Ask Jeeves about waffles (anyone been to Belgium?)

[Rush2112]

I suggested sometime last year I suggested that wife I put Belgium on the to drink list and she's decided that it's the proper way to celebrate our 10th anniversary (we still have the fryer Max) and the end of this COVID shit. So were obviously not going 'til this shit all clears up but I'm psyched so want to know if anyone has been and has any not big gun places to hit up (We're probably going like a Monday - Saturday.)

[Square Rob]

I’ve been to Brussels and through parts of eastern Belgium. I liked it, but don’t have any specifics you must do as I wasn’t really touristing. Go to Bruges?

[L-Jam3]

Hey, guys. I wouldn't go up there. It's really narrow.

[sancarlos]

Loved the "elephants" scene in In Bruges. I've been to Belgium a couple times. Bruges is beautiful, of course. I also enjoyed Ghent a lot (My grandfather was born in a village just outside town). My wife and I rented bicycles and rode around the countryside. (My wife is fluent in French, but we found that the villagers only spoke Flemish/Dutch, so that was fun.) The food was great everywhere we ate, but in typical Euro fashion, you better be patient when you go out to eat, as they don't rush anything.

The channel tunnel train ride from London to Brussels gets your there in a breeze. We also rode a local train in Belgium on a Friday afternoon. Packed wall-to-wall with high school/college students and every one of them was smoking! (This was in the late 90s, so things might be different now).

I liked drinking in the bars a lot. As I'm sure you know, every brand of beer is poured into their own distinctive glass. Rush, a guy like you that knows a lot about beer could probably plan a great tour of breweries, there, eh?

[Johnnie]

The funny thing about Belgian Waffles is that despite the name and the family that "brought them to America" in the 1964 World's Fair, they're really only a thing in Belgium because Americans went nuts for them here. When I checked into my hotel and asked, the lady behind the counter chuckled, rolled her eyes, and said there were a couple small places that served them.

Anyhoo, go to Brussels. And if you can go during their beer fest, ever better. I forget when they is though, but it was great. The Grand Place and the downtown area overall is fantastic.

The beer spot you have to go to is Delirium. Their beer menu is a catalogue and it's in the Guinness Book of Records as having the most beer available in one place. https://www.deliriumvillage.com/bar/delirium-cafe/

Try all of the Belgian Trappist beers you can. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trappist_beer

Westvleteren in particular is probably one of the most sought after beers anywhere in the world. Here's a story from a few years back about the journey you'd take to get to the abbey that brews it: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/belgi ... e-brewery/

If you're into history, one of the coolest museums I've ever been to is in Bastogne where the Battle of the Bulge took place. https://www.bastognewarmuseum.be/en/home-en/

Unfortunately I've never been to Brugge. There were trips there all the time and my friends that visited absolutely loved it.

Hope this helps a bit!

[Rush2112]

Excellent. Thanks gents

And yes hitting the Therapist breweries with gusto.

And John off you ever are in DC there's a Delirium cage in NoVa. Maybe Arlington?

[A_B]

Friend went a few years back for a Europe vacation. They had a home base in Germany somewhere and just rode trains to where they wanted to go. Ended up in Belgium for four days out of 12 or so. Just enjoyed the whole place.

I want to say they liked Antwerp a lot. They mostly did eating and pub hopping. I’ll check with him tomorrow