The Best Beer in the World

Not often do you get to taste the best beer in the world, but it's a nice thing to finally cross off the list. It's also a nice surprise to see that it isn't overhyped and overdeveloped, as those "best ever" things tend to be. Riding and finding the rather secluded Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren, where this great stuff is made, was and adventure in itself, but the really special part for me was this wonderful lady who again reinforced my belief in random acts of generosity. She must have felt sorry for me, because as I was taking pictures of my beer glass, and probably looking lonely in her motherly eyes, she bought one for me! Little did she know, it was the day after my birthday. How appropriate, no?

Following the best beer in the world is a hard act to follow, but I moved on, intending to head east until I took a wrong turn and ended up in Gent. This turned out to be a good move, because I ran into an old friend of a college friend of mine, who invited me to stay with her traveling friends in town. Again, unbelievable good fortune and generosity have shined on another corner of Earth. I wish I knew what the magic formula is for all these fortuitous events, but I think it has something to do with feeling sorry for that poor lonely traveler (which of course means that "intrepid" fellow is never poor or lonely). I think I'm going to have an embarrassingly large debt to the world by the time I make it home. Ciao!