Nothing quite like staying with dear friends in Leuven. Yo and Caroline are excellent hosts. This visit was made even more fun by including a 65th birthday party for Yo.
Here are some pictures from my visit.
I even managed to sneak into the circus on Friday evening. An incredible show focused on lighting matches, making pizzas, and spinning plates.
The cast of two and the poor “volunteers” who were pulled from the audience.
Leuven.
There was dancing in the kitchen.
And there were homemade cakes.
We even got to try out some mixology for the party.
Rosemary grappa lemonade…let’s call it the “yo-yo 65.”
The birthday king presides.
The actual power behind the throne is slightly capricious.
The site of the party is the back garden with lots of veggie plants. Delicious food was about as “locally sourced” as you can get. There were fresh snap peas and strawberries. So healthy and so delicious.
This gorgeous cake was my favorite. Banana cheesecake. Yum.
There was some dancing in wooden clogs yo some truly bad fiddle sawing.
We walked several miles together all using the house as a base of operations.
And we visited the English books at FNAC to compare notes.
All in all about as much fun as you can have in Leuven!
There is a back story of sorts. Way back in the summer of 2022 in Virginia, we decided it would be fun to see Roxy Music and also Florence and the Machine when we could. Happily, we managed to do both, but only with some doing.
The plan for the Florence show was to get to the UK on business in November, skip American “dead turkey day,” meet up with our best British friends, and catch the show in Manchester. But somehow Florence broke her foot in London (while we were there) the day before the Manchester show.
We vowed to return.
Here are some bits from the show, an emotional powerhouse led by a charismatic master of the stage. What a show.
The AO arena is a great place to see a show, mostly because the crowd is fantastic. But the best reason to see a show there is because Noelie and Lisa are excellent hosts and are really fun to hang out with.
The crowd gathers.
We don’t even remember who the opener was.
Then, it was showtime!
Heaven is Here was the first song of the night. Florence had shoes on.
Ship to Wreck
Free
Dog Days Are Over. This is my favorite Florence song, and I was psyched it made the setlist. The fucking phone diatribe was captured in bits. Here it is in all its glory.
Of course the real Florence fan (and the reason we were all here) is Romey. She knew all the words to all the songs and had a huge smile on her face.
Romey dances.
Morning Elvis
My Love
You’ve Got the Love is Romey’s favorite Florence song. She was super psyched that it made the setlist.
The encore song Never Let Me Go had 20,000 people singing along.
Never Let Me Go, performed for the first time in a decade.
Some pictures taken during a brief two hour walking tour of Bath. Fred Mawer is an exceptional tour guide even by blue badge tour standards. Highly recommended.
Romey and I felt a little like this seagull who scored a huge piece of bread.
The day could not have been prettier. Light rain, but gorgeous light. And peak Fall leaves. And waterfalls everywhere you look. The funny thing is, though we hiked about 13km, we never made it to the big waterfall! Ran out of light.
I guess we’ll just have to go back
THIS is not the one! But look. Spectacular does not even begin to describe this walk.
We had some very late lunch very near the top at an old farmstead and village.
Sometimes walking out the door and around back is the best way to hike. We bushwhacked up through juniper and blueberry towards a small lake where fish are rumored to live. Tyinkrysset, Norway is beautiful.
This little stream is just up the road a few hundred meters.
Here are some pictures of our walk in the mountains.
A view of the valley.
Chilly Romey.
Panorama
Our intrepid hosts at the top. Our fearless leader Nova was dressed for the weather.
The trail, built by hand with horses and carts through steep mountain passes, is incredible. Like a movie set. This is one hike in Norway not to miss. We did a few kilometers day hike to the Stave Church completed in the 1180s.
The Kings Road is what Kongevegen means, BTW. The scenery at peak Fall is stunning and magical.
Romey and the logo bench.
Just up over the pass the first view of the Stave Church.
We approached from behind (with a herd of sheep). These are not the sheep!
Our fearless leader Nova.
Don’t eat the mushrooms.
A quiet moment of conversation.
A boy and his dog!
An impressive waterfall on the drive home.
Coffee stop.
And back home for beer and a small fire. This is the only kind of smoking that I like to do.
Seems like our time on the streets in Barcelona and Madrid centered around Vermut (of the local variety) and Aperol Spritz (of the industrial variety). Here are some random shots.
We might have found some gorgeous jewelry in Madrid. Maybe. Happy today day!
These handmade shoes were beautiful and very much local.
We found the barrel in Barcelona.
While waiting for fingernails.
Ayn Rand or Romey?
Dinner in Barcelona.
Flowers in Barcelona
The out take.
Walking with the hoards.
Beautiful dresses which may be too small?
A picture of the designer.
Random door.
Rubber ducky, you’re the one… (memories of playing the bathroom song with Matt in Italy…LOL).
The thing about Italians is that they love live music. And they love Americans too (in spite of our recent proclivities for absolute dumb shit behavior). Rhine and I took advantage of this by dragging around our instruments and playing for our supper where we ate.
The first great restaurant run happened after our worldwide debut as Into the Unknown in Campiglio Cervo. The crowd converged and decided we needed a reservation subito subito.
In the end, I was spirited off with Santa Mariela so I could see the restaurant and meet the owners with my own eyes. That’s because Ruers above Piedicavallo exists past where the road ends. So you have to walk there once you ditch your car. Incredible views await. And the kindest people.
On the same fact finding mission, we also had to make a quick trip to visit Dick (a local Scott of great flare) and his cat, and catch up with pretty much everyone we encountered. This was fun, but it made us late late late.
My scouting expedition revealed this view (that is Biella down there somewhere).
We returned (very late) in the Fiat 500, parked at the edge of the world, and proceeded to have an excellent dinner replete with local wine house made cheeses, polenta, roast beef, and even gluten free stuff for Matt.
After dinner we got out our instruments and played a little music. Here is part of the “first song” (a song by Bob that we always play first so we never have to figure out what to play first).
Then we entered the kitchen to play for the cooks. This was a blast, and the staff was most appreciative. Lets just say we are welcome back any time, forever.
Check out the face on this guy.
This kind of experience is what makes a trip to Italy an amazing, humanizing experience. And to top it all off, the Signora would not let me pay all that I owed.
Of course, once we did it once, we had to do it again. That’s just how it goes.
Rhine and I scouted out a restaurant run by the slightly pazzo Roberta in Sanctuario San Giovanni. The moon was almost full, and the werewolves were awakening.
The local Barbera was outstanding. This was one of the best simple meals we had on the trip.
Top of the world to you.
If you look closely, you will see Rhine.
Roberta recognized us as part of the concert crowd from Campigliano Cervo and asked if we had brought our instruments. Since we rushed to arrive by 8:30 the answer was no. Roberta asked us to return the next evening after our big opera, and a plan was born. We promised to arrive a punto by 8:29pm.
She sent up home with a 100 year old plate for April and some goodies for breakfast. We shared some grappa.
It took some doing after the big opera performance, but we did make it. The moon was full. Everyone else arrived shortly thereafter. I played my violin at the edge and made Mariela cry.
And, once again after dinner, we played in the kitchen for the cooks even as the vegan meal was blitzkrieged on the massive stove. The floor was sticky, but the love was palpable.
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