Ben and I had a busy
couple of weekends in Belgium. Having a list of extraordinary activities helps
Ben get through the (still very long) work week. I've made it my job to
research the latest and greatest events to keep our weekends full of the Euro
experience.
To start, we
couldn't believe that the car gods were smiling down on us, yet again. The
European Motor Show conveniently came to Brussels for a weekend of pure car
euphoria. It just so happens, only occurs on even numbered years, making us
feel extra fortunate to experience this colossal car exhibition. It drew over
600,000 people over the course of the show! Like nothing we had ever
encountered before in the U.S. The displays featured a combination of vehicles
that spanned a variety of continents:
- European high performance vehicles (Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche)
- Big 3 luxury (BMW, Mercedes, and Audi)
- Japanese (Kia, Toyota, Honda)
- Standard Euro (Renault, Citroen, Peugeot)
- U.S. Auto Makers ( Jeep, Ford, Tesla)
We were delighted to
see the Tesla Model S receive a great deal of attention from spectators. There
was an astounding number of people in the exhibit area as kids, adults alike
we're poking and prodding every inch of the electric masterpiece. It was reminiscent
of those reacting to the " leg lamp"
in A Christmas Story.
A tour of automotive
paradise wouldn't be complete without seeing all wheels including motorcycles.
A bit surprising to find the combination of cars and motorcycles but this event
knew it's audience. While the high performance area had the biggest draw there
were still plenty of people oohing and aahing over the (foreign and domestic)
selection of two wheels.
We've organized our
weekends to allow for us to experience the local activities in Brussels and
around the region. The first of February featured the famed Bruges Beer
Festival so that was more than enough incentive for us to hop in the Blue Devil
and drive the 1.5 hours south on E40 to Bruges. Bruges is a very popular town
in Belgium as it is known as the "Venice of the North" with its
canals, medieval architecture and central square featuring its most famous
landmark, the 13th-century belfry. Prior to our journey abroad, we rented the
film In Bruges featuring Colin Ferrell
to give us a sneak peak at this historic Belgian town. For anyone planning to
watch the movie, it's more of an action flick so don’t expect to see many
tourist sites.
Now onto the best
part of our Bruges experience: Beer. For a measly 10 euros, we received
admission into this incredible beer bonanza complete with 4 tastings and a
souvenir beer glass. If you ask Ben, this was by far the best deal we've had in
Europe. There were over 350 beers to sample which, being a non-beer drinker, was
quite overwhelming. While a red wine or vodka cocktail is normally my beverage
of choice, the Belgian beer has grown on me. The pièce de résistance was the
trappist Westvleteren beer. A little biere 101: Trappist biere is a beer produced
within a monastery by monks. Majority of the trappist breweries are in Belgium
but there are a few others around the world with a total of eight in existence. The
trappist breweries are not in business to make money but rather only produce
beer to support their monastery. Therefore they stop beer production once
enough money has been raised. Westvleteren XII is noted (via beer advocate and
worldwide critics) as the "Best Beer in the World." In case you were
wondering, Ben was lucky enough to imbibe the exclusive "nectar of the
gods". Another exceptional aspect to Belgian beers is the high alcohol
content (8-9%), which after a few tastings made for a very entertaining day at
the festival. The remainder of our time was spent merrily strolling about
drinking, eating frites, and taking in the cast of characters. See below:
Our weekend wouldn't
be complete without our Sunday family activity. We found a 100% off
leash dog area that is nothing like your "average dog park". It is
located in the Sonian Forest (forêt de soignes) within
the 4,421-hectares so there is plenty of room for horses and dogs to coexist. Maddie is always
thrilled to see a group of horses trot by as we are on our 4-5 mile jog. It
further solidifies our speculation that she was a farm dog in her past life.
On our way home, we happened upon a local farmers market to pick up fresh
eggs, bread, flowers and homemade cookie (for Ben, of course). We
miss the Minneapolis Farmers Market and Brussels couldn't be a better place for
our farmers market fix. All in all, we couldn't ask for a better end to a very full
two days together.
More to come as we
head to Paris for Valentine's Day weekend!
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