The Belgian truckers ceased their road blockages two days before the start of the tour, and the beer-Gods blessed us with excellent sunny weather during almost the entire trip. (The Belgians had to sacrifice the entire month of July to bad weather, to pay for that. Thank you.) With all the delicious food, the abundance of excellent Belgian beers, the overwhelming amount of history carved in caves, castles, houses, cathedrals and belfries, add to that the welcoming friendliness of the Belgian brewers, and the good company, this tour was the best we ever had! It was relaxing though intense. New experiences galore, and gastronomic beer dinners we will never forget.

It all started with a welcome reception with Augustijn Abbey Ale at Hotel Atlas in downtown Brussels. When 4 PM came, we were still missing 6 people. Were they lost? Had they not dared to come after hearing about the road blockages in Belgium? Not to worry! Who would want to miss a tour like this? Once we were on the street ready to start our city walk, they arrived. The Dentons came walking up the street, having been in Brussels before, and the Radji’s jumped out of a taxi.

Hotel Atlas, Brussels

Although artifacts that can be dated to the sixth century have been found in Brussels, the oldest document mentioning the name of Brussels ("Broekzele" at that time) dates from the year 979. The city walk led us first to the St. Catherine church with the adjacent fish-market where the old harbor used to be. A few yards from the church we saw the Black Tower, it being the last remaining structure of the original city-walls built in the 12th century. After listening to some of the basic history of Brussels and the European region, we now call Belgium, we walked to the Broeckere Place, which was the center of the night-life during the booming years of the second half of the 19th century. Passing the Munt Opera, and the Mort Subite pub, we arrived in front of the St. Michaels Cathedral, with the adjacent Mint and the administrative buildings of the Flemish government.

St. Michaels Cathedral

Then we hit the very narrow streets of the downtown commercial district, where we saw the luxury of the oldest covered shopping arcade in Europe (Galleries St. Hubert), the street exhibitions of the many restaurants, and Jeanneke Pis (the female friend of Manneke Pis).

Our stroll lead us past many small houses, some build against the St. Nicholas church, which we went in to see some exceptional paintings and artifacts. Only one hour under way, but we found it appropriate to taste the two Lambics at La Becasse.

We didn’t lose too much time, and now went straight to the Grote Markt (Grand Place), passing by the Brussels Stock Exchange and the statue of the three blind leading each other. It was funny to notice that they were walking in the direction of the stock exchange. The Grote Markt is one of the most splendid places of Europe, completely restored after the expansionist French troops destroyed it in 1695. The town hall is world famous, and the many guild-houses are abundantly decorated. The Brewers house is the one with the statue of Charles of Lorraine, on top of his horse, on its roof. We needed at least twenty minutes to admire all the details of the many houses. And we were not alone! The center of Brussels was full of tourists and locals, taking advantage of such a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Next we headed towards Manneke Pis passing by the statue of the slain 14th century popular mayor ‘t Serclaes. Some of us, especially the single women could not resist of touching the statue on the appropriate spots. You can never know if the popular believe is true: a wedding within a year! Once, Manneken Pis was viewed in all its majesty, a bus was waiting for us around the corner.

This allowed us to see more of the city, like the broad lanes with the many tunnels, the European Parliament and its many administrative buildings, the huge Cinquantenaire with its museum buildings, the Royal Palace, the US Embassy, the Belgian Parliament, the Kunstberg (Hill of arts) with the statue of Godfried van Bouillon ... We passed the church of Notre Dame du Sablon, and the Museum of Music before we arrived at the bombastic huge Palace of Justice.

Finally we toured around the old jail, Port of Halle, and the classy Place Louise before heading towards the "Au Stekerlapatte" restaurant. We had our first beer dinner here. This restaurant is situated off the beaten tracks in such narrow streets, that we had to walk the last 500 yards. But it was worth the effort.

Restaurant "Au Stekerlapatte"

Steve & Joyce Rajki from OH
Jay Hersh & Joyce Miller, MA

This restaurant is very famous with the local upper middle class for its authentic Brussels dishes and its good beers. No tourists here, but maybe that will change, now that you’ve all heard about it here.. Tell Daniel Van Avermaet, the owner, that we’ve sent you.

Menu Gueuze Boon "Bloempanch": typical Brussels dish with sausage and caramelized piece of apple Floreffe Blonde Ale Gepocheerde snoekbaarsfillet met bier, witloof en gekookte aardappelen Poached Pike-perch fillet with Beer, Endives and Potatoes. Coffee or tea with Frangipanne cake

Back at our hotel, some of us were still thirsty and explored the many pubs in the neighborhood for a couple more hours.

Day II