Ancient home of the rich. All silted in.
Pompous palaces
Boats full of tourists
Sugar in the air
Friendly dogs
Beautifully cooked steaks
Nighttime magic to close the trip
Champagne in a Kir Royale by the fire.
Fin.
Climbing the Tower in Bruges
March 4, 2026
travel belgium, bruges, madou, romey, tower, travel Leave a comment
If you’ve seen In Bruges, you’ve seen this tower. And you’ve thought about falling off of it.
In fact, you need to see In Bruges before you come to town.
The climb up is 366 steps and was not design with American litigation lawyers in mind.
The carilon is loud.
And very mechanical
Yonder lichtervelde.
Yonder Leuven.
Formidable guards
Tourists crawling like ants high on sugar
A panorama
If you have a friend who lives in Lichtervelde and has never been up the tower you can drag him up.
A Boat in Bruges
March 4, 2026
travel, who knows boat, bruges, madou, romey, tourism, travel 2 Comments
Some of us have been to bruge 4 or 5 times. Others 10,000. Still others once. But we all got on the same boat, and it was great.
We found an opportunistic window of blue sky.
Swans
Churches are a thing. Were a thing.
Our hotel and the famous tower
Tourism is fun!
Pinball Wizard Lives in Lichtervelde
March 3, 2026
farm, travel, who knows dogs, lichtervelde, madou, pinball 2 Comments
Chez Madou was a respite and a calm retreat after our Amsterdam extravaganza. Ahhh. No rum thing this time…which probably would have killed us anyway.
Sitting by the wood stove as Spring unfolds behind us. Talking and laughing and just being together.
There is pinball.
Views from the guestroom.
Did we mention pinball?
We can’t wait to return and walk again with the dogs.
Challenge Accepted: Make a Proper Japanese Waitress Belly Laugh at Yamazato
March 3, 2026
food, travel birthday dinner, gem, japanese waitress, kimono, lisa, madou, noelie, restaurant, romey, yamazato Leave a comment
Dinner at Yamazato is exceptional, even 15 years on from the first visit. Absolutely world class. And Japanese service to boot.
The question is, can you make a proper Kimono wearing Japanese waitress belly laugh? Well, yes…if you are us. We had so much fun.
I mean, maybe the martinis we started with at 23 had something to do with it?
Or maybe it was mr big nose? No one knows.
But wow.
Who us? Goof off?
Happy Birthday gem-san.
A Blast From the Software Security Past on 23
March 3, 2026
travel, who knows 23rd floor, florence, gem, madou, noelie, okura 1 Comment
Who are these people? Madou? Florence? McGraw? Noelie? All together? No fucking way.
A nice way to turn 3C is to gather the geeks in Amsterdam for a photo shoot.
The Big Birthday Surprise Revealed: Florence and the Machine and the Ziggo
March 2, 2026
concert, travel cosmic love, florence, florence and the machine, lisa, never let me go, noel, romey, sympathy magic, the dog days are over, ziggo dome 2 Comments
The Ziggo Dome is an excellent place to see a show. And Florence puts on quite the excellent show. We surprised Romey and Lisa with tickets day of (something planned for months and somehow kept secret). The show was superb.
Surly audience though..
.
.
.
cosmic love
never let me go
sympathy magic
the dog days are over
We shall do this all again.
Walking in Amsterdam
March 2, 2026
travel amsterdam, cafe, crocus, lisa, noel, noelie 1 Comment
Lisa and Noelie arrived just in time for the surprise.
On the Boat in Amsterdam
March 2, 2026
photography, river, travel, who knows amsterdam, canal, okura, seven bridges, tourism, travel 1 Comment
Romey and I hired a boat for a canal tour. We also hired a bottle of champagne. The boat ride was excellent.
We started from the pier at the Okura just after dark.
The boat itself was built of teak and glass in 1903.
The lights are a sight to see.
Seven bridges
