That cathedral I mentioned a few days ago? It really does look better at night.
I took a couple more pictures of the Christmas setup at Grand’ Place on Wednesday. My publisher, associate publisher and I took our European sales rep out for dinner near there, and meandered around in the cold after (whence the following pictures). The rep, from Switzerland, had no idea how to deal with the dynamic that’s developed among the three of us in the past five years.
Of course, there are times when we don’t know how to deal with that dynamic, either. Which is what makes it dynamic, I guess.
On our way out of the restaurant (Aux Armes des Bruxelles) that evening, the rep, who’s from Switzerland, pulled me aside and quietly asked, “So, were the three of you for push or carry?”
“Excuse me?”
“You know: push or carry?”
I pondered the metaphorical implications of that question, thinking it was some sort of referendum on welfare reform, before it hit me: “You mean Bush or Kerry?”
Sigh.
In the past few days, as I’ve witnessed the decimating effects of the weak dollar on my travel budget, I’ve developed a theory: Pres. Bush doesn’t want a weak dollar because it spurs U.S. exports. He wants a weak dollar because it makes it tougher for Americans to visit Europe. It all makes sense now (unless he actually wants a weak dollar so as to get more Europeans to visit the U.S., in which case my wacky psychologizing is out the window).
Anyway, happy Chanukkah to the Jews in the audience. I’m headed to Amsterdam tomorrow morning (Friday), but I have some neat pix from Thursday to process and post. You’ll be sorry . . .