Sunday, March 13, 2011

Live Your Life

I read a New York Times article about a "trail" of Belgian beer in Belgium.  (Yeah, shocking, I know.)  In it, there was a bit about a bed and breakfast at the brewery of our favorite Belgian beer.  So even though Chris and I are famous for doing nothing, I knew we'd be kicking ourselves if we didn't go while he visited in February.  After all, as part of the price of the room, you have unrestricted access to the B&B fridge, which contains the beer the brewery makes.  We didn't plan to be invited back.


The brewery is in the middle of nowhere and the GPS took us on some roads that didn't seem like roads at all.  It's surrounded by fields and the landscape reminded us both of the landscapes of our childhoods, in Ohio and Tennessee.

The trip was entirely relaxing and we got lucky with sunny and warmish (for winter) weather.  We had a tour of the brewery the first morning, which we both loved.  So many St. Bernadus bottles and labels and kegs! 
We walked to the closest town, Watou, afterward.  It's a small town and has quite a lot of things going on....during the summer.  We wanted to eat lunch at this restaurant by this famous Belgian chef who cooks with the local brews, but the woman at the B&B that morning told us that his wife had died the day before.  The only place open was where we ended up and it was very good, as was the Hommelbier (Heaven beer) on tap.
That evening we stayed at the B&B and relaxed in the living rooms.  For dinner we had bread, cheese, pate, apples, and pears, which we picked up at the small grocery store and bakery while in town for lunch.  And don't forget the beer....