Day 5, Thursday 09.18.08

Morning hotel breakfast again before we head out on the 11:05am train to Brugge. About 60 minutes of train time to go northwest fairly close to the North Sea. From the train station in Brugge, we took a bus into the center of town. Gorgeous.

Brugge is called the "Venice of the North", so of course we took a canal tour of the town. Beautiful. An old medieval town. Stunning landscape.

After our canal tour, we took in the Groeninge Museum, a collection of Belgium's "Flemish Primitives" artwork. Odd. Violence and all things Catholic are big hits.

From here we hit up a fantastic beer store, De Bier Tempel, to peruse their wares. It was here that we found the heralded Westvleteren Abt 12 noted in the "Surprise Post from Germany" note below. If only we had 4 or 5 extra empty suitcases. The proprietor was enamored with our joy (well, at least just Chris's) that he gave us coupons for free beer at the restaurant Cambrinus down the street. Cool! He gives them out to the "big spenders" that come into his store. It wasn't THAT much....

With a heavy backpack full of beer, we made our way through busy streets and confusing alleys to De Halve Maan for a brewery tour. Kimberly stayed with the backpack in the pub with her Newsweeks and coffee while Chris squeezed up and down a multitude of steps to take the tour. Seriously? Who installs steps where you need to descend BACKWARDS like a ladder? But all the climbing was well worth it with the view from the brewery's roof:

We cashed in our free beer tickets at Cambrinus where it was rumored that Westvleteren was available for consumption. Giddy-up! Sadly, the free beer was for house beers only, so those had to be gulped down before the nectar of Westvleteren monks was consumed. Delicious.

Sadly, it was time for the bus, the train, and the metro back to our hotel in Brussels. But when we arrived at the train station in Brussels, before heading to the metro and our hotel? A WAFFLE!!!! Energized by delicious sugary carbs, we pack for Munich. Our train to Munich leaves tomorrow, so sadly we must bid Belgium adieu.

No more Belgian beer. No more Belgian chocolates. A new adventure awaits us....