At the top of the beer list is Cantillon. I didn't get to visit last time as they are only open during normal business hours, and that's when I usually either work or travel. But this time I finished my day early, and on the pretense of saving the customer 100+ Euro I dropped off the rental a day early and booked a room in Brussels at day early.
It nearly without a hitch.
After dropping off the rental at the airport on Friday at noon I also ditched my suitcase in an overnight locker so I wouldn't have to drag it around town. I folded up the receipt and stuck in my wallet, as it has the code I need to get my suitcase back tomorrow (Saturday). Then I buy a roundtrip train ticket to Brussels ($15) and jump on that. Once in Brussels I find a waffle and hop on the subway.
It turns out that my hotel in the Schumann district is half a block from the European Commission, and has a posted daily rate of *gulp* 450 euro (about $510). But I check in at 10% of that rate, without breakfast (+$20) or internet (+$15). Pfft, all I need is sleep ... later.
So ... I pull up my maps and figure out how to ride the rails to Cantillon. Once I get there I'm pretty glad they're not open outside business hours because it is not a good neighborhood. But in the waning daylight hours it's ok.
Cantillon itself is well known for making beer the traditional Belgian way, which is with wild yeasts creating spontaneous fermentation. Try that in Minnesota and you'll have moldy beer. But in Brussels, which is in the Senne river valley, once the beer is pumped into this coolship:
which is a large shallow brass container in which the wort cools. slats in the roof are opened and the local air, carrying the local microfauna, inoculates the wort and starts to make it's magic. The brewery is old and dank, and has lots of cobwebs, which are protected as that's part of dust and trappings which contributes to the flavors of the beer.
And what flavors it has! These brews have dry tart flavors to which they add fruit for sweetness. I brought a few bottles home ... but will have to show patience as they get better with time. I would like to point out that it is possible to get Cantillon in the US, but expect to pay $20-$50/bottle.
While there I talked to a couple to a couple Norwegians while avoiding the "oh my god, there's a cork in that beer bottle!" Americans. Also noticed a flier for a bar downtown called Moeder's Lambic and after buying a couple bottles I set off for that location.
Turns out Moeder's Lambic was just a block or two from where were staying in February, and it also turns out they had 47 belgian brews on tap plus two American smoked porters (Stone and Alaskan). There wasn't much there for food, so I replaced dinner calories with beer calories. Like a monk.
Sitting next to me was Andy Greene, a 22-year-old backpacking through Europe, all by himself. His blog is here. I'll warn you ahead of time: he uses rough language and is getting quite a different tour of Europe than I am. Compared to him I'm a patsy, but I enjoyed the conversation immensely. My regret is that I didn't have enough cash on me to buy his beer to help him on his travels ... on the other hand, when I was 22 I didn't have six months and $6000 to travel on, so maybe I'm not regretting it much after all.
The next morning ... no hangover. That's odd. I had six beers, with alcohol contents ranging from seven to twelve percent (ordinary beer is 5.4%). This is ain't right, but I'm not complaining. Except that I could find any waffles at 6.freakin.thirty in the morning on Saturday.
The next morning I left the hotel and took the trains to the airport and then tried to get my luggage. Now, see, that piece of paper with the code on it to get my suitcase wasn't in my wallet. Dammit. I figure, someone here has to be able to unlock that thing, after all, they said they remove all things locked up more than three days, and there was a phone there for me to call security. At this point I have two hours before my flight, but I haven't checked in yet.
I pick up the phone, it dials and dial, I get voicemail. Dammit.
I pick up the phone, it dials and dial, I get voicemail. Dammit.
I pick up the phone, it dials and dial, I get voicemail. Dammit.
I pick up the phone, it dials and dial, I get voicemail. Dammit.
I pick up the phone, it dials and dial, I get voicemail. Dammit.
I pick up the phone, it dials and dial, I get a person!
"Yeah, I lost my ticket, can you help?" Sure they said .. they would send someone. *click*. The next 20 minutes I think "....right away?"... thinking I could leave the suitcase, it would be cheaper to ship it home than miss the plane. But then I'd have to throw away 2.25L of Cantillon or drink it within 30 minutes.
But they did send someone, and then I got checked in and upgraded to Economy Comfort (Platinum membership has it's plusses) and went to the sky lounge and had some pastries and coffee before boarding. After ten hours of flying to Atlanta my butt felt OK the first 6 hours as the Economy Comfort seats do in fact have very nice cushions but then I started to squirm.
The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the snow in Minneapolis which delayed Delta in getting our luggage from the plane to the carousel. It was like the old Northwest Airline days when you stood at the carousel and watch it go around with no luggage for 30 minutes before the luggage came sliding down one piece every 50 seconds. Maybe the luggage cart got stuck in the snow.
But I am home now. Let's see ... where to next?
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