Author: Merideth

Thursday was the one day that Chris and I had to explore Bruges. We love the movie In Bruges and we wanted to look for the locations of some of our favorite scenes. But first, we went on a tour of the only brewery left in Bruges, Halve Maan. The tour guide accommodated the decent sized group of English speakers, the large group of Dutch speakers, and the two French speakers all during the same tour. Chris and I weren’t sure if it was her command of English or her delivery, but the guide had a hugely dry sense of humor. I’m not sure we saw her crack a smile, even when telling her funniest jokes.

One of the best parts of the tour was when she explained the use of hops in the brewing process. She explained that hops is related to marijuana and that is why it gives us the ‘kick’ in beer. Each time she said ‘kick’, she did this gesture with her hands indicating brightened eyes. Again, a dry delivery, but very funny.

Next we stopped for some lunch at a place called Dickie’s. Dickie is the dachshund after whom the place is named and the primary reason we went there. They also have a great beer selection.

Children here, as in many parts of Europe, come home from school for lunch. When we arrived, the family was having lunch with their daughter and Dickie greeted us with a hugely deep bark. We couldn’t see him, but the deep bark told us that he was a standard wiener. Chris moved in for a closer look at Dickie, but was politely told to stand back because otherwise he will never stop barking. A bit later, Dickie made his appearance at our table before lying by the fire with his family.

Lots of beer with little physical activity can take its toll after a week, so we decided to head to the Bell Tower. We climbed the 200+ stairs to the top and yes, the stairs get very tight toward the top. As we were going in, a man told us in between his huffing and puffing that it wasn’t worth it. I thought it to be the rantings of someone exhausted from all the climbing. However, I did find the top a little disappointing. It was so high that you could not look down into the square. Chris wanted me to jump off the tower like in the movie, but there was a screen to prevent such re-enactments. Don’t worry, I had no intention of doing it anyway.

One of the churches in town has a Michaelangelo statue of the Madonna holding Jesus. Apparently, it was purchased and brought to Bruges during his lifetime, which made it one of the few Michaelangelo’s located outside of Italy at the time. We looked at it, shrugged, and moved on.

I also wanted to find the Basilica of the Holy Blood. Supposedly during the second Crusade a vial of Jesus’s blood was brought back. Once in the church, we actually weren’t sure where the blood was supposed to be. The primary problem was that it didn’t seem to look like the movie and so we got thrown off. After consulting the Rick Steve’s book several times, we determined that the vial was inside of this huge silver tabernacle on a side altar. On Fridays and other special days, the tabernacle is opened and everyone can peer in to see the vial. I guess we’ll try and go on a Friday next time.

Because we didn’t get to try quite all the beers, we went back to Brugs Beertje. Unfortunately Daisy wasn’t there. It was her day off we were told. I was happy that we got to see the famous publican when we were there on Tuesday night. It really made the experience (and not only because she gave me a stuffed bear). We had a great time this time, too, trying more new beers. One of the guys from the other night was working, so he helped us out with recommendations. He had a very good American English accent and it turns out he had a girlfriend in Maryland. He also spoke 4 other languages! Sometimes I can barely manage to master the one language I know fluently.

Zolder is the name of a cellar bar that was mentioned in the Good Beer Guide to Belgium, so we wanted to check it out. It was very cool and had a good beer selection. There was a recent change in ownership, the previous owners retired, and now a young couple, she Irish and he Belgian, are making a go of it. It seemed a bit slow on the night we were there, but cozy and we enjoyed listening to John Lee Hooker. It was a refreshing change from the DJ-matic playing cheesy pop songs. That is a tough thing to do, taking over a business in the off season, so we really wish them luck. Be sure to stop in there the next time you’re in Bruges. We had a beer and a ham and cheese toastie before moving on.

We finished off our night with a walk back to our hotel. But along the way we stopped to watch some outdoor ice skating. Well, no one was actually skating, just one of the workers was fooling around on the ice. Chris wanted to skate, but as it turns out, it was closed for the night. We had our Belgian waffles with caramel sauce and went to bed.

…well, it’s my birthday, too! And Fritz Maytag’s. And Donny Osmond’s. And my Facebook friend Craig Chan’s.

I must say that Tuesday was one of my all time best birthdays! I always try to keep in mind what a charmed and blessed life I live and Tuesday I had to keep pinching myself.

We started the day off with a drive out to Chimay in Scourmont. There is a town nearby called Chimay, but that’s not where the abbey, brewery, or the official tavern (Auberge de Poteaupré) is.

The highlight of the visit to Chimay was having the Spéciale Poteaupré. A 4.5% golden colored beer, it is served only and exclusively drawn from the cask at the Auberge de Poteaupré.

The weather on Tuesday became decidedly colder, which added to the fun the of day. By the time we finished our Chimay beer and cheese pairings, it was snowing. Very romantic and much better than rain. Although for Chris, driving in snow in a foreign country in a car that he isn’t used to probably is not even remotely romantic.

We then made a quick stop to the farm brewery of Dupont. We went to their official tavern across the street, which was a little awkward. Clearly we were from out of town. The local farmer guy didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak French. He got a kick out of us doing a tad bit of filming and  I think he offered to film/take a picture of us. I somewhat mistook this and decided to get him in the video. In a rare moment of forwardness,  I went up to him with my beer, said “cheers!” and toasted him. I’m not sure he knew what hit him. I haven’t seen the video, but Chris said that it is kind of out of place, so probably won’t make the final cut. I tried to give Farmer Henri his 15 minutes, but Chris is the editor. I’m just the on air talent.

From there we moved on to Brasserie Dubuisson and I enjoyed my Cuvee de Trolls. For a quick moment we thought they had ‘Prestige’ in bottles. According to our bible of the trip (Good Beer Guide to Belgium), Prestige is an oak aged version of Dubuisson’s Ambrée and apparently somewhat rare. Our excitement was short lived, however, as they actually did not have it. But this disappointment in no way ruined the visit.

Despite my limited French, I read on the menu that if you go there on your birthday, you get a free taster set. I pulled out my passport and “voila!”, I had a free taster set! I thought the server would act somewhat surprised and at least tell me “Happy Birthday”, but he didn’t. I was tickled, but admit that it was delivered somewhat unceremoniously.

The final leg of our day was getting to Bruges. We didn’t get lost per se, but we were both a bit tired and it was dark. We eventually got to our hotel, Hotel Erasmus, a beer focused accomodation, and regrouped. Then it was off to the world famous beer cafe ‘t Brugs Beertje, the Little Bruges Bear. Amazing is all I can say!

The beer list was overwhelming, but the owner Daisy was a fantastic help in recommending beers. Again, in a moment of forwardness not in my usual nature, I told her it was my birthday and asked if I could take a picture with her behind the bar. She agreed because it was my birthday. Another patron got into the act and we got a picture of both Chris and I with Daisy, as well. As we were leaving, she gave me a stuffed little brown bear. A beer lover’s birthday dream!

Needless to say, I slept very well that night. Happy birthday to me!

Our days have definitely slowed down, but have been very exciting! After filling up on a great breakfast at our hotel, we were ready to face our Sunday. The biggest goal for the day was to visit Orval, our third Trappist. Chris was a little unsure of the hours and wondered if they would even be open at all. So with some apprehension and crossed fingers we set off on the half hour drive. Lucky for us, the heavens were on our side. The official tavern next to the abbey was open, the abbey grounds were open to visitors, and to top it off, the sun was so bright it hurt my eyes. It was the first time we had seen the sun on the whole trip.

We have been to numerous abbeys, churches, cathedrals, etc. and rarely go to them anymore because they are all beautiful and impressive, but one starts to look like all the others. However, nothing could have prepared us for l’Abbaye Notre Dame d’Orval. Well, except for the pictures in our beer books, but pictures barely do the abbey justice.

The Orval abbey was truly a sight to behold. As we turned down the road, the abbey loomed in the valley, seeming to reach the heavens themselves. As we got closer, we could make out the huge Virgin Mary relief looking benevolently upon us. To our right was an equally large Jesus on the cross relief. The sight of them either fills one with an overwhelming sense of spirituality or PTSD symptoms from Catholic school, depending on your point of view.

We were just relieved that the tavern, A l’Ange Gardien, was open. I suggested that we go in to have a beer before they had a chance to close. Sounds paranoid, I know, but it’s from past experience that I have such concerns. We started off with Petit Orval. A 3.2% diluted version of the regular Orval, Petit Orval is found only at the abbey and is created especially for the brothers. Using my usual descriptor, it was ‘good’. One could even say it was a true session beer from God.

Only after we secured Orval on our brewery list did we venture over to the abbey. The ruins of the old abbey were open to visitors, but the main part of the newer active abbey was not. The visitor center/gift shop did have signs telling where to enquire about personal retreats and prayer services with the brothers. I thought it too extreme a method to see rest of the property.

We did get to see Mathilde’s Fountain, the water of which comes from the same source as that used in both the beer and cheese. The story goes that Mathilde, a member of royalty, was looking in the pond and her wedding ring fell into the water. She reportedly prayed at the abbey for its return. Within days, a fish appeared at the surface with her ring in its mouth. Hence, Orval’s logo of a fish with a ring in its mouth. In good royal fashion, she donated a lot of money to the abbey after that.

We returned to the tavern for more beer and food before moving on. When we walked back in, a couple who were there on our first pass noticed that we came back and got a good chuckle out of our return for seconds.

Caracole was another brewery we wanted to visit. The original plan had been to visit on Saturday, but we didn’t make it. After Orval, we decided to drive another half hour to see if it was open. Much to our disappointment (but not surprise), it was closed. The only day it is open to the public is Saturdays 2pm-7pm, the time we were originally going to be there. We missed our chance.

We drove further on to Le Pichet in the town of Hastiere. Mentioned in the Good Beer Guide to Belgium, its claim to fame is not only a fantastic beer list, but also that the meats are cooked on an open wood fire. They didn’t speak English and our French pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired, but we pointed and mangled the language. Then we watched our jambonneau and sauciss cook on the grill as we drank Achel and Rodenbach. We were kept further occupied by a scruffy Benji-type dog that begged at our table and nipped at the local children as they harassed him. From what we can gather, his name was “Puppy”.

The problem with beer travel this time of year is that it gets dark very early. We decided to call it a night and drive the 40 minutes back to our hotel in the dark. Despite the day not going exactly according to plan, we were happy we made the leap of faith and kept driving. The beer God was definitely shining upon us, and the resulting adventure was well worth it.