30 Hours in Belgium

When Joe's cousin Ryan found out that his employer wanted to send him to a conference in London, we immediately began talking about what other things we could do during his visit. Belgium, just a two-hour Eurostar trip away, seemed too easy to skip, especially since Brussels is home to Ryan's favorite brewery in the world, Cantillon. We booked a quick roundtrip - Sunday to Monday, London to Brussels and back.

This trip was quick but oh, so worth it. There were some bumps, as usual (delayed train, deceptive AirBnB), but the food was good and the craft beer was plentiful. As anyone who reads this blog knows, my husband is the beer expert, not me. I'll do what I can and link to RateBeer for anyone who is interested in knowing more about the specific places we visited.

Once we'd settled in and gotten some food to take the edge off, we mapped out the most essential destinations and our priorities for the evening: beer, chocolate, and waffles. Our first stop was at Moeder Lambic (official, tripadvisor, ratebeer). It was pretty quiet on Sunday afternoon/evening and Joe and Ryan were able to chat with our server for a bit. They were both excited to see Cantillon not only on draught, but in several different varieties. Since Joe made me take pictures of the menu "with the good camera," I think it must be impressive.

#Joedrinksaroundtheworld - first Belgian in Belgium at lunch

Cantillon FouFoune for cheap and on draught = two happy boys

After both Joe and Ryan had ordered their way through this menu, we decided to wander through Grand Place, the main square in Brussels, toward Delirium and on the lookout for dinner.

if you look closely, you can actually see the moon, Jupiter, and the Orion constellation

Delirium Village includes several stops for Delirium fans: a three-story bar, a cafe, and possibly a restaurant. There are also other Delirium bars around Brussels. Apparently the bottle list at Delirium cafe is one of the most extensive in the world; it is bound book-style and some tourists enjoy finding (and ordering) their hometown brews there. Not my guys. Joe and Ryan, as usual, want to drink something rare that they can't get at home. A note to those who, like me, are not beer lovers: Delirium does not offer wine, cider, or cocktails on any of its three floors. Joe was embarrassed about ordering bottles of Coke for me, but I made him do it anyway.

If Joe and Ryan can take pictures with their bottles, I can take some with mine, too, right?

We ate a thoroughly non-Belgian dinner and then stopped for one more treat near Grand Place before heading in for the night. On the left, check out all the available combinations of waffle toppings, including ice cream, fresh fruit, chocolate sauces, nutella, and caramel. On the right, a reminder that Ryan is a giant and I am super short.

While Joe and Ryan were interested in Belgium for her beer, I secretly pushed for this trip so that I could visit my college roommate, Lindsay, who has been living in Belgium for the last three years. They wanted to spend all day on Monday at the Cantillon brewery and museum, which gave me the time to take the train to Hasselt and meet up with her! (Joe took Charlie; I took Bert.)

Lindsay and her husband, Khalid, met me at the train station in Hasselt, where they used to live. (They now live outside of the city but Khalid still goes to school in town here.) When Khalid left for class, Lindsay took me on the foodie tour of Hasselt and it was perfect. We went to the culinary shop Oil & Vinegar (which also has stores in the US!), a bakery for speculoos cookies, Leonidas chocolates, a honey store, and so many more delectable places!

Bert with our day's haul

The last time I saw Lindsay was at my bridal shower last year and I can't even remember how long it was before that. Even though we only got about 5.5 hours together, it was such a treat to be able to actual catch up.

lunch at Sweet Coffee

Belgian fries with curry ketchup

We ended our day at the top of the Radisson Blu hotel, enjoying the view of Hasselt (and Holland in the distance). Good food, good conversation, and I finally got to meet Lindsay's husband: this day was a success for me!

Back in Brussels Joe and Ryan visited Moeder Lambic once more before heading to Cantillon. There they went on a short tour and hung out in the small tasting room, getting their fill of this haven of craft beer "white whales."

Joe impersonating the Cantillon signature logo

When we all met up again on the train back to London everyone was sated and happy. I had my prizes from Hasselt (provencal olive oil, speculoos spread, hot chocolate pops, etc) and both Joe and Ryan had a bounty of beer to treasure and share with friends. Our trip may have been short, but it was just what each of us wanted.