There is a special kind of Karma that presents itself to travelers. When touring new places in the world, there are inevitably times when you need some help and the amazing things is that more often than not there is a kind and considerate person that will offer you that help. The thing is that, in turn, when you notice a traveler in need of help, it's always a good idea to do what you can for them in order to keep your good travel karma alive.
About 4 years ago, my friends Christina, Sarah and myself were at or favorite Manhattan bar, Scruffy Duffy's. We would always go to this place because they serve the best buffalo chicken wings in town. On this particular night the three of us were REALLY hungry and amibitiously ordered a basked of 50 wings for the three of us. Needless to say, we didn't finish the entire baskiet. Three men from Belgium that had just arrived in NYC were at the bar and wondering what these things were. Since we weren't finishing the 50, we offered them to have a try. They in turn bought us beers and we all ended up spending the weekend hanging out together and a string of good Karma began. These guys said that because of our kindness and willingness to be their NYC tourguides, they had an amazing hoiday in New York. A year later they even retunred to the city and for another week we all lived it up with drinks, dinners, parties and again, they were very greatful for our hospitality.
Sarah is now taking a tour of Europe, staying with a friend in Rome, visiting a friend in Prague and in between she decided to head to Brussels where Kris, Wim, Kun and Gerrt live. It was my 35th birthday so I treated myself to a trip to join them. From the moment the boys picked us up at the airport to the moment they dropped me off yesterday morning, Kristen, Sarah and myself were treated like queens. On the day of my birthday, they drove us to the city of Brugges about an hour drive northwest of Brussels. This city is called the Venice of Belgium with its river, stone roads and bridges. We walked around, ate chocolates and drank good beer during a long leisurely lunch. A good friend from Kosovo who is now studying in Brugges even met us for a drink or two during lunch. That made the entire day even more amazing because I had Sarah whom I've known since St. Olaf in 1992 and Pascal whom I met in 2006 in Kosovo together with my Belgian friends I met in New York together in the same place. My lives past and present were together in one place for a couple of hours on my birthday. Amazing!! The guys then told us not to eat too much because we were expected for dinner at 8.00 that evening.
After a short rest from a great day, the boys once again picked us up and escorted us to what they said to be the best restaurant in Brussels for true Belgian cuisine. The table was set, the champaigne was ordered and for the next four hours seven people that have, over 4 years of visits, become good friends celebrated being together again. My birthday was toasted enough times for each year of my life. Between toasts we ate mussels, steaks, chocolate mousse and profitteroles while taking endless amounts of pictures. Over and over again us girls said how blessed we were to have such amazing hosts. Every time we said that, they replied with the same grateful words. The travel karma had done something to all of us that we didn't dare question for fear of it all falling apart.
The next day Sarah, Kristen and I had the day to ourselves to be tourists in Brussels. I have to admit, my knowledge of the city isn't much more than it was before I went there. We did see the little peeing boy statue - Manneken-pis - which is one of the biggest attractions in Brussels. Wim also told us about the lesser known Jeanneke-pis, a more modern statue of a little girl peeing which was erected in 1987 by what had to have been a women's libber looking for equal rights. I've got more pictures of it all on flickr. But because it was our last full day in Brussels, the touring was limited because I had to do some serious shopping knowing that once I was back in Kosovo my chances of buying good clothes that fit were gone. They met us once again that night for drinks where another friend from Kosovo came from his home just ouside of Brussels to meet us. We told our story to Bram and he couldn't believe it all. The night continued until 3 in the morning when I went to bed because I had to wake up for the airport in 4 hours.
So early Sunday morning, Wim picked my up at our hotel and took me and my new purchases to the airport where I had to say good-bye to the guys. The last time I saw them in New York I truely did not think that I would ever see these guys again, especially not in Brussels. When and why would I have ever gone to Brussels?! But that Karma is strong and when I said good-by to Wim this time, I felt pretty sure that I would see them all again, somewhere. We all agreed that the next time we met it would be in a country that none of us had ever been to . . . South America, Africa . . . who knows, but I can't wait!!
