Belgium - Mulled Wine, Colin Farrell, Beer & Chocolatey Goodness

          Our desire to go to Belgium was solely influenced by Sarah's need to visit a Christmas market

Belfort Tower

B&B 1669

scene in Europe.  I was pleased that she had a destination of her choice which was not so heavily influenced by my need to find movie locations and ancient sites.  Although I put up little resistance as Belgian beer is my absolute favorite kind of beer (and I can find a movie location from one of my favorites just about anywhere).

          We started out journey flying into Brussels and getting on a train to Bruges.  It was a short train ride that lasted about an hour across the country.  When we arrived in the Bruges train station we took a cab over to the city, Bruges like many of the canal based cities north of Italy is sometimes

Market Square - Bruges

referred to as "The Venice of the North".  It is a very cozy city and you pass many historic buildings as you drive down the narrow pathways.  We stayed at a bed & breakfast call the 1669 that was tucked in behind a medieval church.  Each room had a theme and ours was called the loft which sat on the top of the pointy building with a nice view of Bruges out the window.  

          After we settled in we set out on the town to look for something to eat.  We found a nice local style restaurant near the Belfry of Bruges where you can climb the Belfort tower.  I found a new favorite hearty meal to compete with the famous Guinness beef gravy that changes my life in Ireland.  This Belgian style meal was known as "Flemish beef" which is basically a slow cooked thick beef gravy stew meal, this was the first of about five other times that I would consume this meal on the trip.  

          Following my fantastic meal we walked over to the Belfry to begin our ascent of the Belfort tower.  This part of the trip began my first movie reference where the tower and Bruges in general was featured in a movie starring Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter) called In Bruges.  In the movie the tower lays host to one off the funniest scenes in the movie where Irish Colin Farrell insults a group of overweight American tourists before they try to climb the tower.  I have embedded the scene here for reference, pardon the "french" from Colin, it does make Americans look bad with the typical overweight stereotype, but I find the scene hilarious.  

          Climbing the tower was quite a workout and there were a limited number of people allowed on top so we had to wait for a little bit.  After some pictures at the top, we walked around the market square in front of Belfry to the various Christmas market stations.  Most of the stations were serving mulled wine, cheesy potatoes and mixture of Belgian chocolate medleys.  Sarah was slightly disappointed as both of us expected the Christmas markets to be a bit more "Christmasy", but instead

the markets resembled more of an arts and crafts show with few of the stations selling items really relating to Christmas.  

Ghent

          We found a local brewery called Half Moon that we toured after the Christmas market let down.  I cannot stress enough how much I love Belgian beer, the wheat style strong flavor is unmatched compared to the majority of other beers.  The brewery is hard to find as the large facility is very well hidden in the rather cozy design of the city.  The interior had historic and modern construction and a wide range of strong beer.  I had to be strategic with the beer I chose to bring back to Abu Dhabi with me as we were both only allowed to take six.  While you can buy beer in the U.A.E., your selection is basically the "bud light" of every country in the world.  So as you can imagine when you go out to another country, it is important to carefully select your beer "survival kit" upon your return to the middle east.

Ghent

          For dinner in Bruges I had yet another round of Flemish beef which was delightful.  After dinner we went back to our bed & breakfast to plan our journey to the city of Ghent.  The next day we took the train into Ghent while leaving our things at the B&B.  While there we visited a few local pubs in the
area, one that offered over a hundred different types of Belgian beers (a pub in Brussels was soon to trump this record).  The other pub we found was very cozy fitting around fifteen people into a ten foot by ten foot square room.  I have said it before, but I will never tire of the old style bars you are able to find in Europe, they contain stories and character that cannot be rivaled by any of the more modern bars in my opinion.  While in Ghent we also stopped by this cafe that where I had the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted in my life.  It consisted of some type of creamed whipped milk with Belgian chocolate pieces melting away at the bottom.  Typically I do not prefer hot chocolate, but this

Sarah At Christmas Market - Brussels

drink existed in its own category.  

Lambic Brewery - Brussels

          We took a late train back from Ghent to Bruges, spent one more night there and made our way back to our final destination: Brussels.  When we arrived in Brussels it has similar Christmas markets to the Bruges Markets, so we spent some time there before checking out a nice beer store to add more to my survival kit.  I also found another brewery to tour called Brasserie Cantillon which featured a series of Lambic style beers (sour tasting beer).  It was a short walk outside the main area of Brussels, but a fun visit.  Toward the evening we made our way back to the center of the city in search of a few good pubs.  While at one of the pubs I met a nice local gentleman who was so kind to invite us to the Delirium Cafe which holds a Guinness book for the largest variety of beers available for sale which when counted at the time was two thousand and four beers.  After having some fun with the locals we

Grand Place - Guild Halls - Brussels

walked back out to the Grand Place or the Grote Markt where in the evenings would display an impressive light show.  Bruges, Ghent and Brussels were all very enjoyable places to visit, the loc

Beer Store - Brussels

al people are very friendly and the scenery, chocolate, flemish beef and of course the beer is amazing.  I found a nice specialty shop to finalize my beer survival kit in the morning before we made our way back home from our short trip to Belgium.  If I were to go back, I would love to visit more of the breweries in the outskirts and spend more time in Bruges.  As for the Christmas markets, we were advised to try Germany to get that Christmas feel we were looking for.  Over all the trip was a great time and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good hearty meal with a strong beer and a chocolate finish.