Ahh, Belgium. A master of gastronomical delights and 3 National languages! (1. French 2. Flemish-Dutch and 3. German.) Chrisitie and I have decidied the 4 food groups of Belgium must be 1. waffles 2. Chocolate 3. Fries and 4. Beer. I won't lie to you... I ate and drank a lot in Belgium. And it was totally worth it.
We spent the first 2 days in Brussells which delighted us with countless architectural masterpieces. The Grand Place is a truly unbelieveable square - full of people, music and yes, food. The Moules Frites were delicious! It was here in Brussells that Chrisite and I started our quest of discovery of fine Belgian beers. Famourite so far: Leffe Radiuse (red). Christie says she like blonds better. lol. We toured the Catillion brewery where they told us to "forget everything you have ever been told about beer making"... hahaha...they were a little too intense for us!
Next we cruised over to Bruges which I thought was wonderful. It was a major European trading ceentre (for lace and such) until its sea route dried up leaving it isolated inland. We had a good laugh trying out our Flemish here - I was a little rusty! lol. We took a wicked canal cruise and were able to truly appreciate the beauty of this little city. Some people call Bruges the "Venice of the North".... the people in Bruges however call Venice the "Bruges of the South"! Chrisite decided that she was somewhat of a Belgian beer purist here and began drinking only trappist beers (ones made by monks in monestaries). She now declares Rockforth to be her favourite. And she is going to be a nun and start a trappist vineyard. hah. Christie actually disapeared from the world for about 3 days on account of reading the new HP. I'm glad to report she is now back (but now believes she has caught bed bugs!) IT's always an adventure!
The next day we took a full day tour of "Flander's Fields" which was amazing to say the least. I learned more about Canadian involvement in WW1 in a couple hours than I ever knew before. We viewed the Canadian war memorial, trenches, bunkers, graveyards, meuseums and the memorial to Dr. John MacCrae, the doctor who wrote the poem "In Flander's Fields" about his fallen friend. It was incredibly moving. No poppies though - our guide said they bloomed early this year.
1 comment:
Sounds like home.
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