Brussels

So this entry is a couple weeks late *whoops* but better late than never right?  This'll be one of 3 entries today I think to catch up on what I've done these past few days so BUCKLE UP KIDS!

On the Saturday after the Berlin/Prague excursion I got to go to Brussels with my host dad and sister.  I got up at 8:00am which was earlier than I had hoped but it turned out to be well worth it.  We left at around 9:15 and arrived at our first stop, the Tintin Museum at around 11:45.  Tintin, for those youngins who don't remember it is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Tintin.  It was cool to see how the characters were introduced into the comic and developed as they went along.  The comic strip was also heavily influenced by film in terms of both content as well as shots and angles used which I hadn't noticed before.  After the museum we drove across town to the brewery where they make beer that doesn't use yeast to ferment.  There is a special kind of spore in just this section of Brussels that ferments the beer on it's own so they have a huge trough that sits out for a few hours so the spores can land in it.  It is then casked into huge wooden barrels for 3 years before it's ready to drink.  Naturally, we got some free samples when we were there then my host dad proceeded to buy 12 bottles of it, 2 of which we enjoyed that night.  There are 4 flavors, original, cherry, raspberry and flower (local flower used for flavoring).  It's hard to pick a favorite but I'd say raspberry was my favorite.

From the brewery we met up with a couple of Michael's (host dad) friends at Moeder Lambic, a bar that has 46 beers on tap.  Both his friends were from the states which made for much easier conversation.  I tried 3 beers while there, which were, again, delicious.  The three I tried were V Cense, Equinox, and Val-Dieu Grand Cru.  The first was a delicious bitter beer followed by a heavier, again bitter Equinox.  The third one made for a great ending point as it was very sweet, like dessert.

After the bar we walked to the old center of town which was beautiful, all the buildings are old and amazing.  Snapped a bunch of pictures then we said goodbye to the Americans and walked around Brussels stopping for a waffle with chocolate and strawberries on it.  Also got to see the famous peeing boy which was a very popular statue, it was surrounded with people taking pictures.  We ended the night roaming around a little more then drove home.  Once there, the beer tasting was still not over, got to try 4 more.  2 of them were from the brewery we went to that day.  The other two were stouts which were delicious.  My favorite one (by both taste and description) was one that had "one out of a dozen ales that is black as hell, filthy rich in the nose and with massive spoiled taste" written on the label.

All in all, a successful day as you can probably imagine.