Well , fate is a bitch but an interesting one
had to rush to Europe to bury my mother
it was a typical country affairs . cousins , grand cousins , catching up with siblings
checking on all the little ones who now had kids of their own
it was no so much the mourning of an end as the celebration of a well filled life
in a way it was somewhat fortunate , three days later the covirus business closed public funerals
since I was in Europe my project to walk in Danemark was modified by events
I would walk from Belgium to Copenhagen
.... the fool and his folly are forever joined !
Bruxelles was closed ...fully , is there anything sadder than Belgium with no beer ?
still being this common kind of fool I persisted , the weather was exactly what one could expect at this time of the year , cold and windy , very windy .. there were serious problems with accommodation ,
setting up the tent made the night very cold , all the camping site were closed , so were hotel B&B ..
made it through Loewen and Flanders to Antwerp a mere couple of hundreds Km
it was getting quite a strain , no cafe or place to eat , no accommodation
most grievous , people usually quite friendly to walking fools , were keeping their distances
Germany was in total lock-down so was Denmark , time to call it off
It felt like walking in a land ravaged by the plague , which in a way it was
Paris Bruxelles and Amsterdam were deserted , all activities slowed to a mere minimum
very few souls hurrying across emptied street
it was surrealist , like being in a word which had lost 19 out of 20 of it's people
In Amsterdam , took the last plane going to Doha then the last plane going to Sydney
back home the custom officers informed me I was good for 14 days isolation
which was no drama , I was being supplied by my daughter for all I requested
except that she "forgot" to bring the bottle of whisky
the betrayal which hurt the most is the one from those we love