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FyneFest Trip – Day 1

Published on 1 June 2022

Helensburgh & Glasgow

After arriving in Glasgow and dropping off the luggage at Euro Hostel, I went straight back on the train again, to Helensburgh. As a Charles Rennie Mackintosh fan, I went there to visit the Hill House, of course.

Back in Glasgow, I had a donut with coffee at Tantrum Doughnuts, and then another coffee at Riverhill Coffee, since it was right next door. By then I thought it was already late enough for some beers, at the Drury Street Bar & Kitchen, and at The Raven.

After a pie for dinner at the Babbity Bowster—and a pint of Jarl—I wanted to go to Blackfriars bar, but unfortunately it seems it hasn’t survived the pandemic… The rest of the evening was then spent at BrewDog Merchant City, which had quite a few very interesting guest beers on draught.

FyneFest Trip – Day 0

Published on 31 May 2022

To London, and on the Caledonian Sleeper

After a shorter hiatus than last time, I find myself once again on my way to Scotland. The main destination is FyneFest this time, but I’ll be spending a couple of days in Glasgow—obviously—and Edinburgh as well.

Lessons learned after last time, I only spent a couple of hours in London in between Eurostar and Caledonian Sleeper, although somehow I still managed to visit two more bars than planned…

I finally made it to the Great Nepalese this time, and the chicken Tikka Bhutuwa with garlic naan didn’t disappoint.

What did disappoint, was the lack of real cutlery and crockery on the Caledonian Sleeper…

… and it all led to my first marathon!

Published on 26 May 2022

Yep, that’s right: I ran my first marathon, the full 42,195 km! Well, I say ‘ran’, but unfortunately had to walk quite a bit of it… In despite of that, I was far from the last one to finish, contrary to some of my previous runs.

This was not a normal marathon though, but the infamous Beer Lovers’ Marathon in Liège. That meant, at the numerous supply points, we weren’t just given water and energy snacks, but a serving of beer as well! Curiously enough, with all the running, you don’t even feel the alcohol… Oh, most people were in some kind of theme appropriate costume as well. Can you guess who I was supposed to be?

Training

In preparation for this marathon, I also participated in a couple of other runs, although they were more like trail runs, so in nature, instead of the urban environment of this marathon. These runs were the Marathon Zoniënwoud (21 km), Brussels Nature Run (27,5 km), Trailberg (21 km), and 15km van Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe (25,5 km).

Okay, that’s enough running for this blog, I promise the next post will be about travelling and beer!

All about running…

Published on 28 March 2022

Last weekend was all about running.

On Saturday I participated in the Natuurloop Beernem. For the tenth edition of this running event in West-Flanders, I had the choice of three distances: 7 km, 14 km, and 24 km. Since I already have a half marathon under my belt—albeit just around my little neighbourhood park—and the goal was to stretch my limits a bit in preparation for the Beer Lovers’ Marathon, I registered for the 24 km version, the Experience+…

It was only my second running event—the first one being last year’s Brussels Nature Run—and the first one with a mass start, and supply stops along the trail.

The weather was perfect, the trail markers easy to follow, and most of the trail was off-road. So how did I do? Well, I finished within the three hour time limit, but only just! It didn’t really help that my running shoes actually need replacement, or that I had a few beers the night before… But all in all, I was happy I finished my longest running distance so far!

Sunday Hash

On Sunday it was time for my weekly run with the Brussels Manneke Piss Hash House Harriers. I ran quite a bit slower than usual, not having fully recovered from the 24 km the previous day… Lesson learnt: take it easy on a day after a serious run! Not only was it my fifteenth run with BMPH³, but as it turned out that day, I was the only hasher left with perfect attendance in 2022!

It was also the first sunny run I ran in my new Sport Kilt, in the official Hash House Harriers Trail tartan, so the perfect opportunity for some photos.

10 Years in a Kilt

Published on 14 March 2022

On the 10th of March 2012, I picked up my very first kilt, somewhere in Limburg, at the inconspicuous garage shop of the sadly no longer existing company Great Scotland. The very same night I put on my new eight yard kilt, in a MacLaren Modern tartan woven by House of Edgar to take it for a spin, and a first pint.

Since then, this kilt has served me well, as I walked many miles, drank many beers, and had a lot of fun in it!

I marked this ten year anniversary—or kiltaversary, if you will—with a little pub crawl, which of course also included the very first place I went in my kilt, Celtica. There I tried to recreate the first photo of me wearing my kilt in public…
Can you spot the differences?