PICTURE POSTCARD

He lumbered down the narrow staircase. Breath heavy, legs aching. His broad flanks brushed either side of the narrow, twisting spiral staircase. This was not why he had come to Belgium.

Finally, he reached the bottom of the Belfort. Dolores and Brad were waiting patiently.

‘Okay,’ he managed a cheerful smile, wiping the sweat from his brow. ‘Lunchtime?’ he asked in hope.

The Grote Marktย – horses and carts transporting tourists round the old town, along the edge of the square rows of cafes, beer halls and chocolate shops, all with striped awnings of green and red.

A pint of local biรจre and a steak. Perfect. He recovered somewhat as he waited for the food to arrive. This was more like it. He tucked his napkin in, held his cutlery ready. The garรงonย approached with his dish.

‘What the hell is this?’ he shouted. The pink, raw mince patty stared at him, mocking him.


belgium

Linking up with the prompt at What Pegman Saw. The task is to write a story in 150 words or less based on the destination that Pegman is visiting. This week’s destination is Bruges, Belgium, a wonderful city of canals and narrow, cobbled streets that I was lucky enough to visit for one day as part of a holiday around the country. I remember the market square, beer, rather large Americans struggling up narrow staircases, a Tintin shop and a hamburger served raw with some cress on top!


christmas 2019

A JUSTIFIED STATE:
U.S.A. โ€“ AMAZON.COMย  ย  ย ย UNITED KINGDOMย  ย  AUSTRALIAย ย CANADAย ย INDIAย ย ย BRAZILย ย ย MEXICOย  ย  ย ย GERMANYย  ย  ย  ย FRANCEย  ย  ย ย ย SPAINย  ย  ย ย ITALYย  ย ย NETHERLANDSย ย JAPAN

STATE OF DENIAL:
U.S.A. / AMAZON.COMย  ย  ย  ย UNITED KINGDOMย  ย ย AUSTRALIAย  ย  ย ย CANADA
INDIAย  ย ย BRAZILย  ย MEXICOย  ย  ย GERMANYย  ย  ย  ย FRANCEย  ย  ย  ย SPAINย  ย  ย ITALYย  ย  ย NETHERLANDS
JAPAN

24 responses to “PICTURE POSTCARD”

  1. Ah yes. The raw meat. It’s a shocker when you’re not expecting it. That said, prejudice has ruined many a meal. Nice little travel vignetter here.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. It did actually happen to me, although in my defence the menu translation in English read ‘hamburger’. It came without a bun and without fries, just a lump of raw minced meat. Fortunately the local beer made up for it! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

  2. Hi Iain. Itโ€™s been awhile hope all is well. Great snapshot in time descriptors especially the sitting down and recovering..as a field engineer and traveling back in the day, I could relate. Peace

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Great to hear from you, hope you are well too ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  3. eek! Raw meat? No amount of beer could compensate ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I didn’t finish it lol ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Raw meat?! I’m laughing and shaking my head at the same time. I’m with magicmermaid, no amount I’d beer could compensate! Great to see you, Ian. Thanks for sharing this vivid and enlightening firsthand account.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, good to be back ๐Ÿ™‚

      Like

  5. Reminds me of the literally “green” hamburger I was served my first meal on the Island of Grenada. I, being a young teen, freaked out! Green meat was bad… rotten. How could they serve me rotten meat. I gagged several times before the waitress (who was chuckling when she saw the initial shock on my face) in stammered English told me it was seaweed, and that all meat (red meat) was mixed with seaweed, especially beef as it was hard to get and very expensive. I cautiously took a bite… it was actually delicious. I think it was the only time I ate beef while I was there… but they did the same with the more popular and cheaper goat meat. After a while you just learn not to look at it, eat it, and be happy to have food.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It is only because it is something different that we react that way – the locals of course, are used to it and happily enjoy it no problem!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. They enjoy watching us freak out all the more. LOL!

        Liked by 1 person

  6. When I was in France two months ago I ended up in a small restaurant where they were out of the two dishes I wanted and I ended up with the tartare. It was good but WOW such a huge amount of raw beef. I’m not sure I finished it.

    I can see how it would be a surprise to a tourist not expecting it!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You did well to eat any of it! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It’s actually pretty tasty, once you get over the cultural training against it. And hey, I was just in China, eating whatever I saw in front of me, none of which was properly labeled in English. And “mystery meat” or even better, “mystery seafood” can be more questionable than plain old raw beef. ๐Ÿ˜‰

        Liked by 2 people

  7. Teehee. You make the man’s consternation palpable! I hope he had waffles for dessert.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Penny, I’m sure he’ll find something in Bruges that is more to his taste!

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Such a well described scene, Iain. Was that your reaction too? Glad I’m a vegetarian! Well written and made me smile.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. This was pretty much how I reacted, I did not manage to eat much of it I’m afraid, but made up for it with beer and chocolates instead! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Sounds like a good trade off to me ๐Ÿ™‚

        Liked by 1 person

  9. Oops! I laughed. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Glad it raised a smile ๐Ÿ™‚

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I like to laugh. Life is too short, and there’s enough misery…. ๐Ÿ™‚

        Liked by 1 person

  10. I enjoyed reading your posst

    Liked by 1 person

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