Botox in Belgium,

Hello all,

The first page of my 2015 journey through Europe; at this
stage I don’t have much of an idea where I will end up, as usual I will go with the
flow which means the flow of good weather. Nearly a week ago I left
Australia for Amsterdam which this time I found a rather tiring exercise. A 5
hours stopover in Singapore followed by a 10 hours layover in Abu Dhabi added
to the agony of long distance travel, however there was a point of light which
I chose to ignite myself after landing after midnight in Abu Dhabi.

The airport was packed with travellers waiting for their connecting flights early in the morning. My priority was to find a comfy spot somewhere.
While walking the long corridors I passed the Etihad first class travellers lounge, which can be used only by- of course- first class travellers. It was busy at the desk at the
entrance where staff where checking tickets and ID’s.
After putting my gaze on infinity and not looking in any direction but the lounge itself I wondered in without being noticed and henceforth could enjoy a relaxing time in very comfy seats,some food, drinks, PC’s and the use of a shower to top it off. It all helps- no doubt about that.

After being welcomed by several good friends it was time
to meet up with my wheels again. The bike was made ready by Rob and again in
tip top condition. The Motorcycle had come of age as it had just passed
its 21st birthday. Yesterday I took her via my friend Ted’s place to my other
friend Gert who is going to ride with me for a week or more.

The planned route will lead us through Belgium and Luxembourg into Germany where we will enjoy a large dose of Moselle without getting drunk; from there along the Rhine river and looping north to Berlin and on to Poland. Nothing is set in stone so we just go and enjoy- glad the weather is very pleasant.

Our route today took us through the smelly meadows of
southern Holland, Smelly I said. I recognised the smell as it is “The smell of
the countryside”. When you grow up in Holland you associate this with the open
country and the sight of green meadows full of cows. So what it this smell? Cows***!(and that’s no ********) I am sure the locals don’t notice it anymore.

An interesting thing happened in Belgium this afternoon;
hence the title of this page”

Botox in Belgium” or it may well have been:
“Is a stiff upper lip just for the British?”

We had stopped just outside the small village of Stavelot
where Gert’s friends runs a B&B from their house which resembles a
small castle. Being a warm and balmy day we sat outside enjoying our
conversations while drinking a local brew and eating Dutch cheese.
Half way through finishing my bottle of beer and while enjoying the amazing view over the valley in front us unbeknown to me, a stinging bee decided to enter my beer bottle to enjoy a swim.
I bet you know what is coming next.
I took a sip and felt the bee in my mouth. Now it was time for a quick thinking. To swallow would be risky and would kill the bee. I ate plenty of insects while in Cambodia but they were fried so I decided to spit it out thereby also saving the bee’s life.
I swirled the beer and bee around in my mouth and spat it out. What follows was nothing short of unfair.
Instead of being thankful, on its way out, it fired its poisonous arrow straight into
the inside of my upper lip. Ouch that hurt! but what followed was worse. My lip
started to swell up like it wanted to compete in the annual lip singing competitions
of Mozambique. So for today and tomorrow it looks like I have had a Botox
treatment gone wrong. One consolation though- it is temporary; I have seen
people with permanent fixtures like this. I also realise that if things had gone different it could have ended my life. This would not have been the first time that someone was killed by a bee sting making the victim's throat swell up and end in suffocation.

Anyway I hope you will enjoy the blog-