Belgian Road-Trip - Part II

We had planned to leave a little earlier today, but it didn't really happen. We had wanted to drive around in Brussels a little bit before heading out to the western part of Belgium. However, we needed to be out near the coast by 1:30 at the latest, so we ended up heading straight out to the highway (after first getting a little lost).

The only time-dependent stop for today was the brewery tour at De Dolle Brouwers in Esen. This was scheduled to start at 2pm, so we drove straight out to Oostende on the coast of Belgium. The idea was to: a) see the Belgian coast; and b) have a quick lunch at some road-side seafood stand. We crossed Point A off the list, but never found the quaint little seafood stand that I had yearned for. Didn't find anything like it, actually. Oostende looked a bit like the Jersey shore... a bit "fabricated" and over-run with high-rise condominiums. And the water was sort of a semi-scary brown color.

It was getting close to the time we needed to be in Esen, so we headed straight there through some winding roads out in the farmland. After scoping out the exact location of the brewery, we headed back to a frituur we had passed to get some lunch. Ordered a "grote" portion of fritjes, a frickadellen (a machine-made sausage), and a cajun chicken brochette - all of which were cooked in the frier. Artery-clogging goodness!

The De Dolle Brouwers tour was great. We were the only ones there for the tour in English, but we were a bit early, so they had us wait in the brewery's "pub". A good way to pass the time because there were some great paintings by the brewmaster on every wall. The design of the place was a bit eccentric.

The tour was conducted by the brewers' mother who lead us around and described the various stages of their brewing process. She was clearly very proud of her sons' accomplishments and the artful success of the brewery. They have been fortunate enough to brew creatively inspired beers and make enough money to stay open without getting "absorbed" by one of the brewing giants. Of course, I had to taste one of the beers after the tour and buy a case of beers to bring home (I've started stock-piling beer to bring to the UK).

After the brewery tour, we drove to Wijnendale to see a castle. It was a bit difficult to find because we didn't have an address for it and our map is not very detailed with the small roads. When we finally found it, it turned out to not be much of a castle. It was more like a big, fancy house made of stones. Plus, there was some kind of function going on there. Tons of people of all ages. We figured it was some kind of family reunion. So, we walked around the property for a bit and then headed back on the road.

Next task was to find a place to have dinner. I had in mind a place called De Gans which was another one that was hard to find. We had an address and a bit of a description for getting there. It was a rustic little place out in the middle of the fields. This place is a bit of a destination for beer enthusiasts because the owner is very passionate about Belgian beer and keeps a collection of about 400 different beers. However, I had used the last of our cash to buy my case of beer at the brewery. Knowing that a lot of the little restaurants and pubs in Belgium only take cash, we asked before placing our order. Sure, enough... back on the road for us!

Fortunately, I had another place in mind. This one was quite close to Brussels, so we had a little driving to do before getting there. With Kristen's navigation and my sheer determination, we made it to De Heeren Van Liedekerke... another beer enthusiasts destination. Plus, they take plastic! This place is also known for really great food. The beer selection was quite large and the food menu was filled with lots of tantalizing dishes. Too bad the service was absolutely atrocious! We're used to taking it a bit slower over here, but this was ridiculous! We were there for almost three hours and all we had were three drinks (total between the two of us), two entrees, and a dessert. Good thing the food was so good! Kristen had a shrimp dish and I had an enormous ham-hock with vegetables (a "nostalgic" Belgian favorite).

Satiated and relieved to be done with dinner, we headed back to Brussels and got there by night-fall. We even found a parking space close to our apartment. Then we crashed like a ton of bricks in our bed... with our new mattress from Ikea!

-RP-