour to go 10 miles, 20 minutes on light rail for $2 is a good thing. But today they went on strike to protest the lack of help from the police to quell violence on the rails. Thus, we were driven back from the client ... 12 miles, one hour. Yeah, traffic sucks too, all the time.

But that's about it ... not much to complain about, eh? Oh yeah, the weather. Warm (40F) and not snowing, but since I'm complaining, I might as well complain about the overcast skies with light rain.

Also, consider that Belgium has no government. How's that for ironic? They have none, and in the US we have too much. 

But I have beer ... a coworker brought in a six-pack of Witcap Tripel which, while good, wasn't as crisp as the more well-known Tripel's but it was still quite good. A little more bitter, a little more yeasty, but good. That was followed by a Rochefort 8 - more in the the style of a dubbel with lots of caramel.