2014 Euro Reunion Tour, Day 14: The unkindest cut of all ...

 ... is having to come home, especially when you have to vacate a room like this one.

In Mechelen, we spent the trip's final night at the Martin's Patershof, a hotel in a former church. I'd come across it while researching less expensive options, and concluded that a splurge could be justified for the evening preceding a transatlantic flight. Consequently, I reserved a "great" room for €179 ($220). It would have been noce to stay in one of the rooms with stained glass windows, but those were a bit too "great" for my blood at €499.

When we checked into the hotel on Monday, the desk clerk informed us that we'd been upgraded to a suite for the same price. This didn't register until we opened the door.

Okay, so they're stained glass reproductions. Still, it's a fifth-floor room and the top of the church. Impressive, indeed.

Wait -- what's that?

It's our first-ever, in-room espresso machine. Gads. Not only that, but the bar downstairs had draft Gouden Carolus and Ename Tripel on draft.

This concludes my account of the 2014 trip. When's next?