Pis

Around midnight I traipsed onto a plane bound from Addis Ababa to Brussels. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been plunged into the middle of winter. Why am I heading to Europe in late January? Belgium is the first stop on a mini Euro work tour that’s been brewing for a few months but has only recently come to fruition. I’ll be shaking the proverbial collection can to drum up some support for our landscape initiative during some fundraising meetings in various of our offices.

A key mystery arising during the journey will likely remain unresolved, namely why Ethiopian Airlines deems the Hugh Grant Sandra Bullock romcom Two Weeks Notice a ‘blockbuster’ in 2023.

As we landed the pilot announced that the outside temperature was -4. Jesus. He also announced blue skies which I thought was strange as it was still pitch black. I assumed it was a nod to a forecasted bright winter’s day I could look forward to once I’d firmly donned my gloves.

By around 9am I was roaming the streets of Brussels, which on a Sunday morning have many more abandoned e-scooters than people. I enjoyed the train at Brussels Centraal with destination Luxembourg written across the driver’s window. I covered the main sights of Brussels, including the Manneken Pis statue, periodically finding somewhere indoors to shelter when I could no longer feel my extremities. And somehow amongst the climate adjustments and lack of sleep, I sent off my annual report for review by the powers that be.