Beers.Brussels.Belgian Waffles

So you want to go to Brussels, huh? Well, like most of my adventures, you have a little rocky of a time getting there.  Your train from Rotterdam was cancelled, but luckily, you overhear a conversation to learn  how to get there via Antwerpen - albeit an hour later.  And despite not knowing which track line to take out of Antwerp, you make a train that does end up in Brussels!

Finally to your destination, with 30 min to spare, you found your hotel (right off the Grand Place).  It was definitely worth the visit.  Such a beautiful old square, even amidst all the tourists.  Luckily, you don't often stand out as a tourist, as you're good at being respectful when you stop to take pictures, and don't talk like a loud American (though you get a few strange looks while you talk to yourself).  You find yourself lucky to be part of the Aryan race that does not stand out in this part of Europe.

After a slight detour of the mind, you ironically find your tour starting point in front of the Tourist Information office! Your guide, Caesar, appears and you learn he hates people.  But not to fear, there were just a few bad TripAdvisor reviews, and he is actually a great guide.  Who is both entertaining and very knowledgeable about beer, politics, and the politics of beer.

You enjoy the small group of 8-9, and for once are not the only single girl on the tour!  There was another girl from Cali, who was living in Germany, and a girl from Jo-Burg.  It was nice to not get the "you're here all alone?" questions.

The "Brussels Beer Tour" started at an estaminet (a beer bar) from the 1695, where you picked your poison - light, amber, or dark.  You, of course, wanted to see what qualified as "dark".  There you sat for the next hour sipping the beers, learning about the beers and each other (sweet huh?).  You are warned of the DANGERS of Palm, and other pretend Trappist beers, and how to tell which ones were made by monks or not.

Since Belgian beer has a rather high alcohol content - I mean 4% in most Dutch beers will do... nothing to you, you left the bar with a nice little "beer head".  And on the walk to the distillery, learned from someone who read the TripAdvisor review that you should have eaten before the tour.  Yikes!  But the long walk to Cantillon (a 113 yr old brewery which "makes the most unusual, and arguably, best beer in the world - the Lambic) makes you feel more sober.

There you learned how beer was made in a more natural way, and how they let nature take it's coarse in the beer making process.  The building was old, with an innumerable amount of cobwebs (the spiders eat the cherry flies), and apparently a few cats to catch the mice.  The yeast process took place in a large, flat, open container, where the natural yeast in the air is allowed to mix with the beer.  Definitely not your 21st century sterile environment, and it seemed like it was the better way to go...

You get to sample 2 beers at Cantillon - the Lambaic (cask beer) and one of your choice (a hoppy, a cherry, or a classic champagne style), you wisely chose the champagne style - both were great, you're not sure you would want a whole glass of either, very unique things happen in the back of your mouth...

With more beer in your belly, and having pleasantly avoided the rain, you head back towards the center to a much newer establishment with 38 beers on tap (wow, that's a "lot" of beer :)).  The guide picked the first beer, and then you could pick your next one (you are happy to have so many choices to make on this adventure).  And you are rewarded with a chance to pad your stomach a little, definitely a bar worth going to!

Well after the 3.5-4 hrs as promised, you leave to meet up with an ex-Deloitte colleague.  So you bowed out of the conversation, and went off to enjoy some Belgian frites (with the classic GOBS of sauce on top and the little fork to eat with).  Megan took you to some fun places you would have never found, but you ended up being out until 3.. oops!

Luckily, there was nothing you had to do on Sunday and you slept in, and wandered... basically all over.

 Wasn't in the mood for any museums, so you just walked around the parks, the city, found Manneken Pis (which was not nearly as cool as Jeanneken Pis).


Then you found the mecca of beer buying, here you find the world's best beer, and the most expensive beer  (well at least in the states) - at Canon they have it for $99.  But in Belgium - it was only 12 euros for a bottle (technically, your beer guide told you they aren't supposed to re-sell it outside of the brewery - tsk tsk) - you shouldn't have bought it either...

If you chose this story for your adventure, you chose wrong, you made a bad decision to get off the train in Antwerp and get sucked into a stupid conversation with 5 boys all trying to talk to you at once, including one asking for a needle.  At least you died with your liver (almost) in tact.