We were now starting the middle part of our trip: Jim’s part. Jim’s plan for this part consisted of 4 basic steps:
- Go to Belgian city.
- Find Belgian beer pub (if you perhaps see interesting things “en route”, that is fine).
- Partake of Belgian beer that either: a) you’ve never had before; b) you’ve never had on tap before.
- Find food as needed (if it cannot be procured in Belgian beer pub).
Our first Belgian city for this plan was Antwerp, a city that neither of us had been to before. From Gare du Nord (North Station) in Paris northward to Antwerp, it was an easy 2-hour train trip. We weren’t sure whether there would be any type of “border check” on the train trip. But it turned out that there was none. So on New Years Eve, around noonish, we arrived in Antwerp (Antwerpen in Dutch, Anvers in French).
We had already identified the first Belgian beer pub to check out, Bier Central. So we dropped our stuff off at the hotel (which was right next to the train station) and headed out to the pub. Fortunately, this pub also had a restaurant. Many Belgian beer pubs, it turns out, have either no food at all or only plates of meat/cheese (Don’t get me wrong, meat/cheese plates can be a glorious thing). We had a lovely lunch. Jim had a Centraal burger. And I had a rich Belgian beef stew that used the Belgian brown beer, Bourgogne des Flandres, in its broth. Yum! Something that I will try to make back at home. Later in the trip, Jim had a glass of this beer at a different pub (see photo below). We each partook of 2 Belgian beers. And Jim began the “documentation” for his “research” by taking photos of each beer he had. For those of you not “into” Belgian beer, it is customary for every Belgian beer (and I mean every one) to have its own unique glass with its name (or logo) on it. So often (not always), the beer glass that Jim photographed was enough to identify the beer within. But Jim also kept a list on his iPhone (a careful researcher, that Jim).
We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to track down several other beer pubs. But it turned out that due to both the general holiday season and the fact that it was New Years Eve, they were all closed. We weren’t really up for a big meal anyway. And there were still food shops open so that the people could collect their New Years Eve feasts. We were able to pick up the makings of our own feast: loaf of bread, 2 cheeses, bottles of Belgian beer, apples, some pastries. We spent the evening in our room, grazing on the food, and watching TV. When it got late enough, we found a station that had the New Years Eve countdown (in Dutch). Once the countdown finished, we could hear all kinds of firecrackers, cheers, and car horns outside the hotel. Apparently, there was quite a celebration on the Grand Place (Great Square) and in other squares around town. It went on until around 3 or 4am! Our more modest celebration consisted of toasting one another with some Belgian beer. And we were able to send email to family in California wishing them Happy New Years 9 hours ahead of when it would reach them!
We spent New Years Day walking down to and around the Grand Place and the lovely cathedral right next to it. We even took our first (and only) “selfie” (no “selfie stick” used).
After much walking, we finally found that one of the beer bars that had been closed earlier was now open, so we headed there and had a lovely late afternoon “snack” of some beer and one of those meat/cheese plates…. oh yeah, and some fries. Again deciding that we really didn’t need a full meal, we headed back to the hotel for another lazy evening of reading, and then packing up for the next day’s trip down to Brussels….
la françoysse 