Belgium 2019

I’m here, in Belgium! Unlike other recent trips and vacations where there seems to be a mounting of continuous excitement, this trip was more of a slow build. That does not make it any less exciting. Given the fact that I will be traveling across half of Belgium and continuing on to Paris in just over a week, I wanted to slow down every part of it, including the travel planning.

I am exploring Belgium by car, with my travel buddy Nate (he’s doing most of the driving). Landing in Paris, we headed straight away to Brussels, taking us about a 2.5 hours. After our two-day stay here, we will make our way into Flanders with a stop in Antwerp on our way to Bruges, from Bruges we will pop over to Ostend to dip our toes in the North Sea and then visit some breweries in the Flanders countryside before our stay in Ghent, Ghent onto Lille, then finally on to Paris.

For our stretch in Brussels, we are based in the southern neighborhood of Forest. I was a bit nervous to be, what looked on a map to be, outside of the city. This neighborhood is charming. It has a large parks, winding hills, red brick buildings with beaux arts windows and doors, and very well connected to the city center. We have yet to figure out the public transit system and I feel extreme guilt over our dependency on Uber yesterday. Our Airbnb hosts raise six chickens in the garden, providing us with a delicious breakfast this morning.

Yesterday, in our fight against jet lag, we made Brasserie Cantillon our first visit of the trip. It is well worth the guided tour. I have been on several American beer tours this year alone but Cantillon is a different experience. Brewing since 1900, this brasserie upholds the tradition of lambic beer. That is not to say that they are dated or out of touch, just the opposite. We learned about the science of lambics but also the wins and failures of experimentation with different fruits, brew times, and barrels used to draw out the best and most interesting lambic flavors. It should be a pilgrimage site for any beer lover.

Today’s adventures will include more than beer, although it is St. Patricks Day. The Royal Museum of Fine Arts (Musee Royaux des Beaux Arts) and the Comic Museum are our first points of interest. From there, we will follow where the beer takes us: Moeder Lambic, A la Becasse, and Fruitere are among our planned route.

I will try to provide updates throughout the trip, but for more photos and commentary, follow me on Instagram at @labouteilleverte. I look forward to sharing my discoveries with you.

Cheers!