In Brugge

Before starting my post about Brugge, I'd like to post a picture from my continuing (although this is the first on the web) series "Is it Europe, or the midwest?" I found this picture on my computer a while back, and thought I should post it.

Nah, just kidding. That's a picture of Jess and I on the way to Brugge by Train. I have to admit that much of the countryside reminds me very much of rural Illinois, Minnesota, or Wisconsin. It's very comforting to see that and remember traveling throughout that region over the holidays to visit family.

Then, we arrived in Brugge and were reminded that we are, indeed in Europe. Check out this bike parking lot.

Fortunately, there was a great reminder of America in Brugge... A starbucks, where I could continue taking a picture of Starbucks in every city I visit and get an actual drip coffee (albeit for 3 Euro!)

Basically, every turn in Brugge resulted in another picturesque shot. Here are just a few. The view walking between the Begijnhof and the river in Brugge. Although, this picture reminded me a lot of views in South Bend as well, maybe I'm just missing the midwest this time of year.

Here is a picture of Jess at a Watch tower near the entrance to Brugge by the train station. This is also where boat traffic was controlled by a series of locks (if I remember correctly, although I probably don't).

Here is a picture of the Brugge Begijnhoff, very similar to the one we stayed at with Sue and Steve.

Here is a picture of me by a dam across the river. Pretty cool to see such sturdy old buildings built right over the water.

Here is a picture right by that dam looking towards the city center and the MARKT. This is possibly my favorite view. Totally a postcard.

Here is a picture of Jess by one of the pictures along a canal.

Here's a view of the Church of our lady, really the epicenter of our visit. There were also several museums we visited (of Dutch primatives) and the Groothouse nearby.As an aside, the Groothouse is super cool. Back in the day, using hops was banned for brewing, and a family owned a monopoly on the spices allowed for making beer. They essentially taxed the people who wanted to make beer by selling these herbs and spices at a super high price. I guess that isn't cool at all, but kind of interesting.

 I don't know if this picture really shows it, but the main church here really dominates the skyline. It is super-tall compared to everything else. I imagine how impressive these structures must have looked to people who aren't used to skyscrapers.

We actually went inside the church of our lady to check out one of only three Michaelangelos outside Italy. The other two are in the Louvre, so we might get a chance to see them. Anyways, here it is. Apparently Brugge is super-excited about Mary, so they fought hard to get this picture. I don't know how Brugge is more excited about Mary than any other Catholic town, but who knows.

I'd say there was a lot more exciting inside the Church of our lady than this Michaelangelo. First and foremost were the tombs. This picture shows several tombs in the floor beneath the church from the 12th and 13th century. I think it's interesting that they have all these drawings inside them kind of like Egyptian sarcophogi have.

Above the ground were the tombs of a king and queen (I forget who they are. One of them lost a big war, and another's descendants ultimately married a hapsburg, which lead to Belgium becoming part of the Austrian empire for a while). Anyways, these tombs are super-cool. I like that they have copper or bronze reliefs of their bodies on top. Bury me like this, please!

At the king and queens feet were some really beautiful stained-glass windows. Reminds me of my time at Daprato Rigali. I can only imagine how much maintenance is required for all the stained glass of Europe.

There was also amazing wood carving. I can only imagine how hard the wood would have to be to be shaped like this. Also, It is super-astonishing to imagine the time and care that went into the production of every aspect of these churches and other structures, from the masonry, to the sculpture, to the windows, to the wood paneling.

Is brewing a religion? If so count me in! One of the other big things we did was check out the Halve Maan (half moon) brewery. The only remaining brewery in Brugge. This has to be among the best brewery tours I've ever taken. The guide was one of the grandsons of the owner (among a long line of family owners). He was animated, excited about the brewery, excited about beer, and proud of belgium and his beer. He also had some great jokes. Jess favorite was that "In belgium, any beer below 6% ABV is considered pop"

Here's a picture of the entrance to the brewery. Notice no one is seated outside on this below-zero day. Although people occasionally do. I don't get that at all!

Here's a picture of a picture of their old malting room, where they'd germinate the barley to create malt. Also, some beautiful copper kettles. This was in the attic of the main building and it smelled like hops! 

They also had this novelty bottle of their beer. Notice me trying to drink from it. I guess I needed a straw. 

The brewery was vertically designed. Water would be brought to the top and mixed with malt to sparge the malt and get all the sugar out. Then the boil would happen on the next level , where hops and yeast would be added. Finally, they wort would move to fermenters on the next level down. Ultimately, bottling occurred at the ground level to allow for ready shipping. In this way, the brewery efficiently used gravity to brew their beer.

Also, we got a beautiful view of brugge from the rooftop, where the water would be brought for sparging. Despite all the narrow, steep staircases, our tour guide reassured us (about 50 times, until the reassuring became a joke, that no one has ever died on the tour).

Here's an image of one of their old timey wort chillers.

Here's our trusty guide leaning against one of the many fermentation vats they had so they could brew and store many beers at once.

They would clean out the vats with corrosive ammonia. Of course, an adult couldn't fit in there, so they'd have children go inside, and brush the vats down. No one ever died from this process (our trusty guide reassured us) because they'd tie a rope around the kids ankle, and if they passed out from the fumes, they'd pull them out. Here's a picture of Jess trying to fit inside.

After the tour, we each got a free blonde ale from the bar. Here's a picture of us cheersing at the bar. I should mention we also had some delicious soup there before the tour, and a cheese plate with our beer that must have been a 1/2 pound of cheese cubes.

Jess and I weren't too impressed with the blonde ale (a little light for us, not yeasty enough and surprisingly watery). So we decided to test the remaining beers -  a double, a triple, and a quadruple. Unfortunately, we only had 45 minutes to get to the Historium before the close, and the bar closed too. So we decided we could go without trying the other beers, or forge ahead and try to make the historium too. What did we decide?

Here's your answer. Pictured from left to right are the blonde, the double, the tripel, and the quadrupel. Also in order by ascending alcohol content - 5.5, 7, 9 and 11%.

We definitely made the right choice because the tripel and quadrupel were also amongst the best beers we've had in europe. The quadrupel tasted a lot like a delicious barley wine and was far and away the best. The tripel was yeasty and delicious.

Needless to say, after those beers, we got lost and missed the Historium. But, we did find an ice rink in the MARKT and decided that would be a good place to work off some of our beer calories. Here's Jess making her way along the lighted tree in the center, a little unsteady.

Here's Jess speeding along after some practice. She never fell. Good job! I fell once (trying to show off and hitting a rut, of course)

Here's me by the tree as well, showing my good balance.

Behind the tree was another gorgeous Stadhuis.

We left for Leuven at around 8:30. It felt like a million o'clock as the sun sets around 3:30, and it must feel like that to everyone else, as we were the only ones in our train car until brussels.

Pretty much as perfect a day as you can get. Beer, sights, venison, and a cozy train ride home.