mcdowellpierce

[mcdowellpierce]

Phinda. 4:48a.

I don’t have much time, but I’d love to share some of what I’ve done the last few days.

I believe I left off with &Beyond. Well today, I sit at an &Beyond location — Phinda Game Reserve — which is located in eastern South Africa. More on that momentarily.

Two days ago we went to Soweto. It was the type of experience that I had hoped for. Something true as opposed to the luxury malls and hotel. Soweto has approximately 3 million people. It’s a suburb of Johannesburg. It stands for “southwestern township.” As you pass the “welcome to Soweto” sign by vehicle, you begin to snake through streets and, generally, descend deeper into the valley. One side of the street tends to be where the “haves” — 4 room house, higher fences, barbed wire, electric fences — live while the other is where the “have nots” — 3 rooms, more run down, etc. — call home. As you descend deeper into the belly of Soweto, the homes get worse. We saw several stray dogs that looked okay — don’t worry Al! — but not in ideal shape. We eventually progressed into an “unincorporated” part of Soweto. Those who live there — ~46,000 — are considered squatters, but most of their families have lived there since 1901. This area is extreme poverty. No running water. Literally 20 families share a single portapotty. We toured one home, which consisted of 3 rooms that are shared by 26 family members. I am not exaggerating. The home’s roof was tin, its floors dirt. As we carved through the village’s alleyways, we stumbled upon thick, uneven rocks and putrid trash that were floating atop a light stream of running water. The water smelled of human waste.

I am sorry to be graphic, but it is important. It was the experience that I had been waiting for, because it’s a real experience of South Africa. I can think of no better way to complement my current time in the 5-star luxury lodge of Phinda than to spend time in the deepest slums of Soweto.

What have I done to deserve such fortune? So much of my current station is due to where I was born and from whom I was born from. Yes, I believe that I have worked hard, but the ingredient that’s played the featured role is luck. Had I been born in Soweto, for example, no hard work would have gotten me remotely to this point in life. Ruminating on these facts only help so much, though. I’m a big disciple of Stoicism, which one of its primary tenets is that there are things that one can control and others that one cannot. The things that I can — effort, mindset, education, discipline, generosity — are where I should dedicate my time and focus. The others — luck, macro events, etc. — I should not, because I can’t control them.

Phinda. It is magical. Perhaps the best way to summarize it to the audience I have is that it’s an oasis that would receive a hearty stamp of approval from mom. Yea, this even remains true despite the fact that it’s in the middle of the bush, surrounded by all the iconic African predators.

We’ve seen lions, elephants, cheetah, giraffes, wildebeests, warthogs (and 3 piglets), white rhino (which is exceedingly rare in Africa), African buffalo, terrapin, tortoise, zebras, impalas, nyalas, the little bird that’s always with Poomba and Timon, a jackal, and as of last night, a hippo, crocodile and leopard! We await the hyena, wild dog, and the honey badger, with others I’m sure, too. To find the honey badger would be like finding the rarest Pokémon.

I could go on about the service at the lodge, and please let me know if you’d me to write about it, but I will hold off on that for another time. Think upon arrive, a hot, damp lemongrass towel to refresh your face. Flavored, homemade pineapple syrups combined with sparkling waters to quench your thirst. Homemade shortbreads and cookies with coffee, tea and hot chocolate — all consumed not just anywhere, but in the middle of the bush, halfway through our early morning safari and late night rides. The latter pit stop of which is known as a “sundowner.” At night, I walk back to my room, which I cannot do unattended because of the danger. During the day, when I walk to my cavitation, I see nyala awaiting my arrival, literally 8 feet from my door.

It’s a perfect experience that makes me think of family again and again. I hope that we can share something like this in the near future.

Taking a brief step back, I want to try to give some big picture thoughts.

If one can afford an experience such as this — and it’s far from cheap — then I can’t think of anything much better. It’s an education that cannot be duplicated, so long as it is accompanied with a real-world experience of the local community, too. No trip should be exclusively this, because it distorts the reality of the struggle that so many in this country face. Nathi — the taxi driver who picked me up when arriving into the country — would not be able to do this, despite working his tail off and possessing such a powerfully positive mindset. I owe it to myself and to others to ensure that I don’t lose track of this appreciation and channel it towards something true and good.

As mentioned, this also makes me think of family. I know that I’m in the right head space when my mind continues to return to you guys while I’m here. I want to share the experience with you all rather than keep it to myself. Hopefully it does not come off as gloating or inconsiderate. Moving forward, get ready for an annoying Pierce who will be peppering you at holidays, angling for a family trip abroad such as this.

Regarding affordability, as mentioned it’s far from cheap. Truly far. However, it’s a reminder to me to say no to certain things in life — including multiple other trips — so that I can use a high concentration of funds on something like this. “This” is luxury, combined with education, nature, while also ensuring I see the other side of luxury — the reality of places like Soweto. It also channels my mind and gives me purpose to work harder to earn more money so that I can tether that towards something like this — especially in teaching lessons to my children. Finally, it’s money spent towards something good. The money that’s poured into this place directly benefits wildlife conservation, the people who live in the villages around us, etc. It’s a more virtuous form of tourism.

I’ll end with the following: Poaching v Pineapples. What does greater damage to African animals?

Poaching has led to animal extinction in places throughout Africa. Pineapple farms decimate entire ecosystems. Poaching may remove the black rhino in Phinda, but pineapple farms wipe out all flora and fauna in pursuit of the mass production of pineapple. That means no lions, elephants, leopards, etc. It also means fewer insects, flowers, trees. A poacher can be dealt with, pineapple farms cannot beyond ensuring that don’t exist. Of course, I’m not iconoclast against pineapple — it’s a a good thing! It’s just being mindful of the ecosystems that it is wiping out. In places such as this, no pineapple is worth what it’s replacing. What’s the pineapple farm equivalent in SD and MN?

Thinking of you guys!

-Pierce

[mcdowellpierce]

Phinda Game Reserve. Near Hluhluwe, South Africa. 3:25a local time.

Just going to share some photos for now. I’m too tired and should get back to bed, but want to get some of the Joburg photos uploaded.

Later, I will share my last photos of Joburg, and then write my finale on Joburg and introduce Phinda.

-Pierce

[mcdowellpierce]

Joburg, South Africa. March 10, 2023. 5:18a local time.

Saturday morning here. Final day in Johannesburg. Tomorrow we fly for 2 hours to Durban, which is on the southeast coast of South Africa. From Durban we journey — by bus, I think — for 4 hours to Phinda Game Preserve.

Phinda is owned by &Beyond, which is a luxury ecotourism business headquartered in Joburg. It has locations all over southern (not South!) Africa, (eg, Botswana, Tanzania ) South America (eg, Peru, Galápagos Islands, Chili) and the Himalayas (India, Nepal, Bhutan). The company either owns the land or rents it from private owners, corporations or governments. I am writing so much about it as one of my company visits yesterday was &Beyond. Despite having locations around the world, their very first was Phinda! What’s cool about them is that they blend a luxury experience with wildlife conservation. The shareholders in the business — which includes the Getty family — have never taken a dividend; their profits always reinvested in the business, which has allowed them to expand well beyond South Africa. They’ve help save the Black Rhino in Botswana, as an example, by transporting them from SA to Botswana to reintroduce them into the latter. They transport by way of a 747 Boeing aircraft!

Another visit was to the African Leadership Academy. Wow! I loved this one, too. It’s a 2-year boarding school outside of Joburg (45 min drive) for 16-20 year olds, who are aiming to go to college. Several of their students find their way to the US for undergrad. However, it’s expected that they will return to the continent of Africa — even by age 25 I think — to have an impact on their native lands. I met kids from the Congo, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Saudi Arabia (with ties to Sudan), Nigeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Zimbabwe, etc. Unreal! Donors to the school include Michael Dell and Mike Bloomberg. Bill Gates sent his daughter, Phoebe, there for a 3-month experience. There’s a heavy emphasis on entrepreneurial leadership, African studies, and writing and rhetoric. Yesterday was their Super Bowl-equivalent: E-Fest. 24 Groups of 4 students had to pitch a business of their own to a group of panelists, with 1 ultimate winner. I listened to one group that was working on bridging the digital divide: a lack of internet access in communities. School was founded in 2008 by 4 McKinsey consultants. 260 students total. In the school’s history, 85% of African countries have been represented. I asked how they can get the others; the school’s dean said: “We’ll get there.”

The day before I visited the Apartheid Museum. Admittedly, I was suffering from serious jet lag; therefore, I wasn’t able to do it quite the justice I would have liked — or that it deserves. Critically, today we gain another deeply cultural experience by touring Soweto, which is an impoverished community that is 99% Black African. People such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and the comedian, Trevor Noah, have called it home. In fact, we will tour Mandela’s home today. Speaking of the former president, he was imprisoned for 27 years! Famously taking a stance of non-violence in his rebellion against the white regime. He was imprisoned in Robben Island Prison, which is likened to Alcatraz.

An incredibly oversimplified history of South Africa goes roughly as follows. The Dutch came first. Many of whom were simply farmers. These people were known as Boers, or “farmers” in Dutch. (If one speaks Afrikaans, they are speaking a South African offshoot of Dutch; a la the actress Charlize Theron.) Diamonds were discovered in the late 1800s. This attracted the British, who journeyed to the Cape of South Africa on the heels of the Boers. This forced the Boers to move inland, a historical event known as “The Great Trek.” At the turn of the 20th century, fighting ensued, which led to the Boer Wars. (In fact, Winston Churchill — in his early 20s — fought in this. He did it purposefully, hoping that he would see battle (he did) so that his reputation would be enhanced before his political aspirations. He did the same thing in India; it was successful.) The British won. Fast forward to post-WW2 1948 when the Apartheid Era began and would not end until 1994. Apartheid is an Afrikaans word meaning “separateness.” It was borne out of Afrikaaner nationalism following their struggles from The Great Trek and the Boer wars. What ensued is a terrible history of segregating people based on their race.

That brings me to Soweto. Apartheid only ended 29 years ago. 1994! Contrast that to the US civil rights movement ending 55 years ago in 1968. If you can feel racial tensions in the US, the feeling is truly palpable here. (Nod to my discussion with Nathi arriving to Joburg.) Soweto will bring this to light to me. Honestly, this tortured past is felt today in the extremely high level of crime. It leaves me feeling, in my limited perspective, that Johannesburg is a broken city. I can’t access but a sliver of it. Our experience here is so controlled. We’re in a gated community covered by barbed wire and an armed security guard. My only journey into “town” is at a luxury mall that feels like it could be anywhere. This mall is in the affluent part of town and is also heavily guarded and fully secure, but it leaves me feeling like I have no clue what the true SA is. The food we have been eating is at these luxury restaurants that are steak shops, etc — nothing that embraces South African fare. I’ve been trying to find a real local food experience, but none can be accessed because they aren’t in the “right” neighborhood. My favorite things to do in a new place are to eat local food and to walk. Neither have been possible. That’s a tragic story. (I want to note that these reflections are constrained to my limited 2-day experience.)

As we journey to the mall to eat at fine restaurants that could be anywhere, I see locals struggling to get by, walking miles upon miles to and from work. Trash literally overflows from dumpsters like a glass full of marbles that has been tipped over. It’s important for me to acknowledge these facts. It makes me grateful to be in the position that I am in and it makes me appreciate why crime is committed here. Life just isn’t fair and it’s extra unfair in Johannesburg.

Additional rapid-fire thoughts.

I like pap. It’s like grits. Grounded down corn into a white paste. Had it yesterday for lunch at the African Leadership Academy. Goes well with their jerk chicken-like meals.

The electrical grid in SA does not work properly. There is not enough supply to cover the demand of its citizens. The result? Throughout the country, each day, the power goes out for 2-6 hours. This ensures that the hobbled grid does not die our forever. We don’t notice this at our hotel or the luxury mall, which are conspicuously unaffected — I think we know why … — but it’s been noticeable at our tour at ALA and &Beyond. It will certainly be noticeable in Soweto. Lights flicker, turn off, until the back-up generator coughs and kicks on. This (mostly) equal distribution of energy cut offs are known by the euphemism of “load sharing.”

Will share photos later!

-Pierce

[mcdowellpierce]

Johannesburg, South Africa. Sandown neighborhood. March 9, 2023. 4:20a local time; 9:20p EST.

It feels good to be back on Tumblr. A lot has changed since my last post in Nepal back in January, 2015. And before that was Italy from January 2014 to May 2015.

My plan for this will be to write in fragments. To get my thoughts down each day. And most importantly, using it as a space to share photos.

My first time to the continent of Africa!

To get here, I took the longest direct plane ride of my life. From ATL to JNB. It was supposed to take 15hrs 15 min, but due to trade winds it took just 14 hrs 30 min. Sat in Delta Premium Select, which gave me the ability to — sort of — recline. Slept in stops and starts for about 4.5 hrs total. I’ll take it.

Plane was an Airbus 350-900. You know when you descend as you arrive and your ears pop? This never happened on this plane. I think it’s because it has better pressurized conditions than what we’re accustomed to; the result is that it makes you feel less zapped upon arrival. The engines were the size of two mini blimps. The cockpit’s windows were bordered in beetle-black edging, looking like black eye liner or the mask of a superhero. There were at least 3 pilots, rotating the job. Where do they go when not on duty? I think they have a little bedroom next to the cockpit.

This morning, I lay in my bed at Southern Sun Katherine Street Hotel. I feel grateful. Grateful to be here and to have the life that I do. Today we journey to the Apartheid museum. We will learn of the Rainbow Nation’s challenging past with racial segregation. En route to the hotel yesterday, I had a driver — Nathi from Soweto; more on Soweto after tomorrow — who was marvelous. Admittedly, I was nervous; before stepping foot in SA, I had never been cautioned more about the dangerousness of the place that I am visiting. Therefore, as I hopped into the car, it was my first instance of journeying into the Joburg unknown. My driver calmed nearly all of those anxieties.

We drove through levels of poverty that reminded me of Nepal. We discussed a lot: exercise to relieve stress, footbridges for workers to walk following their day shift, criminality in Joburg, how cold it can get back home in MN/SD — he could not believe that you can toss a boiling pot of water outside and that it will freeze immediately — the shanty town of Alexandra, the corruption of the government, etc. He was proud of me for choosing to see Joburg through my own two eyes as opposed to through the stories. He said he’d tell his kids about this to help change the narrative. I marvel at the courage he has to say no to the temptations he faces in his life; turning to running as opposed to drinking as a stress reliever. Reflecting this morning, it’s clear that, despite Apartheid ending nearly 30 years ago, South Africa is still a place where the differences of one’s race is palpable.

So, what’s a little more about South Africa? SA has 11 official languages. The main cities are Johannesburg (center), Cape Town (west) and Durban (east). I will hit all three. The waters of the west are cold and the east, warm. The intersection likely bring tasty food for fish. Those cold waters also attract arguably the Great White Shark capital of the world. I may seem them — from afar! — in Cape Town.

-Pierce

[mcdowellpierce]

Bhaktapur, Nepal (Day 2)

Whew.

It’s 8 pm Nepali time. The time difference to central time is 11 hours and 45 minutes. Thus, it couldn’t be any harder to adjust to; and as a result, my writing tonight will be sparse, and insipid.

I attempted to post pictures, but I do not believe that it has worked. The wifi is not functioning very well. It should, however, improve once we move to our next location after a few more days. Once I get there I will attempt to post the photos.

I should have time tomorrow morning to write something of value. Until then, I’m off to bed. But I must say, Nepal has been a treat.

-Pierce

[mcdowellpierce]

[mcdowellpierce]

Final Written Post

It has come and gone. Can't believe how quickly the last few weeks past by. I must apologize for slipping behind with my posts. I ended up just having a pure blast the final few weeks in Florence hanging with friends, and also, I was quite busy with more papers, finals, and a small trip to the Amalfi Coast. All of these combined for a recipe consisting of a well-delayed final post. Again, my apologies.

It’s May 19th, and I'm back in Sioux Falls. I arrived Saturday morning, early, and accompanied with my Mom and sister, Anika, who had been traveling with me throughout France for the last two weeks once I had finished up school in Florence. My Dad and Ali, had also gone along for this trip, but my dad continued for Rapid City, and Ali for Minneapolis.

Anyways, strangely, coming back home was much less of a shock than I had anticipated. Driving back into town from Minneapolis felt really no different from the drives I've made the previous semesters from school. 

I'm happy that returning here hasn't been too much of a shock. It has made the transition easier.  

After having spent a couple of days away from Europe, and those couple of weeks away from Florence while in France, I have been able to reflect a bit about the 4 months that I spent in Florence.

What a formative experience! Incredibly fruitful. Going abroad for a number of months was such a whirlwind—there certainly were many ebbs and flows. You're presented with situations that are challenging to overcome, and you’ve got to overcome them in such a state of abnormality: you’re in a foreign land, with language barriers, with less of a means of support that you’re used to, and simply, just in a constant state of living whereby everything’s just a little bit out of whack from what you’re used to.

But man, these little challenges were an absolute blast to encounter. Truly, they were!

Moreover, all the troubles that arise are minuscule in comparison to the pure rapture that studying abroad provides to you. As I said earlier, it’s incredibly fulfilling. You learn a heck-of-a-lot about yourself while you’re gone. You realize you can tackle many of those ‘tough’ situations, and you come to realize that this world is quite large, extremely large, with so many places to explore, and great people to meet.

When I departed Sioux Falls on January 17th, with the mounds of freshly fallen snow and frostbitten-worthy winds to entertain me, and arrived in Florence, with a healthy glow of sunshine and palm trees to take its place, I quickly came to the realization that I had probably made a good choice! In fact, it was this that was probably the first indicator that I had made the right choice!

I’m thankful for so much. I think that above all, I’m most thankful for the relationships that I have formed—relationships that I intend to keep, despite our living all over the U.S., and further. So many great people I’ve had the fortune of meeting.

I’ve got to say, leaving Florence was pretty difficult. The main reason for this was due to the realization that these people who you have spent so much time with, won’t ever be back in Florence at the same time again; in other words, it’ll never quite be the same. I suppose that is life though, right? Things come and go. You’ve got to just take the next chapter it life, whatever it may entail, with a skip in your step. You never know, the next chapter may be better than the one before—even if that previous one seems impossible to top!

As this is my final post, I’ve got to say thank you to the parents! I’m endlessly thankful for the opportunity.

Secondly, I’ve got to thank those who’ve read the blog. I remember way back, literally on the day I was leaving for Florence, I was on the rocks about writing a blog. It was a foreign concept for me—writing publically about my personal life was something I had no previous experience doing. I’m sure glad that I opted to write one, and I sure hope that it has provided at least minor entertainment at times.

A big hug from Sioux Falls,

Pierce

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Greece IV

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Greece III

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Greece II

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Greece I

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Cruise Ship

Here are just a series of photos that I took while on the cruise ship. The one going to Greece was different from the one used to return to Italy. The latter was a trillion times better. For one reason: the second one had beds for us to sleep on, the first one did not. 

[mcdowellpierce]

Greece (Easter Break)

Greece was reinvigorating. I got to know some people, whom I already knew, much better. I was able to enjoying the striking countryside landscape of the Greek island of Corfu, and I was able to traverse the alleyways, and ruins of Corfu’s largest town. 

Getting to Greece was not easy, however. It included: a 4-hour bus ride to an Italian port; a 20-hour ferry to Igoumenitsa, Greece; another 2-hour ferry to Corfu; and finally, a 30 minute bus ride to the hotel.

You may be asking: “Pierce, how—when you endured nearly 30 hours of transit—can you return to Florence, and write so positively about Greece?” 

Well, I guess it’s just a testament to Greece, itself, as well as the experience that I had there, too.

~

So what should I say about Greece? As always, there’s way too much to write concisely about. Nor do I have the time to give it its full justice. Therefore, I will have to point out a few interesting things about the trip that I discovered while there, and hope that it will suffice.

Landscape: Pretty, awfully pretty. I enjoyed this landscape more than anywhere else that I have been to over the past 4 months. I’m biased, however, as I tend to side with the warm weather and ocean/sea scene than I do with anything else. 

The hotel that I stayed at hugged a sandy beach, and the blue waters of the Ionian Sea. Moreover, it was nestled between a series of giant cliffs, and tucked inside a valley that was speckled with dense foliage. As you can imagine, the contrast between the black cliffs, peppered with a spectrum of dark greens, with the white beach, and vivacious blue of the sea is a sight to see, enjoy, and take in.

Stray dogs: Weird topic, huh? But there are several strays scavenging the streets of Greece. Not only in the streets, though, these dogs wander inside buildings, too. For example, at the port of Igoumenitsa, there’s a large building complex that houses various restaurants, stores, and other things to pass the time before you hop onto your ship. In this building, I saw multiple dogs moseying through it.

You’re advised not to touch these dogs, nor really show them any attention, out of fear for any diseases that they may have. Naturally, for some of the ill-minded college students that I was travelling with, this warning acted more as an open invitation to pet, and coax the dogs, rather than fulfill its role as a warning. We happened upon one dog—who tailed us for a half hour after having been pet by my friend—and we chose to knight him, Mr. Butterscotch, due to the color combination of his coat. 

Corfu (the town): I was only able to spend around 4 to 5 hours in the largest town on Corfu island, also called Corfu. With such a short bit of time spent there, I was unable to do all that much, but I did manage to have a great time. One of the highlights in Corfu was an old fort, which is plopped up on top of a great hill, and capped off with a great iron cross that dominates the skyline of the town. What’s left of this old fortress is decrepit, crumbling stone. Sadly, due to the constraint of time, I had little time to savor much of it, nor could I read the various historical signage that adorned much of its walls.

We also went to a great restaurant in the town of Corfu. Now I’m able to say that I’ve had a genuine, Greek gyro. After this restaurant, we collectively left to walk the streets. The girls (and most of the guys) were attracted to this small shop tucked away down an alleyway. The purpose of this shop is to clean the feet of its customers via fish feeding. It was a goofy sight to look in as a bunch of my crew were all chilling upon chairs with pants rolled up, and feet dunked into baths filled with hungry fish.

~

I’m off to head back to my apartment now, and once there, I will post the photos that I took while in Greece. Hope everyone had a happy Easter, and are enjoying spring.

Love,

Pierce

[mcdowellpierce]

Pre-Greece/Easter Post

I head off to Greece for the weekend tomorrow morning (Thursday) at 7:00 AM. I won't have my laptop, and so I won't be posting until Tuesday at the earliest, because I won't get back into Florence until late Monday night. 

Before I head out, I've still got my two tests to take, I have to sign up for classes at St. Thomas fall semester, and I've got soccer tonight, as well. 

I'm hopeful that Greece will be a good time. The weather's supposed to be quite poor--high 50s to low 60s for highs, with clouds and rain for most of it--but just being in Greece should be enough I suppose. Also, transportation getting there doesn't sound all that exciting: 3 hour bus ride to a port, then 16 hour ferry ride to Corfu, Greece. 

It's wild, but Greece this weekend is kind of like the last hurrah before my family gets here. Following this weekend, there's just two more weeks before they get here. I haven't planned anything to do, and so I'll most likely just remain here Florence, which will be nice.

Well, I'm off to take my exams. Next time I write I should have a number of photos to post, and much to write about.

Pierce 

[mcdowellpierce]

Brussels, Belgium

We all had low expectations for Brussels. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was because elderly Irishmen had told us in Dublin that it wasn’t all that great, or perhaps it was because we were only going there because we had to—we needed a connecting city for our flight from Dublin. The point is, all four of us—Taylor (from Vermont), Kyle and Marco (from New York), and I—were cautious about how much fun we’d really have there.

It turns out, though, that our preconceived notions were entirely wrong: Brussels was on par with both Barcelona and Dublin.

So what’s Brussels all about? For me, Brussels is synonymous with Trappist beer, waffles, and chocolate. 

Trappist beer: Belgium is unique, or at least it is to me, because first: it produces some of the best beer in the world; and second, because a portion of that beer is actually made by monks from the Order of Trappists, which is a Roman Catholic religious order of monks located all over the world. Many of these Trappists live in France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In particular, it’s the Belgian Trappists, who, in an effort to bring in an income for the monasteries, produce cheeses, breads, and even extremely well known, and high-quality beer.

In an attempt to have a couple of these Trappist beers in their natural habitat, we went to a famous bar known as Delirium Café. The bar’s so popular, because it’s in the Guinness Book of Records for its long list of beer: a little over 2,000 different brands.

Delirium Café is one-of-a-kind for the reasons mentioned above, yes, but there’s more to it too. It’s a three-story bar, with each story offering a unique set of beers, which for the most part, cannot be ordered on the other two floors. While there, I had one Trappist beer known as Chimay Triple, and I also tried a Delirium Tremens beer, which provided the namesake for that particular bar. We also enjoyed a dinner there, too, consisting of a sausage/meatloaf, and various Trappist cheeses to be shared amongst the table.

Waffles: I only had one waffle, for I was definitely wary of having too many, but it definitely was worth the purchase. The line to get into this waffle shop was out the door. We were lucky to get the waffles before the shop closed at 5:00 P.M. The one I got was shared between my friend and me, and it simply was a waffle with fresh strawberries on top, and a dollop of whipped cream. A great late afternoon treat.

Chocolate: My one encounter with Belgian chocolate happened to occur late at night. Close to midnight, after having left Delirium Café,we ventured into the main piazza of Brussels. Surprisingly, it was pitch black except for the tepid light emitting from the shops that bordered this square. One of these shops happened to be a chocolate one, and thus, we were able to give the world-renowned Belgian chocolate a try. Those who ordered, ended up opting for the hot chocolate, which came pouring out from a fancy, goldenly varnished tap. The hot chocolate was a good choice for many reasons, but especially for its warmth that night. Leaving the chocolate shop, we went right back to the dark square to sit on a curb, and enjoy it.

By that point, twilight was illuminating the gothic buildings before us, and a warm, thoroughly rich, and devilishly tasty hot chocolate lay in my hands. As I sat upon this curb, and looked up at a great cathedral before me, I happened to see an old man, making his way across the third floor in a struggling manner. Dim lights were guiding his way as he passed from one room to the next. When he made it to the final room, his arms lay outstretched, touching a wall. Suddenly, the whole square illuminated as if a series of fireworks went off directly above us.

It was stunning.

Apparently, this old man, who had struggled, even hobbled to get to one end of this church, had managed to electrify this whole piazza with one flip of the switch. A series of gasps were let out by the crowd of people. It was such a capper to the last night of our spring break.