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Tag: NoChrono

Brussels Ink…

Once you start getting tattoos, you can’t stop yourself from getting more, I’ve heard people say. Well, I guess that is what’s happening, because here is my fifth tattoo all of a sudden…

It all happend a bit more sudden than even I expected! I actually had a big project in mind for my next tattoo—still a work in progress—but instead my fifth tattoo turned out a little cute one… My first flash tattoo!

The unexpected occasion was a “Tattoo Party” for International Women’s Day at BBP Bailli, with the tattoo artists of Koko Tattoo doing their thing, and the launch of the beer Brussels Ink. Among them was Laïs, the artist who did my Brussels breweries tattoo on the other side of my arm.

The day before the event I looked at the the proposed flash tattoos shared on social media, and I immediately noticed the little Teku glass with a dot on it—a simplified version of the typical Brussels Beer Project glass. It would make a great addition to my arm! When I arrived at the bar—quite late, because I had a meeting first—I checked if it was still available, and luckily it was. So, a beer and half an hour later, I had a new tattoo…

Fun fact: almost ten years ago, I actually met one of the creators of the Teku glass—Lorenzo “Kuaska” Dabove—at a beer tasting he hosted at Nuëtnigenough!

Brussels Breweries Tattoo Tour 2025

Hello beer lovers!

It’s almost time for my annual Brussels Breweries Tattoo Tour again! One day, seven breweries, seventy minutes in each taproom…

If you haven’t done it before: join me for one brewery, two, three, or all of them…

Just pay for your own beers—or buy some rounds—as you go, order something to eat when you get hungry, and have fun while showing some appreciation to our local breweries!

However, if you want a chance to earn the coveted Brussels Breweries Tattoo Tour patch, make sure you get your stamp card—and the first stamp—at the first stop (Cantillon) between 14:00 and 15:10!!

Beer Lovers’ Marathon 2025

I did it again! The Beer Lovers’ Marathon that is… Sans wig this time, but with a homemade blue balmoral bonnet with a red toorie, embodying Tintin in his The Black Island album.

The theme of the Beer Lovers’ Marathon this year was “Belgian Comics”, so that’s why I gave my best interpretation of Tintin in his album “The Black Island”, or as it’s called in Gaelic “An T-Eilan Dubh”: kilted—obviously—wearing a blue balmoral bonnet with a red toorie, and a blue, long-sleeved running shirt, with the album cover printed on the back.

My first attempt at this marathon was in 2022, and it definitely went better this time: more than half an hour faster! I still had to walk the last bit, but I managed to run most of it this time. I actually already started feeling my right knee from about kilometer 20, and my left knee started acting up soon after that.

After climbing the 374-step Montagne de Bueren staircase, and the nasty climb following that—around the 11th beer stop at 34,4 km, Saint Nitouche—my my knees told me that, if I still wanted to use them after that day, I’d better stop running…

I tried a little jog every once in a while, but the signal my knees gave me was clear: don’t overdo it… Even after slowing down, the pacemaker with the “10 minutes until the bar closes” sign never caught up with me, and all seventeen beer stops on the course were still serving beer by the time I reached them.

In despite of the pain, I still ran the final 100 meters from the last beer stop to the finish. You can’t finish a marathon walking, can you? In the end, I finished 1152th, of 2274 finishers in total, so not too shabby at all!