James C., on the road again:

Antwerp, Belgium. I’m in Flanders this weekend for a very long overdue visit to a good friend. For the occasion I’ve made a brief suspension of my no-meat Lenten discipline, in order to eat one of my favourite things: friet met stoofvlees, fries covered in Flemish beef stew (cooked in beer—of course!). Next to it is a frikandel (oddly called a curryworst in Antwerp) with a spicy sauce whose name I’ve forgotten.

That tall tower in the distance is the Gothic spire of Antwerp’s cathedral. The Art Deco tower to the right is Europe’s first skyscraper. The docked ship is the Belgian Navy frigate Leopold I, recently returned from battle against the Islamic State in the eastern Mediterranean. I saw soldiers holding big guns in the shopping district—perhaps the Leopold is more needed at home…