Brugge-ing out of Brussels, day 1.

So, we departed Brussels, and boarded a train for Brugge. We decided to work our way back to Brussels from the western end of the country. [Since we were relying on public transportation and only had about 10 days, we decided to stay in the main cities].

On the train to Brugge we were trying to figure what to do with our luggage and backpacks. A rather stern woman “tsk-ed” at us when we put the backpacks up above our heads and said “pickpockets” and pointed to the seat next to us. So we moved the backpacks to the seats.

She then tsk-ed again when we put our wheeled luggage in space between us [We were sitting in a 4 top with seats facing each other] and pointed to the space behind the seats. Behind each set of seats was just enough room slide a rolling bag. Perfect.

She turned out to be very pleasant and friendly. But “dere is a vay dese tings are done!”. Once we learned the way, she chatted with us a bit.

On the way to Brugge, the train stops in Ghent. At this time an announcement was made that basically said

Since the Tour de France would be stopping in Ghent in a few days, expect crowded trains and hard to find lodging.

Tour de France? In Brussels? Who knew? This would later play a small part in our travels.

Anywho…

Brugge is a very pretty town. Lots of canals and picturesque 15th and 16th century architecture.

After some confusion, we found the correct bus and headed off to our B&B. Great little place decorated, seemingly, entirely from Ikea. Ok, it was little more upscale than that. A very simple sort of elegance.

After checking in we were off for lunch. The nice woman that runs the B&B told us about a great little place that serves “Egyptian” food.

blink

blink

“Uh, thanks. What else is near by?”

Turns out that Gambrinus is just a few blocks from the B&B (and one short block from the Egyptian place).

This is place mentioned in the Good Beer Book of Belgium. They have a tremendous collection of beers and wonderful food.

The waitress brought the beer and food menus. I picked up the former, and abandoned the latter to the Good Doctor. Has I was hemming and hawwing over the beer menu, Kaddee asked if I cared what she ordered. I gave her a dismissing wave of my hand. “It is merely food. We’re here for the beer.”

She ordered a wonderful Brewers menu that we split:

• Trappist Cheese Croquettes
• Flemish Carbonades prepared with Gulden Draak beer [a very chunky beef stew]
• Creme Brulee “perfumed” with the dark abbey beer of Ename.
• Flemish onion soup with “Oud Brugge” cheese and Drugge Straffe Hendrik beer.

It was a tremendous meal. Well worthy of our beers:

• Bink Blonde – slightly spice, nice finish
• Bind Bruin – hoppy, for a brown ale, and not too sweet
• Westvleteren 12 sigh.
• Abdis Blond – The label has a picture of a pretty hot looking nun! Crisp and “bright” with light floral accents

One note I found amusing: The Westvleteren is one of the rarest of the Belgians. They have very limited production, and they do not export it. One has to go to the Abbey to buy it. How the various bars and restaurants get any, I do not know. I do know that many of the places that had it on the beer list, were out of stock. Anyway, the price for the Westvleteren was 6.95Euro. Our bottle of spring water was 6.00Euro. That is just wrong.

After this feast, we decided a little walk was needed.

So off we went to find Den Dijver restaurant. Another “famous” beer cuisine place that everyone that has been to Brugge (and loves beer) considers a “must do”. We found it. It was closed for holidays. Ah well, I guess we shall have to return.

After that small disappointment, we decide to find Hotel Erasmus. This is a hotel with a rather good beer bar as well. We had called to ask about staying here, but it only had a room for one night (and maybe a 2nd but they would not know that for sure until that morning) and was considerably more than we wanted to spend.

So, we settled for drinking a few beers there and watching the world go by. We had:

• Abbaye de Rocs Bruin on tap. Very bourbon-y, some lactobacillis with some coriander to it.
• Dupont Moinette Blonde on tap. Slightly astringent, with a somewhat weak finish
• Witkap Stimulo. strange, soapy and guezy. The flavors worked well, but it was slightly odd.
• Witkap Triple. good start, but a weak finish. (it might have suffered from being too cold and following the Abbaye de Roc

Our seats at Erasmus faced the street through a large window. While we sat there a large group of obvious tourists were standing across the street eyeing the hotel bar/restaurant. They were obviously deciding whether or not to go in. I held up my glass, gave em the thumbs up and waved em in. Surprisingly they did not turn tail and run, but came in. They seemed to have a good time. I should have asked the bartender for a discount for shilling for them 🙂

Our last stop for the night is this little place called ‘t Brugs Beertje. It talked about a good deal by Belgian beer lovers. Nice, cozy atmosphere, very friendly staff.

One of the owners, Daisy, is known for sometimes voicing her opinion on a patron’s beer choice. While we were there she was quite displeased with a group of American “boys” that were looking for “something strong”.

We had

• Saison Dupont. this was one of those beers to order while reading the menu. Also low-ish in alcohol to take a breather….
• Bruge Zot on tap. so-so. Not a bad beer for what it is, but if one has limited time to drink the hard to find stuff, this could be considered a waste of time
• XX Bitter – this is the “hoppiest” of Belgians, according to the menu. When I ordered it, Daisy beemed and said “this is a beautiful beer”.
• Arabier from de Dolle. when kaddee ordered this, Daisy lost the smile that she had for the XX bitter. LOL. It was ok, had an oak-y nose and a long dry finish. Not great, but serviceable.

Looking back, it doesn’t seem like a lot of beer for a day. But most of it was high alcohol. It was enough for us for the day. Back to the B&B and some sleep.