Personal Site & Travel Blog
On the first day of August, Misery Beer Co. opened. It’s a bit hard to get to by public transport, as a lot of places in the Ardennes tend to be, so it was very convenient there was a special bus going from Brussels to the manor of Misery.
Due to the ever changing COVID-19 regulations, the opening party was a bit smaller than envisioned, and spread over two days. Once there, all necessary measures were taken to let us see the brewery and enjoy their beers in safety. And enjoy them, I did!
So barely a year after I had my first tattoo, I decided to have another one! Well, it started as an idea for one, but it ended up becoming two separate ones… Another great job by Sara Stella Tattoo at Mystical bodies!
So on the left calf I have a slightly improved version of the world scout emblem. I wanted it to look a bit more natural than the usual WOSM ‘logo’, but since the lily flower the fleur-de lis is based on actually rarely looks like the heraldic symbol, I decided to draw inspiration from one of those classic metal scout hat badges instead.
On the right calf the I have the clan crest of the Clan MacLaren, a clan very closely connected to the scout movement since its early days, and therefore ‘my’ clan, of which I proudly wear the tartan… The lion is a bit more lifelike than is usual in heraldic depictions. I also had a subtle reference to my favourite Scottish city—Glasgow—included in the design: the clan motto (Creag an Tuirc) is in a typeface based on one designed for the Willow Tearooms by famous Glaswegian architect, designer, and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
It was already a while ago since I’ve last taken a train, quite possibly it was my trip to Breda, but finally I found myself in one again, albeit quite an empty train, and masked all the time… But the borders are open again, even for tourism, so I decided to go to Rotterdam again, where a new BrewDog bar opened, quite courageously in the middle of the corona crisis.
Under normal circumstances, at this exact moment, I would have been on a Eurostar leaving Brussels, and after dinner at the Great Nepalese Restaurant, I would board the Caledonian Sleeper in London later this evening, which would take me to Scotland overnight…
As we all know, circumstances are far from normal right now, and I had to cancel or change all the arrangements I made, some already a year ago! I must say though, even if it was quite a bit of work, I can’t complain how all affected companies handled my requests! Everything has either been rebooked—Travelodge, easyHotel Glasgow, hub by Premier Inn, and even the BrewDog brewery tour—or refunded—Caledonian Sleeper and ScotRail. The odd one out here was Eurostar, where the only option was a voucher… Luckily I can use that for the postponed trip anyway, but I feel sorry for the people who had to cancel their trip altogether.
The only thing I couldn’t cancel, were the days off I had requested… I held up hope for so long, the work planning for May was already final by the time it was clear no international travels would be allowed this month. Luckily I still have some days off later this year, but I’ll be using those for a trip I had already planned to a completely different destination.
So, sadly no Scotland for me this year, but early 2021, I’ll be heading for the—then probably slightly colder—Highlands again!
So I started running just before the lockdown. I’m still not loving it, but it’s nice to see my times are gradually improving, as is my fitness level…
