Greetings all, I have collected below a sort of journal of our trip to Belgium. I think I covered most of it. If you want to know more about something specific let me know! I had found more detailed trip logs of this sort prior to my trip. Overall we had a fantastic experience and we are eager to go back to see even more of Belgium. My apologies in advance to those who wade through the whole thing, I was a tad more verbose than expected.

2008-02-27
We arrive at Pearson and unexpectedly speed through both check in and security leaving us with a decent amount of time on our hands for an airport dinner and some phone calls. After surprisingly decent airplane food and mediocre family film I try to sleep. I should have skipped the movie and slept more; by the time we hit London I am pretty tired.

2008-02-28
We transfer between terminals at Heathrow with no trouble, but we would have been very tight for time to make the earlier connection flight we had been considering. We quickly survey the beer selection at the new terminal - London Pride and Adnams Bitter on cask at the Tin Goose are the only ones worth mentioning in Terminals 1 and 3. When I ask one of the hostesses if they have any English beer she says "We have Stella..." Sigh. Our eyes are drooping badly by now so Karen and I take turns sleeping on the bench. The big-board-o-flights finally reveals our gate and we start trekking in that direction. On the way we bitterly observe a bunch of recliner chairs over in that section -if they would announce the gates earlier we could have been luxuriating on those instead of the bench, and there is virtually no one in this part of the airport. We board our BMI flight to Brussels with less than 20 other people and promptly fall asleep which made the flight go by surprisingly quickly.

After an easy stop at customs we are soon on a train into Brussels. A brief encounter asking for directions does not leave me optimistic for the amount of English spoken in Belgium. It did however illustrate the fact that the extensive Google maps I had prepared were not nearly detailed enough. Fortunately this was remedied with excellent maps from the hostel, and most people spoke enough English for use to get by. The majority of people we encountered actually spoke a lot of English.

For our first night we stayed in a private room at 2Go4 hostel, which had been recommended by my friend Mike. It proved to be a near perfect choice - great room at roughly a third the price of a hotel room, and walkable to the main attractions, and quite close to the Metro stops and Brussels North train station. We stayed at other hostels later in the trip, but I found this one to be the best overall experience and would recommend it.

2008-02-29
Off to Antwerp! We arrived without complication and drag our suitcases down the main drag, stopping for photos along the way. We are staying at Den Heksenketel hostel which is a very short walk to the main square and cathedral. From the door to you have a great view of the Cathedral of Our Lady . Thanks to Rudy for the tip on this one. DH is a lot less refined than 2Go4 - in the words of the owner "this is not a perfect hostel", but it is more than adequate. The beds were fine, we stayed in the co-ed dorm room with three bunkbeds in it and an ensuite bathroom (which was also the toilet for the room next door but that was not an issue for us).

The most interesting highlight of the hostel might be the insane set of steps leading up to the rooms. I had read about the stairs on various review sites but was still surprised by the steep winding steps that began to tilt inwards near the top. We joked about it a lot, but if you are not carrying a heavy suitase they are not really that bad. Breakfast at the hostel was simple but very good; fresh bread with various spreads including a lovely chocolate spread, and some tasty cheese and salami for sandwiches. Perhaps I'm easy to please but I quite liked it. In the evenings the first floor has a bar which sells their own beer. Apparently "the Spanish people always like it because it reminds them of cider", and it did indeed have a fruity character to it. (I never did figure out which brewer makes it - please let me know!)

After ditching our luggage we high-tailed it to the Kulminator. This was one of the most highly anticipated parts of the trip for me as it is known as one of the top beer bars in the world with an extensive beer list that includes a number of hard to find items. Shortly after we arrive I realize that I forgot my numerous lists and notes on what I wanted to sample back at the hostel, which is just far enough away to not be worth going back for them just yet. Luckily there are number of great choices that I can pick out without such guidance and we order. Unfortunately the owner had injured himself and some of the rarer bottles are not available since he cannot seek them out in the cellar, and his wife does not know where they are hiding. That was a touch frustrating, but there were more than enough great beers on the list to make up for it.

The inside is cozy and woody, and covered with breweriana. (Probably only half to 3/4s of the size of Cafe Volo in Toronto?) The large tables lend themselves to getting to know your neighbor, and we end up chatting with a friendly British couple. They turn out to be Zythos festival veterans and offer up tips on Zythos and travelling in Belgium. The gentleman for some reason strikes me as a cross between Bill Nighy (or perhaps Michael Palin?) and Austin Powers. Just as we were leaving I overheard another beer lover ordering a Struise Aardmonik and vow to get some on our return.

After retrieving my notebook we stop off at the cathedral, which is beautiful. We trek down to the canal to see the Steen, which is cool yet sort of dull at the same time. The statue out front of a giant farmer tickles my funny bone for some reason. After more wandering about town and seeing the sights we head to Oud Arsenaal which is even smaller than I pictured and packed full so we head off in search of food. By the time we end up at the sushi restaurant across from the Kulminator I am getting cranky and hungry, but it proved to be tasty.

Returning to Kulminator we dive into the menu again. We'd asked before about ordering the no longer made Westvleteran 6, and she had indicated that they only sell it as part of a tasting package with the rest of the Westvleteren line and some other vintage bottles of Westvleteren. We were now three livers with the addition of Karen's brother Mark so we had talked ourselves into it, but when we tried to order it we were told it was even more bottles, and upwards of 100 euros for the full package. Given the rarity of the beer I can understand why they would limit access to it, but that realizaton does not make it less frustrating.

2008-03-01
Zythos! After a a stroll around Antwerp we arrive in St. Niklaas sufficiently early that the Zythos staff manning the parking lot looks at us a bit incredulously when we ask him to confirm that we are going the right way. We were upwards of an hour and a half early! Eager much? After a stop at a corner grocery store for supplies (Mark opts for horse meat cold cuts...) and some wandering through town later we arrive back at the festival venue where a line has amassed.

We split up sending a member of our party after tokens, and glasses, and to secure seats at a table. We had been rightly warned that the tables fill up fast. (By random fate we were seated beside beerbuzzmontreal and a group of other Canadians.) I took great pleasure in poring over my lists and checking off each one as we worked our way through the offerings from the various brewers. We couldn't figure out why people kept returning to their tables with big bottles and boxes of beer. Turns out their was a lottery out front where you picked an envelope and took home the prize indicated inside. Alas, my envelope was empty, but Karen was more successful bringing back a large bottle of Guldenberg.

Met up with Duff and a bunch of British Ratebeerians who graciously shared a bottle of Alesmith BA Numbskull. (Sharing an American beer with a group of Brits at a festival in Belgium speaks to the global nature of Ratebeer rather nicely I think.) Met up with DerDoppelbock from Germany and swapped some bottles. Eventually our hunger sends us in the direction of the food stalls, and Karen returns with frites in a meat sauce. They were actually probably the best frites we had on the trip, though hunger and gravy go a long way to make for a good impression! Mark abandons ship to go check out some museums but eventually returns with all important train schedules.

2008-03-02
We had considered attending both days of the festival but headed off to Ieper a bit earlier instead to give us more time there. Christian from the Camalou Inn picks us up at the train station and drops us off a the main square. A quick walk around nets us some chocolate from Leonidas and lunch at De Kelleblombe. I had a pretty mediocre steak while Karen had a tasty flemish stew. They started us off with a wierd shrimp salad scoop thing that we were hesitant to try, but it turned out to be rather nice.

We spent a good chunk of time at the Flanders Museum, which I thought was very well done. It provided a good level of information and some interactive aspects as well. Each visitor is given a card with a persons to be inserted at stations as you walk through the museum that tell the story of how that person was affected by the war. Some exhibits like the gas display were downright creepy. I found the experience overall to be somewhat emotional at times to be honest.

Annette from Camalou took us for a tour around Ypres starting with Essex Farm, the advanced dressing station where John McCrae wrote the famous poem 'In Flanders Fields'. Other stops included briefly stepping onto Canadian soil at the St. Juliaan Memorial and other sites. We head to Westvleteren to visit In De Vrede cafe, where we sample the Westvleteren beers made by the nearby St. Sixtus Abbey. You cannot visit the abbey, so I had to settle for a photo. We finished the evening with the last post ceremony at the Menin Gate, where they list the names of 54,896 names of soldiers with no known graves. They have performed this ceremony every day since 11 November, 1929, with the exception of four years of German occupation from 1840-1944. The scale of the gate is staggering, and dramatically larger than I had pictured.

2008-03-03
We continue our tour of war memorials in the morning, taking in Hill 62 and the museum next door. I was of two minds about this privately run museum. On the one hand it felt a bit like the kind of kitschy tourist trap you might find along an interstate on your way to Florida, but on the other hand many of the artifacts and exhibitis inside might not have been preserved without the efforts of such places. Randomly, one of the photos I decided to look at in detail turned out to be of Canadian troops celebrating Dominion Day.

Arrive in Brugge after narrowly missing our best connection in Kortrijk because we hesitated a minute too long while figuring out where to go. Wanting to maximize our time in town we hop a bus to the hostel, which turns out to be steaming hot. I do not understand the priorities in Belgium - the trains and buses in Belgium are often heated like saunas, but you must frequently venture outdoors to get to the toilets, which can be as cold as meat lockers... Oh well, perhaps its just natural selections way of punishing tiny bladdered individuals like myself!

We arrive and check in at Snuffel hostel. We paid a bit extra for a 4 bed room to ourselves for some extra peace and quiet, and an ensuite shower. I had a good laugh at the gasps coming from the shower as Karen tried to take a shower - the shower only has cold water! I am not laughing when it is my turn to brave the glacial waters. WTF! We find out later that this is the case in many hostels. It seems that getting a private room at 2Go4 had spared us from this hostelling rite of passage. The up shot is that it wakes you up in a hurry!

Dinner at Cambrinus was quite nice and started off with our new found love, the fromage croquette. Our main courses were stew like meats with beer sauces (Carbonnades and flemish stew perhaps?). There were a bunch of Americans at the next table who were also there for the festival who offered up some tips and chit chat. Apparently some of them work at a brewery in Arizona? I forget the name. Most importantly they confirmed that the rumours were true - we could indeed find Struise Black Albert on tap at Erasmus.

We wasted no time heading to Erasmus after dinner where we sampled a bottle of De Dolle 21 3x7 which was brewed exclusively for Erasmus, and the afore mentioned Black Albert. The latter is highly regarded on Rateber, and ended up being my first 5 out of 5 rating. Perhaps I was influenced by the excitement of getting to try it, but I look forward to seeing if it holds up on further sampling! Eavesdropping, I noticed that a young man a few tables over going on at length about the Struise Aardmonik. I had noticed a bunch of articles about Struise on the walls at Cambrinus - the brewery is fast becoming a big name in the brewing world!

2008-03-04
Start the day at Bier Tempel and after gleefully grabbing things off the shelf the girl behind the counter packs everything up for us and holds onto the boxes for us so we can tour the town unencumbered. Speaking of tours, we made good time across town to make it for the 1100 tour of the De Halve Maan brewery. It was an entertaining tour, with the guide making well rehearsed banter in English, French, and Dutch. Much of the building is no longer in use, with brewing concentrated in the modern main floor. The panoramic view from the rooftop is a highlight of the tour. We wander through Brugge, with stops for chocolate, waffles, and architecture before a light dinner at of bread, cheese, and pate at 't Brugs Beertje. 'The Brugs Bear' is a well known, classic 'brown' pub. Lots of wood, lots of character. Our receipt for the evening is hand written on a piece of paper. I love it. A good spot to settle in for the evening I expect, but we are on our way back to Brussels and still need to retrieve our boxes from the Bier Tempel. Back to Brussels. Same room at 2 Go 4. Dinner at Beer Circus is interesting, we share some cheese croquettes and waterzooi, a traditional Belgian fish stew that is very good. Outside its snowing a bit, which is out of character for the season. Perhaps it was an homage to the weather back home in Canada?

2008-03-05
Karen flies out today so we stop at the post office to mail some post cards and load up on Cote Dor chocolate at the Delhaize. Lunch at Panos, sort of the Belgian version of Subway, but a little fancier. We make it to the airport quite early - apparently the booths don't open until two hours before the flight. Lunch at the cafeteria style "Wing Tips" restaurant we have a Belgian delicacy - endive in a sauce. Its not great, but we can say we tried it.

Walked through town and saw the famous Mannekin Pis and a ton of tourists surrounding it, and a black compass rose from which all distances in Brussels are supposedly measured (it was something I had read about in the guidebooks). A snack and some beer at Poechenellekelder. Internet break back at the hotel before heading out to Chez Moeder Lambic. It was an eventual trip, with some wonky tram transfers and then I proceeded to walked right past it because I was checking the numbers on the wrong side of the road, and they didn't match the other side.

I eventually arrive, and the tiny bar is at what I think is near capacity already, and noisy with conversation. I ask a random stranger to share his table and am seated as the bar continues to fill to standing room only capacity. Waiter (owner?) are quite friendly, though busy. I was in a bigger hurry than most as I gulped my libations, so I probably noticed the busyness more than others enjoying their drinks less quickly. Some interesting beers on offer, this was the only place on this trip that I saw 3F Hommage, but at 45E in a large bottle I didn’t end up getting it. A few other moderate rarities that I saw in shops but not a lot of other bars. Had the Cantillon Faro on tap. Ordered the Cantillon Framboise thinking it was the old version, and got Rose de Gambrinus. Ooops, my fault for forgetting the Belgian tendency to just list Kriek or Geuze on the menu without specifying any further details! Tight cozy wooden atmosphere would make an awesome neighbourhood local, but I think I would seek it out more in the quieter times personally. While not voluminous, the beer list is well chosen with a few rare treats and many excellent options.

2008-03-06
Today I am off to Gent via Liedekercke. So when I asked the girl at the train ticket booth if I could take any train that said Gent and she said "Yes", apparently what she actually meant was "No". A detour to Gent and a printed timetable from the ticket collector on the train later I get off at Denderleuw. After a modest through town I arrive at De Heeren Van Liedekercke ("The Gentleman of Liedekercke"). You would never expect the wonderful things that transpire inside from its location with his panoramic view of the gas station across the street... That said, the sign for the neighbouring "Dreamland" store has the air of prophecy about it.

The Hagar beer cartoons in the menu are a nice touch, but the text is all in Dutch/Flemish so at first I am a bit overwhelmed. The waiter has a similar feeling when I ask him to recommend something with little input from me. Sensing his hesitation I point to the Orvaliflette (?) which is in bold on the menu. (The lord hath given me a sign...) Turns out that this is a meatloaf like dish containing ground meat, bacon, potatoes and a sauce of Orval beer all topped with cheese. ("Yes Lisa, a magical animal!") As if this was not delicious enough it arrives with a little miniature cream pitcher filled with Orval, which my serve advises can be poured over the dish, if I'd like. In my head I'm thinking "Are you bleeping kidding me?!?!?!? Bleep I love Belgium!!!!" but aloud I say only "Thank you!" The dish is delicious though it starts to be a bit rich by the end of it. Dessert is the house pancakes and ice cream with cherries and kriek sauce. The cherries are a bit bland, with all the flavour seeming to be in the sauce now. It was decent, but I think I would have enjoyed their waffles with the same sauce even more.

While the food is fantastic, it is the beer list that brought the restaurant to my attention... Currently rated in the Top 5 beer destinations in the world on Ratebeer.com DHVL has an excellent beer list, including a selection of vintage beers that contians a number of rarities. After starting with the house beer on tap, I quickly move on to the vintage bottles selecting a 16 year old bottle of Rodenbach Alexander, a beer that is no longer made and rather difficult to find. I follow it up with a Westmalle Extra, 2000 vintage, another 'retired' brew which has not fared as well as the Alexander in its old age. It is still a treat to try though. Since some of the remaining beers that I am keen to try are 750mL bottles I opt to take them away with me so I can share them back home. This option at Belgian bars is a pretty cool feature.

At the end of the meal my waiter says that because I have travelled so far to visit them he provides samples of some chocolates, made with beer by a local shop. Suitably tempted I buy a 'small' box to take home, rationalizing that I can share with Karen who missed out on the restaurant.

Quite full of beer and food I head towards the train, deciding to head to Liedekerke station rather than back to Denderleuw so as to see more of the town. This proved to be a mistake. Not because of the town but because I had misplaced the station on my Google Map, and was headed off on a 2-3 km detour to a similarly named street. Oops. After a very tired tour of the countryside that included crossing train tracks and climbing a rather treacherous hill I finally made it. Sitting has rarely felt so good. Had I only been lazy enough to catch the bus marked "Liedekerke Station" I had passed earlier this could have been avoided, but I had stubbornly wanted to walk. Lesson learned.

Finally arrived in Gent and headed to Hop Duvel having been advised by Tim Webb's Good Beer Guide to Belgium that it was closer to the station that it was to town. Walked in and saw DSG from Ratebeer seated at a table. Small world! Like others I was confused when I first arrived. Based on the front door I thought for sure I was going to open up the door into someones home, but it actually turns out to be a much larger bar than anticipated from the outside. A bit dark, but with plenty of nice dark wood throughout. Bar staff was a bit quiet and gruff during an early evening visit but efficient. Radio selection lacks the character of the music found elsewhere. Beer list is not bad, but is not particularly exciting. Perhaps I have been desensitized after a week in Belgium but theres little here that I have not seen on many other lists. Overall I am left with the impression that Hop Duvel is better suited as a watering hole where you enjoy a number of beers in a group of people over the course of the evening rather than the quieter sampling I was there for.

After a bit of a walk around the canal we arrive at Trappistenhuis. Nice atmosphere, lots of wood. A lot more downtown than Hop Duvel was, brighter and feels a lot more open though that may be in part to the relative emptiness on a Thursday night. Service is fairly disinterested and the waiter bolts back to the bar to chat with his buddies, so we need to head to the bar to order our second round. Simple bread and trapist cheese snack comes with bean sprouts which are a small but surprisingly nice addition. Good selection of Trappists, few rarities or obscurities that stuck out. Just enough smoke to be irritating.

A quick stop at the Gravensteen was a bit disappointing. I think I have reached my saturation point for old historical buildings. Apparently there is an interesting museum inside if you visit during daylight. As it is, I find the view down the canal in the other direction a bit more interesting and am left wishing I had a tripod with me for some night photography. Alas, no.

I head around the corner to the last beer stop on my agenda, Waterhuis. The outside practically screams tourist trap but when I enter I am pleasantly surprised. The main floor is a cozy wood filled room, a bit dark at first but cozy. I sit at the bar and make brief conversation with a couple of Americans also sitting at the bar. (I would not have anticipated having a chat about the US elections during my trip, but so it was.) Bar staff is a bit aloof at first, enthralled with texting on his mobile, but engages in friendly conversation after a bit. A bartender from soutern Ireland is another thing I did not expect to find in Gent! They offer to substitute some ham when I ask for my cheese plate without the blue cheese. It arrives with healthy portions of gouda or some sort of yellow cheese, a fantastic goat cheese, ham, and various salady vegetable accoutrements. Its larger than I expected and clearly meant for more than one person, but it made for a tasty albeit rich dinner for me. Beer list seems pretty decent. I didn't delve into it to deeply, only having time for one of the house beers on tap (Gandavum) which proved to be rather nice. Bartender offers up a sample of gentse kop which Babelish tells me is "Ghent head". Apparently its meat from the top of a pigs head... tastier than it sounds. Barstool starts to become uncomfortable after a bit, but I suppose that is the nature of bar stools.

Gent is often compared to Brugge, but less touristy and I would agree with that assessment. That said, I also found it to be a touch less picturesque, and the bars touch less interesting but then I arrived after dark, and after a long tiring haul earlier in the day so perhaps I would have enjoyed it more under different circumstances. As it was, I was quite glad to have met up with DSG from Ratebeer as it helped keep my visit to Gent moving along.

On my way back to the train I ended up giving tram directions a young Russian couple (they were going the same way as me as it turned out) and took their photo for them. Back in Brussels I arrive to the hostel dorms and a snoring roommate. I shake the poor girl in the bottom bunk awake as I climb to the top bunk, insert ear plugs, and I am dead asleep joining in his nasal symphony in short order.

I am not sure if it was just because I was worn out from my lengthy detour in Liedekercke, or if I had already become jaded with the old buildings, and the lengthy beer lists found throughout Belgium, but I was a bit underwhelmed by Gent. Cathedral, check. Old castley building, check. Beer bars with decent beer lists, check. All great things, but I felt a bit like I had seen everything already in other towns. It's funny because before I left people would ask me why I was going to Belgium and many obviously deemed it a less than serious motivation for a trip as soon as I mentioned beer. I would often counter - why go to France? or Holland? Most places in Europe have the history and scenic streets, old buildings and cathedrals so if you can get that in any of those places its things like beer, or the Louvre, or something else that makes you choose one destination over the other. By the same token, you will find some degree of quaint, funky historical buildings and scenery throughout the various towns in Belgium. What draws you to one instead of the other, well that's up to you!

2008-03-07
Slow start to the day with oatmeal and internet at the hostel. The amount of walking and drinking is starting to wear me out. I am out of shape, and I rarely drink this much, typically doing more infrequent sampling sessions rather than daily imbibement! In what became a bit of a tradition I grab a sandwich and fruit juice at the Delhaize on my way to Brussels Noord. Off to Beersel for lunch at 3 Fonteinen's restaurant. Reviewers at Ratebeer warn of the giant hill from the train to the restaurant. It turns out to be less steep than expected, but longer. Thankfully I do not have my luggage with me. Lunch was good. I start with a cheese croquette (a half order) which is nice, but not as richly delicious as the one at Spinnekopke. Flemish stew is also good - the stew sauce provides a nice dip for the ubiquitous frites. I sampled the Oud Lambik and Kriekenlambik which are only available on tap at the restaurant, and a bottle of their Beersel Bio. Pleasantly full, I read my Clive Cussler ovel for a while before deciding dessert might be too much and head on back to Brussels.

Arriving at Central Station I head for Delices something (On the return trip I realize that I could have taken a much faster short cut via an open air staircase not on the map. oops.) Between my time bottle shopping at Delices and a stop for dinner I have managed to arrive here much later than was planned, or was wise. Its a Thursday night and the place has already begun to fill up. My own fault, I had planned to get there much earlier. After a lengthy wait to order I decide getting a menu is not really worth it, finish my beer and head upstairs for a much more relaxed beer on tap. I left with the intention of returning bright and early the next morning but didn't make it. My lasting impression is that if you are going to bother coming here it needs to be during the day, and you need to realize that you are coming here for the list and the list alone. The atmosphere is actually kind of cool, but its just too big, too crazy, and surrounded by too many other great bars in Brussels to be worth the hassle in the evenings. Very glad I visited but left fairly disenchanted with it. You almost need to make a list of beers that you are interested in as you peruse the menu then choose from your list rather than needing to re-visit the giant tome of a menu.

I leave after only two draft selections, and hop on the tram/metro out to Beer Mania. My previous transportation lessons have paid off, and I get to my desired stop with much less confusion than my trip to Moeder Lambic earlier in the week. Walking from the subway around 700ish I was starting to get a little freaked out by the neighborhood. I passed what I can only assume to be a drug deal as a guy in a car accepted a small white something from two guys on the street. An angry young men fight further down the street and some interesting folks out for the evening have me a little nervous. In retrospect I was probably being silly, I have 'braved' far worse back home in Toronto and probably not worried as much. The fact that the street seems to morph into upscale restaurants closer to the store restores my faith.

Walking in, it is not at all what I expected. Its less cramped than places like Bier Tempel, with less steamy temperatures as well. The list does not seem quite as extensive as Bier Tempel but there is lots to choose from, including some vintage Chimay and 3 Fonteinen. The latter is a bit pricey for me, though I am not 100% sure I made the right choice leaving it behind. The prices overall feel quite cheap compared to elsewhere. I choose a few to have at the tasting bar, which is a well appointed chic wooden affair and not the tiny seating area I had pictured in my head for some reason. The owner is friendly without smothering. Two bottles from Dieu du Ciel on the bar indicate that I have been preceded by some fellow Canadians! The resident dog is awesome - more bars in North America need to have an animal! The owner is having an interesting chat in French with some regulars (?) but I only catch enough to hear "Ratebeer" and "biers Canadien". Had a good time, in future I would start my beer shopping here I think, and maybe check Bier Tempel or others afterwards.

I need to transfer trams and metro at Arts-Loi subway station. I ask a random french speaking Chinese lady for directions who thankfully tells me I am on the wrong platform, BEFORE I board the train. I dutifully cross to the other side and inspect the vending machine. As IF they have waffles in the vending machine!!!! In hindsight I regret not buying some, just to see.

Deciding to finish off my evening at Poechenellekelder I enter a bar that is dramatically more busy than during my previous visit. It is a Friday night after all, but it hadn't really occurred to me. I find a seat in the basement beside a boisterous birthday party, and group of Spanish gentleman (or at least I assume they were). I offer the Spaniards my services as group portraitist, and later take my own photo as Alex poses with Poechenellekelder's resident Alex. (INSERT PHOTO) I start to feel guilty about taking a four person table to myself, but then noone asked to share so I don't mind too much. Sampled BEER LINKS and BEER LINKS before packing it in for the evening.

2008-03-08
After taking a fair bit of time to procure a second suitcase and pack up I am a bit tight for time so I forgoe my last minute trip to Delirium. Instead I opt for a quicky sampling session of some bottles I picked up at the Delhaize with my daily sandwich (Mmmm Belgian BLT today...) and get some funny looks as I drink and dump in the hostel. I offer some to a fellow hosteler who smiles and says "No, thanks... too early."

My bags weigh a ton and seem to get heavier on the way to the train. A girl on the train smiles in amusement at me as I hoist one bag into the luggage rack and collapse into my seat with the other. I fare better on the plane, where an emergency exit seat means tons of leg room on the BMI flight to London. I speed through Terminal 1 grabbing a quick rating of Adnams Bitter [LINK] at the Tin Goose, and load up on the delicious British Cadbury Chocolate despite having already packed a good amount of Cote Dor into my bag in Belgium. I realized when I got home and checked my credit card statement that British Pounds are worth a lot more than Euros, and I spent more on this than anticipated, oh well!

Stopped for an overpriced BLT and a pint of Carling at O'Neills in Terminal 3. The highlight of this beer was the fact that it got me to stick around O'Neill's long enough to catch the tail end of the Scotland-England rugby match on the telly. A lone Scotland supporter's cheers stuck out amongst the long faces of the predominantly English crowd. I admire his gumption! An interesting way to finish my Belgium trip - with a crappy industrial "English" lager, listed under a Canadian brewer on Ratebeer, at the airport in London. It's almost as if the rugby and gift shops full of Dairy Milk have designs on my future travel plans. We shall see...