After the worst traffic that I have ever seen (and yes, it serves me right for renting a car in Europe, I know, I know) we made it to Brussels! Ellie pointed out later that she expected our arrival to be delayed, because they could see the traffic from the air when flying in. Dan and Ellie had thoughtfully left his phone for us to use, and we met up and headed out to dinner. I had tried to find a place that was veggie friendly, and hadn’t succeeded very well. We wound up at Comocomo, supposedly a Basque Tapas restaurant, which had a conveyer belt that wound around the whole place and was covered in tiny plates of food. It was often a question of how long it had been lying there when you picked one up. Tapas we decided are best served fresh. It was an interesting concept, but not well executed.
Afterwards we were still hungry, so we headed over to a frites place, and got frites and special sauce and a beer to go! Those were too tasty, and we enjoyed them while checking out the main square. There was a jazz festival going on, and Brussels was mobbed. It was a fun atmosphere to stroll around. We headed back to the hostel and crashed.
After waking up and having a bite to eat at the hostel, we decided it was best to pile into the car and head to our next destination, because sadly, the museum we were hoping to see was closed! The Magritte Museum was due to open a week later! I was bummed, and had a guide book which indicated it would have already been open, but alas, we missed it by a few days. So, on to Brugge it was.
Before we left Brussels, I decided that I wanted to see the Mannequin Pis. So, all of us, and all of our luggage (which was crammed into the car with great care, some of it overlapping our guests in the backseat) headed right for it. Little did I know, it was actually possible to drive by the Mannequin Pis without much hassle. So, we descended on it in a hilariously American style, much by accident, and I jumped out and took a photo and then bought a waffle. I meant to find parking and stroll over there, but as it turned out, the GPS actually sent us directly to the statue. I did feel like a complete ass driving through herds of tourists, but that’s how it went. We often had a good laugh about it after the fact. The statue itself was tiny, and the two dozen people around it made it difficult to see the whole fountain, which is located behind a metal grate, but it was mounted up high, so the boy himself was easy to see.
We spent our time in Brugge mostly walking around. The day started with a lovely picnic on the lawn of a very old church. The picnic was fantastic, and we had a few Chimays with it, which were also nice. Cheaper than water, the beer in Europe. Not sure if I will ever understand that. But I do enjoy it! In the afternoon we had a tour of the De Halve Maan Brewery. It was quite fun, and interesting to learn how the Belgium beer we love was made. They discussed the current methods as well, which are quite different, and I got a beer tutorial from Dan and Ellie who had made good friends with a beer aficionado and were happy to pass along their knowledge. From there, we had a nap, and then a long stroll to a pub which has been around since 1551. We tasted a few beers, including one which is called Kriek. Kriek is a beer made with sour cherries and lambic, and which is very tasty. We had dinner in a nice patio restaurant next to our hotel which was very good, and we had a few more beers in the nice weather before heading off to bed.
Not wanting to interrupt the beer themed Belgium trip, we decided to take a little road trip to the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus, the home of Westvleteren beer, which is rated the best beer in the world by many. We didn’t have internet access while in Brugges, and the proprieter of the hotel we were at couldn’t really tell much about Westvleteren, but he mentioned another town nearby which might make for a good day trip. After a nice morning of driving through the countryside and a few stops for fuel and directions (sort of), we made it to the abbey! There was a nice patio, and we tried all three of the beers on offer and had lunch. Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with pineapple is a pretty tasty combo, but couldn’t compare to the beer ice cream which was available. It was delicious and had a great flavor, which was like their beer, yet with cream.
The Westvleteren beers which were available were the Westvleteren Blonde (5.8%), the Westvleteren 8 (8%), and the Westvleteren 12 (10.2%). We all agreed that the 12 was the ticket. Brewed by Trappist monks in traditional methods, only sold at the brewery, and only sold to take away by prior arrangement and in very limited quantities, I was very excited to have driven for an hour and happened to find our way to Westvleteren. The beer was amazing. Full flavored, but with a good aftertaste, and very smooth. I was thankful that we had a chance to spend the afternoon in the lovely setting that surrounds the Abbey with our good friends.
After our trip to Westvleteren, and a stop at a Bread Automat (coolest vending machine ever!) somewhere in a countryside town, we had a picnic dinner in a park in Brugge near a fountain which was full of ducks and swans. There are so many swans in Belgium, but I find them fascinating to watch. Their necks are so long and graceful. We even had a chance to see baby swans, which are indeed nothing like their parents. After a stroll along the canal, we had locally made ice cream for desert and walked around. It was nice to catch up with Dan and Ellie, and hear about their experiences in Groningen during her time making art, and to learn that they will be returning in August because Ellie was awarded a residency on a small island in the north of The Netherlands.