I have been in Brussels for almost full nine months already. In other words, my probation period has ended. Yes, I am still happy, pleased, grateful, and thrilled to be part of European Union institutions, especially the European Parliament.
What this has to do with an ice-hockey game? In a sense, nothing really. I just wanted to state the fact and have an introduction for this article.
Ice-hockey. It will come as no surprise that this team sport is not popular in Belgium. Football, no question. Basketball, maybe as well. But ice hockey is not that much. When I read on Facebook that a bunch of Latvians are going to gather at a bar near the Schuman district, I immediately knew that I would like to go and see the match. It was not because I yearned to be among fellow Latvians. It was not also because I am a huge ice hockey fan. It was mainly because this would be the first match of any sport that I would see in a bar since coming back to Brussels. When I was a trainee in 2018 I watched the World Cup matches in bars and a few ice hockey matches, thus I had some experience. And even though last year was also the year of the World Cup, I did not go to a bar to see a match. Why? I just did not fancy it.
In the post that advertised the game, it read that the bar was going to have a bunch of Canadian fans since the game was between Latvia and Canada. Initially, I wanted to go almost two hours before the puck drop to secure a decent seat, but luckily my beautiful woman persuaded me not to go that early. To anyone wondering, yes, we went together. When we arrived at the bar there were no Canadian fans. Only three Latvians were sitting and drinking beers roughly twenty minutes before the puck drop.
Before the match began a couple more Latvians came, but no Canadians. Thus the initial message from the post was misleading. Was it on purpose? No. Would it be more fun if fans from the opposing team also were present? Yes. Although, since Latvians lost two pucks every period, maybe it would not have been that fun.
We ordered two Guinness (in total four) and two packs of fries. The fries were good but not exceptional. But the beer was spot on.
Latvia ended up losing 6:0. Not all Latvians stayed for the whole game. Some needed to take their kids back home, some had to go because their wife said so. A good game, good beer, and decent fries. Will I go again to this particular bar that will remain nameless to watch sports? Probably not. Mainly since Brussels has a few much, much better places to drink, have a snack and watch people compete.
Kind regards,
Olaaf
