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  2020-08-02

  Sensory Overload in Brussels

  I was living in Germany when the COVID lockdown began in 2020. One of the big perks of living in Europe is the ease of travel and close proximity of many cultures to experience. Germany, and Europe as a whole, were strictly locked down from March to August 2020, they were not allowing border crossing and all tourist locations were shut down. In August of 2020, Europe opened back up for tourism. Three of my friends and I jumped in our car and drove six hours to Brussels, Belgium. Our goal for the trip was to do a city walking tour that included chocolate and beer tasting, the chocolate was in the early afternoon and the beer was in the evening. After being stuck in our homes in Germany for five months, experiencing the taste of fresh Belgian chocolate was almost a sensory overload. We walked up and down the main “candy shop” road, sampling every kind of chocolate and even world-famous macaroons. The smells of chocolate and bakeries almost punching our noses. Later in the evening we went to the Delirium Brewery and sampled seasonal beers that were only available on site. We all enjoyed the experience of fresh crisp taste of Belgian beer right from the keg that you cannot get from drinking out of a bottle or can. I never thought that the COVID lockdown would numb my taste and smell in a way that wasn't a symptom of the virus. Being stuck in one place eating and drinking the same things day in and day out really makes you long for something different. We were very lucky to be able to have the opportunity to venture out to such a historic and important city of Europe to experience fresh tastes and smells.
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  2020-12-01

  Anti-gay Hungarian MEP resigns after being found at a 25-man orgy

  I hate to be the one to perpetuate the closeted homophobe stereotype, however, how could you not talk about an anti-gay politician that was found with bloodied-form running from police and a 25-man orgy, violating social distancing laws, while on drugs? Sounds like an adult-comedy bit that would make a quarter of the audience give a light chuckle to the comedian on stage! After this fiasco, they quickly resigned from their position as MEP in Hungary where he spent years writing bills and documents to actively harm the LGBTQ+ community.