Belgium Vacation - Everything Else

OK, so this post is going to be about everything else we did in Belgium lest our readers think we are total lushes that sit around and drink beer all day. Our trip began when we landed in Brussels and then made the drive to Bruges. We spent our first night in the city and spent most of our time here exploring the medieval city, wandering the streets and the Christmas market.

On the streets of Bruges

On the second day we headed south to the town of Dinant in the Ardenne region. We got in around dinner time, so we pretty much just wandered around a bit and then got dinner.

The road leading into Dinant

Dinant by day

Dinant by night

The third day we spent exploring the area around Dinant. We first went to the Maredsous Abbye, which has a large playground for children, so that we could let Eli play for awhile. Later we headed to the nearby town of Rochefort where we walked around the Christmas market and then went to a few chocolate shops to buy truffles.

Maredsous Abbye

On our fourth day we checked out of our hotel in Dinant and headed to the citadel overlooking the city. We never actually made it inside though because Eli just wanted to run back and forth across the bridge to the entrance.

Eli at the citadel

 After letting him wear himself out for a bit, we got back in the car and started to head for the town of Tourpes. However, as we were leaving the citadel parking lot we saw a sign for an ostrich farm and decided to go check it out. After driving a few kilometers we came upon this sight in a field on the side of the road:

The ostrich were extremely curious and came right up to the fence to check us out. Eli absolutely loved it. Once we had our fill, we continued on to Tourpes for a brewery tour and then headed on to Brussels.  Our hotel in Brussels was only a block off of the Grand Place, so once we checked in we headed off to explore the Grand Place area. We ended up catching a Christmas music/light show in which lights are projected onto the buildings around the Grand Place set to classical music. Eli really enjoyed it. We then wandered around a Christmas market for few minutes before heading back to the hotel.

The following day we went out to breakfast at a place that my Belgian co-worker had recommended. It happened to be in an area with a lot of chocolatiers, so after breakfast we visited several before settling on buying chocolates from Pierre Marcolini. Yummy! We then pretty much did all of the touristy things there are to do in Brussels. We ate some waffles on the street, visited Manekin Pis, and then took Eli to the park in front of the royal palace so he could play for awhile. When heading out to dinner that evening, we again caught the music/light show at the Grand Place.

 At the Grand Place

Eli playing in the mud at the Royal Palace park

On our final day in Brussels we pretty much only had time for our visit to Cantillion. However, we did walk by the Manekin Pis again, which happened to be on (it was turned off on our previous visit). This delighted Eli. He kept saying "Pee pee big splash" and laughing. We had a really hard time getting him to leave.

Eli visiting Manekin Pis

So, in sum we had a fabulous time, and not all of it involved beer, although a lot of it did involve Christmas markets :)

Beer Tour of Belgium

For Kevin's birthday present, Anne planned a beer tour of Belgium.  (We were going to go on vacation somewhere, but we hadn't decided what to do until Anne had that idea).  Since the trip was centered around Belgian beer, this post will be beer and nothing but beer.  WARNING - if you're not into beer you may find this post a little boring.  In fact, as we're writing this, we're drinking a 2008 Aardmonnik (Earthmonk) Flemish Sour from De Struise Brouwers (hops & brown sugar aroma; carmel malt flavors perfectly balanced by sourness).  


First stop after arriving in Belgium was Brugge (or Bruges).  The first day, Kevin made the 20 minute walk through heavy freezing rain to de Halve Maan brewery.  There wasn't time for a tour, but there was time to warm up with a glass of their tripel.  The beer was nice but the brewery was a little touristy.  


Next day we all stopped at de Struise Brouwers tasting room/bar in Brugge.  Ratebeer.com ranked them best brewery in the world in 2008.  They're a small brewery that makes many, many types of beers.  We got four different versions of their Pannepot between what we drank there and the bottles we bought.  They also make Flemish Sour beers and barrel aged beers (purchased a few of those as well).  

 Since Eli passed out, Anne and Kevin were able to hang out and have a few beers

That evening, after driving to Dinant, we had dinner at Leffe cafe where we got Leffe Radiuse and Anne had a Leffe 9.  Yes, I know even though it's a Trappist brewery their brewing operations are now owned by AB Inbev.  But we needed to find a place where Eli could get some food, and we weren't going to turn down the chance to try more abbey brews.  


Next morning was a trip to the Maredsous Abbey benedictine monastery for some even better abbey beer.  Anne had the Tripel and Kevin had a couple Brunes (malty, spicy, somewhat fruity; very complex; hop bitterness very noticeable on the finish).  We also got some lunch - bread and cheese also made by the monks.  

No fancy glass at  Maredsous Abby  - the beer is served in clay mugs 

That afternoon, we headed out to Rochefort.  Abbye Notre Dame d’ St Remy in Rochefort is not open to the public, but there was a stand in an outdoor Christmas market selling their beers.  The continuing heavy cold rain again didn't stop Kevin from enjoying a glass of Rochefort 8 (nice Brune, very unique yeast character, spicy, moderately hoppy).  


Since Anne was watching Eli while Kevin was at the Christmas market, she tried the Rochefort 8 with dinner back in Dinant.  Kevin got Gauloise Brune.  

Saturday, we had scheduled a tour of Brasserie Dupont, a small farmhouse brewery that only gives tours four times a year.  We were lucky the timing worked out.  Their traditional brewery even uses old copper boil kettles heated by flame, which adds some nice carmelization to their beer.  Along with the tour, we got to try their Pilser, Saison, and a large glass of the Moinette blonde 

From there, we headed to Brussels where we got Westmalle Dubbel and Tripel at our hotel.  (Westmalle is the trappist abbey that pioneered selling high-alcohol beer to the public to raise money with their Tripel.)

Anne found about an awesome beer bar in Brussels, Moder Lambic.  47 Belgian beers on tap.  47.   All from smaller breweries.  We started out trying sour beers - Tilquin Gueuze and a Kriek from 3 Fonteinen. For our second round Anne had a trappist Val-Dieu Grand Cru and Kevin had a Gueuze from Cantillon.  The Grand Cru was Anne's favorite beer (dark, strong, licorice and anise flavors), and the Cantillon Gueuze was Kevin's.  (Gueuze is a blend of lambic from three different years).  

The last day, we had a tour of Cantillon Brewery.  Cantillon brews sour beer using much of the same equipment & methods as they did 100 years ago.  This place is so unique that their working brewery is also a museum.  It was incredible, and their beer was something special

Real sour beer is fermented by wild yeast from the environment instead of by added brewers yeast.  The first picture below is the cooling tray where wort sits overnight, collecting whatever microbes may be present.

After wort is boiled, it is pumped here to cool and collect wild yeast

Eli really liked exploring all the old machinery at the brewery

Top of an old boil kettle

After cooling, beer ferments in wood barrels

then secondary fermentation in horizontal bottles.

Kreik (fermented w/ fresh cherries)

Faro - sweetened & spiced sour beer

We'll try to add another post soon to tell you about the non-beer-related fun we had too.  But for now, we're enjoying a Abbaye du Val-Dieu Tripel (Banana and tropical fruit aroma, spicy clove flavors, very smooth)

Merry Christmas! 

Eli's 2nd Birthday Party - Online

Eli's second birthday isn't until Thursday, but we had his party today (Sunday).  We wanted to celebrate with family, so we had a virtual party - grandparents, aunts & uncles and cousins all got on Skype and Facetime together (Kevin's Mom was here).  

We had some technical difficulties at first, but once we got going, it was nice to see everyone at the same time.  OK, maybe it was a little overstimulating to try to keep up with so many people on five cameras altogether, but I'm glad we did it.

The party was a "Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel" theme.  Anne went all out on the cake, and Eli's reaction was worth it.