The Wanderlust of Gumballhead

Brussels '08 - Part TWO (finally!!!)

2009-07-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hey, Gumballhead is BACK - with more travelogue from our August 2008 trip to Belgium and Germany. I know it's late, but it's still fun to look at pictures, right? And this provides Deb and Jeff with a photo album with commentary. Sorry for the long absence. Lots of things have been happening in our lives - a new granddaughter (Madeline Ruby, born June 30 - yay - she's beautiful!!!), doctoral candidacy preliminary exams for Deb (yuk!!!), and some gastro issues for Deb (also yuk and still unresolved - more medical tests coming soon!). But we are blessed!!

After our wonderful tour of the Cantillon brewery in Brussels, we walked back to the city center, checked into our hotel, and dropped off our purchases (yes, Cantillon beer!!!). On our way, we passed a fun street carnival.

Below are a few pictures of the Grand Place, which is the old city center - the star attraction of Brussels. Built in the 15th century, it is composed mainly of the town hall and guild houses for the various trades. Lots of gilding and statues - very beautiful by day and by night.

The Hotel de Ville, Brussels' town hall. Built in the 1400s, it has a 315' tower topped with a statue of St. Michael, patron saint of Brussels.

It started to pour rain, but we had to do what we had to do! Beer quest!!! Even though cats hate rain, Deb shoved me into her backpack, and off we went. Our first stop: the Mort Subite (shown here getting a facade facelift). This is a nice little brewpub located only two blocks from the Grand Place - just a quick run through the beautiful Galeries Royale St. Hubert (see below) and then across a street. Our hotel was conveniently located between the Galeries and the Grand Place - we stayed at the Hotel Aris Grand Place - (liked it!) for less than 80 euros.Yay for covered streets! The Mort Subite is actually named after a card game. We enjoyed an omelette there, giant slices of toasted bread (like 15" long!), and of course, we had to try the local delicacy known as "kip kap" - some kind of ground up meat in aspic, cut into little bite-sized cubes and stuck on toothpicks. Deb thought they were pretty, Jeff thought they were disgusting, and I liked them. ;) We found the beer to be mediocre, and because it was early evening, we decided to head out in search of action.

Here's a pic of Jeff and a street sculpture just across from the Mort Subite.

Next, we found the famous Rue de Bouchers, a very colorful, narrow street filled with cafes and neon lights. With its awning-covered outdoor tables on both sides, I must admit it was very pretty. Most tourist guides recommend that you avoid it, and we discovered why. Desperate restaurant owners stand out in the narrow street (Jeff could spread his arms and touch tables on both sides at once) and try to convince you to sit down at their tables! It felt like we were running a gauntlet! And, to make matters worse, the rain was running down the awnings on both sides, dumping directly onto our umbrellas (which barely fit in the narrow space), splashing everywhere and soaking me as I tried to hide in Deb's backpack! However, if you want to go to the Delirium Cafe and the Floris absinthe bar (and see the Janneke Pis - the female version of the Mannekin Pis statue), you have to walk through this street.

We decided to go to the Floris absinthe bar next. It was very interesting. The server brought out a huge binder filled with a list of over 400 brands of absinthe. We were a bit overwhelmed, so she suggested we choose a country to narrow down the choices. We chose French absinthe, since we had been in France that week, and because there isn't a Belgian absinthe, and because we like the way it is served. Mine was a little greener in color than Jeff's, and smelled and tasted strongly of anise. Jeff's looked more like champagne and had a different aroma and flavor. It is served in a small, footed glass along with a cube of sugar, a small crystal water pitcher, and an absinthe spoon, which looks almost like a little tiny pie server, with filigree cutouts in the center. The spoon is placed across the mouth of the glass, and the sugar cube is set on top of the spoon. Then, water is slowly poured over the sugar, which dissolves the sugar into the absinthe. As it drips into the glass, it dilutes the liquor slightly, and it becomes cloudy. Mine turned an interesting "glow-in-the-dark" green, much like the plastic stars kids stick on their bedroom ceilings. It was pretty tasty, but we didn't experience any hallucinations as the old wives' tale would suggest!!

After enjoying our absinthe, we reluctantly headed back into the monsoon-like rains to sneak a peek at the Janneke Pis little tiny bronze statue. She is located high up in a little niche in the wall of a dark little alley (creepy at night actually), and locked behind bars to prevent vandalism. Like the Mannekin Pis, she is peeing - this time squatting, and yes, you get a pretty graphic view. I am reminded that Europeans are far less concerned about nudity than Americans!!

Our next stop was the famous Delirium Cafe, in the same alley as the statue and absinthe bar. This place is well known for its selection of over 2000 beers, and is accordingly noisy and smoky. If you ever go there, go during the day to avoid the noise and snag an outdoor table to avoid the smoke! We were fortunate enough to get the ONE table that was outdoors and located under an overhang. We enjoyed a vantage point there from which we were able to watch the long lines of tourists, walking up the dead-end alley to glimpse the Janneke Pis, and then back out the way they came. They looked dog-tired and bored (and soaking wet).

When we were quite done there, we decided it was time to bestow a bottle of coveted Dark Lord beer on someone (something we did pretty much daily while in Belgium - to be good beer ambassadors for the USA). Our choice du jour was the young lady in the absinthe bar who had so patiently helped us, even though we didn't speak French. She was stunned, and it made our day.

Then, we headed over to the Grand Place, which was beautifully lit up in blue, green, and purple lights. If you've ever been to Disney World and seen Cinderella's Castle lit up at night, it is reminiscent of that). Hundreds of people were just standing there, silently in awe of the spectacle, which continuously changed colors.

On our way back to our hotel (only a block away - yeah!!!), we stumbled across another brewpub, and despite our exhaustion, we decided we just HAD to go in. It was called Le Brasseurs de la Grande Place. It had some pretty awful (watered down????) beer. They had live music, which was fun, and we decided to stay and enjoy some pomme frites (in "USA speak" - French fries - but don't ever call them that in Belgium; it offends them!). They are usually served with mayo (Jeff likes; Deb doesn't like, Gumballhead is ambivalent), but our server, who seemed to hate Americans, threw some ketchup packets at us with much disdain. We tried it, but it didn't taste tangy like American ketchup. More like tomato paste. No wonder Belgians don't like ketchup on their fries.This beer quote was painted on the wall in the brewpub. Can anyone translate???

After about two hours of packing and repacking (why did we buy so much beer???) for our flight to Munich the next day, we fell asleep, hoping and dreaming that our luggage wasn't going to be over the weight limits, but very content that we had seen some of the best that Belgium had to offer.

We WILL be back someday!!!

Well, that's enough for today! Will update with other local brewery adventures soon!

~ Gumballhead

Okay.... a COUPLE of little, tiny detours.......

2009-06-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

Gumballhead is vacationing in some imaginary "la la land," so Deb is filling in today.

Well, the dissertation proposal defense didn't go as well as I would have liked, but I have a verbal contract with my committee to sign off on the proposal if I revise and resubmit. The revisions are not really so major. I am still not feeling well, went to a specialist today, and will be having more medical tests mid-July. The timing is great, however, since I am on a research grant for summer, and can go be with Lindsay, Derrick, and our granddaughters Val and Ellie, while waiting for the arrival of their new baby sister. I need a break from the stress of school, and am really looking forward to playtime with the little ones. Hope to get the brewpubs and travels back up soon.
~ Deb

A Little, Tiny Detour.....

2009-06-01T07:24:00.001-07:00

Ack! Deb still hasn't taken the oral exam, which was scheduled for the morning of May 26. Instead, she ended up in the hospital with what we will now call "dissertation stomach." Oy vey. Feeling a little better now, but unfortunately when you go to the ER with heartburn and dizziness, they put you up for 24 hours with a heart monitor and don't take any chances. That ended up being May 25-26.

So - the oral exam will have to wait till mid-June, at least. She also is not allowed to drink any carbonated beverages, so Gumballhead is not going to get to visit many brewpubs for a while. (Honestly, these humans just need to learn a lesson about stress from us cats: nap all day long in the sun, go outside and run around the house, play, and sleep some more, right?)

I'm BAaaaacck!

2009-05-19T09:27:00.000-07:00

Gumballhead's first Absinthe experience

Hey - Sorry I've been gone for so long. Deb had a few panicky months with the dissertation proposal and exams. She's nearly done with all that stuff - just finished her written exams on May 18, and now faces an oral defense of the proposal and written exams on May 26. After that, we'll be back on line.

Since my last post, I've been photographed at a few places, which we hope to get up here soon - as well as to continue on with sharing info and photos about our trip last summer to Belgium and Germany.

Jeff and Deb are excitedly starting to make plans to lead a group on a trip to Belgium in August of 2011 - it will be a beer-oriented tour, with stops planned at major Belgian breweries and beer bars, a few of our favorite spots, and a few (but very few) touristy stops - such as a canal ride in Brugge, and a chance to see the Mannekin Pis and Grand Place in Brussels. If you think you might be interested, let us know. We're hoping to put together a fixed-price package deal that will include pretty much everything but airfare and food/beverages. We'll plan an itinerary, book hotels, make reservations for tours, and arrange for transportation while in Belgium. We will probably plan to meet at a hotel in Brussels as a starting point, with an early evening introduction meeting in their breakfast room. If you're a beer afficianado (or willing to try new things), consider joining us!.

Will have pics up soon!

~ Gumballhead

Cantillon Brewery: Brussels

2009-01-16T15:30:00.000-08:00

Brussels - a party city if there ever was one, I'll tell ya! Especially if you like beer (or Absinthe - which I'll tell you about next time). We arrived by train and were able to walk from the station the few blocks to our hotel (we recommend the Aris Grand Place - fabulous location just steps from La Morte Subite, the Grand Place, Delirium Cafe, and most things that tourists want to see. Not expensive, clean, modern, has air conditioning (rare in Europe!), and big elevators (you laugh - but sometimes, Jeff & Deb and I couldn't all fit in an elevator with our luggage! - and my bags are tiny!!!!!!!!). As soon as we got settled, we headed to the south end of town to tour the Cantillon brewery - surely the highlight of any visit to Belgium!!!

On the way, we stopped for a Belgian waffle - they sell them at walk-up stands, and you carry it around in a napkin. Yum! After locating the must-see Mannekin Pis statue, we hiked through the city to the cantillon brewery. Next time, we'll take the train, I think!
The Mannequin Pis is one of Brussels' most celebrated attractions. This little guy is probably no more than two feet tall! Often visiting dignitaries bring little outfits for him, and apparently he wears them occasionally. This particular week, in August, when it was hot, he was naked:

Below is a view of the "new" part of the city from the "old" neighborhood - a couple of blocks from the brewery. Not a good neighborhood to be in after dark, by the way.
Somehow, even though we knew this brewery was in a rough neighborhood, we still can't shake the romanticized notion we had of it being out in the country, surrounded by pastoral scenery. After all, the brewery is very, very old and has been fermenting with whatever yeast is naturally hanging around in the air all these years. Somehow, I didn't picture it with car and truck exhaust!
Because of the need to not disturb the yeast, Cantillon does not use chemicals till do away with pests. This is one of their pest control specialists - my little brother (he wouldn't tell me his name). The place is musty and dusty, and they don't mess around with that too much. So it all adds to the atmosphere!
How does that yeast get into the beer? Through these slats in the side of the building's eaves:
Here's Deb, doing the self-guided tour. It's cool, cuz geeks like us get lots of information on these kind of tours. We like that! You can move through it at your own pace and actually stop and read everything. They give you a nice little booklet which explains what you're looking at. Although most of the brewing equipment is old and made of copper, we did find a few newer, shiny pieces, as you see here.

Don't fall in, Gumballhead!!!!!!!!!!!!! :0

All the beers are barrel-aged for at least three years before bottling. They pick up the wonderful, musty aroma of the place. The aroma just smacks you in the face when you walk into the brewery. Nothing like it - you either love it, or you hate it!

This old bottling machine is no longer in use. But it's cool lookin', huh? I can just imagine how noisy it was to use!
At the end of the tour, of course we sampled a couple of beers: the Kriek (cherry lambic), and a gueuze - a blended lambic. Both were really good. Lambics are naturally fermented beers (the yeast adds a unique sour flavor), produced largely in a small area (actually the Lambic region) roughly ten square miles on the southwest side of the city. Seriously. We bought three bottles while we were here, including one we'd never seen before: Iris -- a dry-hopped lambic. Usually, the lambics tend to only use dried, aged hops for their preservative qualities. They don't really have much flavor left at that stage. Dry hopping is a process of adding hops to the beer after the boil for the purpose of adding hop aroma. We didn't really find anything here that you can't buy in Chicago - although I think it's a lot more expensive in the US.

Here's a cool beer bar and street scene in the old city center, near the Mannequin Pis. We wanted to eat lunch there, but the kitchen was closed. It is fairly common for European restaurants and bars to close their kitchens right after lunch, so we often had to skip the food because we would be traveling when things were open. This can be very frustrating. I recommend packing your own lunch, and then you don't have to go hungry.

Next time, I'll show some more of Brussels and tell you all about my first Absinthe experience!

TTFN,
Gumballhead

Show all

Brugge, Belgium, Part Two!!!

2008-12-30T20:43:00.001-08:00

Wow! Is this town cute or what?! Day two of Brugge, we had a blast. After a somewhat mediocre breakfast in our hotel, we hit the streets, bound and determined to tour a brewery and take a canal cruise. You saw the pictures from the canal cruise on my previous post. Obviously, I hid during the whole thing, but Deb and Jeff said the cruise was great. Whatever.

I begin here with a photo of the view from the rooftop of De Halve Maan Brewery (the Half Moon, in English). Why was I there? Because during the brewery tour, they led us up to the roof so we could take in this fabulous view. Weird, but very nice. As you can see, Brugge is very medieval, churches are the biggest objects on the horizon (anywhere in Belgium), and ALL buildings are made of brick. Everywhere. A wood building is considered a slum.

Here's the sign at the entrance to the brewery. It is a nice tour and well worth doing. It's also a great spot for lunch. We did both. Do you see me in this photo?????

Below you can see the outdoor dining patio, in front of the brewery. It was nice, but we were unable to find an open table, so we ate inside. One thing I really loved was the glass awning, with the circles designed into the ironwork supports.

Below are some shots from the brewery tour. Deb was just having fun with her cheap camera - so nothing extraordinary here, but you could tell there were some art-minded people working here. The first picture shows different kinds of barley, a main ingredient in beer. Two-row barley, so called because the grain grows in two rows, pictured closest to the playing cards, produces a fatter kernel, which is going to give you more fermentable sugar than a six-row barley, which looks prettier on the stem but produces less sugar. Sugar converts to alcohol when the yeasties are introduced during the fermentation process. Therefore, if you see beer made with two-row barley, it's probably a better beer. Or so goes the theory.
Hops are, of course, important to the brewing process, too. The display below shows where most of the Belgian hops come from. As you can see, Poperinge (where we were before we came to Brugge) is an important hops producer. The jar contains some dried hop cones.

Below is the attic space where the beer goes to chill after the barley, water and hops are boiled. For some beers produced in this region, spontaneous fermentation occurs when the beer is exposed to the natural yeast spores found floating in the air around the brewery. This is controlled by opening the slats in the walls to varying degrees. Note the brick roof - not made of wood. Seriously.
Here, you can get a sense of the scale of this giant cooling tank, which Jeff is standing in!!!! You have to walk through it to get to the roof deck. I hope they clean it well between uses!!! :)
A homebrewer's dream: a huge pile of flip tops!!!!! I thought it was just a nice texture shot. You never know when you're gonna need a photo of a texture, right?
The brew kettles were huge. I thought they were kind of interesting, so here's a couple of pictures of a brew kettle. The second one shows beer "wort" boiling. This is the process where the malted barley, water, and hops are cooked to make a "tea," which is then strained and fermented with the addition of yeast. Beer making is a lot of work!
This is a batch of Zot(a beer they make here at De Halve Maan), boiling away.

Near the end of the tour, they walk you through this room where they have set up old stuff that they no longer use, such as this old bottle filler. Annoyingly cutesy.

Finally, the good part - the restaurant. This is where we discovered Flemish stew! Loved that! The beers available on draft after the tour were a dark (dubbel) and a light (trippel) - both called the Zot. Available bottled in the U.S., it's a pretty good beer. However, you can only get the unfiltered version on tap in the brewery, which we enjoyed. The restaurant was light and airy, with really cool architecture: high ceilings, lots of brick (of course), dried hop vines hanging everywhere, and huge murals. Very fun.

View out window from brewery: I just loved the colors of the tile roofs throughout Belgium. Sometimes red, sometimes pink, sometimes orange, sometimes blue-violet, and when moss grows on them, green. I imagine a watercolor painting of Belgian roofs in my future.
The last thing we enjoyed in Brugge may very well have been the best beer bar we've ever visited (though it is arguable that t'Brugge Beertje has an amazing selection, this place also exudes atmopshere). It is called t'Poatersgat, or Peter's Gate. Located in the basement of an old church near the heart of the Old City, it was recommended by the locals, even the guy behind the bar in t'Brugge Beertje. We only had two nights in Brugge. The first night, we obviously had to spend at t'Brugge Beertje. But the second night was the night they were closed. So, we asked the folks there where we should go for our second night. This is the place they recommended. After our tour of De Halve Maan and our obligatory canal cruise, we sought this place, which wasn't easy to find. One of the people we met here was the person who had conducted our brewery tour - a sure sign that we were in a great beer bar!

The entrance was below street level, down a precarious looking set of worn stone steps. The doorway is so low, even short folks need to duck (maybe "bend over" is a more accurate way of putting it!) . Note the unassuming sign, that's small and easy to miss:
Being in an old church basement, the place has a unique character - including arched vaults, necessary to support the massive building above. It creates a series of small rooms, separated by low archways, perfect for decorating with dried hop vines. The vines create a nice atmosphere, and are very aromatic. However, the guy tending bar told us they are a bit of a pain, because they constantly drip a powdery debris, which has to be swept up daily. Still - charming. It has marble floors, Persian rugs, comfy furniture, marble-clad columns, and an amazing beer selection despite its upscale look. The music was kept at good levels for conversation, and the candles and statuary lend a somewhat dark, but cozy atmosphere. The bartender seemed very knowledgable and friendly. Address: 82 Vlamingstraat, just north of the Grote Markt a few blocks, on the main street that goes through it.
Some of the niches in the walls contain icons - statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, which were used to enhance prayer experiences. Today, they quietly overlook the goings on in the bar, illuminated mostly by candle light.

Jeff and I really enjoyed some great beers here. So did Deb. We especially enjoyed the Rodenbach Grand Cru (in the red glass - this beer is barrel aged in oak), the Rodenbach Vin de Cereal (in white paper - a limited release brewed in 2004, aged at least three years, a wheat wine, about 10% ABV), and the Rochefort Trappiste 10 (in the brown bottle - arguably one of the best beers on the planet, and often available in Chicago!!!!). Thankfully we were able to walk to our hotel from here!!!!

Overall, we loved Brugge/Bruges, and hope to go back someday. It is a beautiful, charming city, with lots of great architecture, beer, food, shopping, and the kind of quiet you only get in Venice.

Our next stop: Brussels!!!

The Powells' New House

2008-12-20T11:16:00.001-08:00

Another break from our travel blog to share a few interior shots of Lindsay and Derrick's new house! Since they live in Sicily, Jeff and Deb went to look at houses for them, and found this one in northern Illinois. Only two hours away! Closing at end of January! Yay!

Bonus for beer lovers: Mickey Finn's is only about 15 minutes away!! (sorry - Jeff and Deb forgot to bring me, Gumballhead, along for the ride. How dare they! I demand a return to Mickey Finn's to have my portrait taken!!!!!).

This is a beautiful place, and we were very excited to find it. The kitchen, breakfast room, and family room stretch across the back of the house, with its nice, big privacy-fenced back yard and patio. There is also a formal dining room on the other side of the kitchen. As you can see, it also has really high ceilings (9' or more, I forgot to ask).

Plenty of room for kids and doggies to run in the back yard, which backs up to an open field. The patio is big enough for parties.

The interesting staircase opens onto the foyer (shown below) but also has a back stair going from the midway landing down to the family room in back of the house. I can imagine the kids playing "chase" in circles up and down the stairs!

Bonus room above garage. Could be a good exercise room - I'm thinkin' Wii, Guitar Hero, etc. Or a play room for little ones. Or, maybe a bedroom for two little ones, and the bedroom with a "stage" could be a play room! (see below)
Below is an interesting bedroom - light filled with three big windows, and an interesting platform on which to place a princess bed (maybe with curtains around it, like a stage????).

Sorry my pics are so dark - I tried to photoshop them, but apparently didn't get them bright enough. I am not, thankfully, the family photographer! Below is the foyer, with a couple of really interesting details - an arched niche in the wall that you first see when you walk in, and a stepped tray ceiling. As you walk in the front door, to your immediate left is a den with a triple window, and a formal living room off to the right. Beyond the niche on the right is a formal dining room - to the left across from the dining room is a hall to the garage with a half bath, and the stairs. Straight back is the family room, with the kitchen off to the right.

Nice, roomy master bath with good natural lighting.

See you soon, with pictures of Brugge, Belgium, part 2!
~
GBH

Brugge, Belgium - Venice of the North

2008-12-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lapse in travel posts from my trip to Belgium and Germany! I can't seem to keep Deb in line - she's always too busy to spend time with me! Darned dissertation!!!!!!!!!
And - can you believe this: she didn't manage to get any photos of me into this post???? That is ridiculous, and calls for a coup! I'll just take over this blog!!!! (Oh, wait - I just realized, I can't; I don't have fingers. Oh well...... I'll just push her to get going on the next post so you all can see me, Gumballhead, again soon!).

Anyhow, back to our journey through Belgium:

After our wonderful visit to Westvleteren, we hopped back on the train and headed up to charming, picturesque Brugge, on the northern side of the country. It is very well preserved in its mostly medieval state. The town has a lot of scenic canals, beautiful churches, real antique windmills, and is very walkable and pleasant. It is often criticized as being "Disneyesque," and I must say I could agree with that. However, it's well worth the trip to see it, and there are lots of fun things for tourists to do and see - canal boat tours, horse-drawn carriage tours, shopping, dining, a chocolate museum, a brewery tour, and a few really wonderful places to try a good selection of Belgian beers. The city center is mostly pedestrianized (is that a word, Gumballhead? I don't know, and I don't care. As I've said before, it's my blog and I'll make up words if I want to!). We spent a couple of days there, anyways, and had a wonderful time.

Our hotel (Ensor) was wonderfully located, within a short walk of the train station (though we discovered that pulling wheeled luggage across cobblestone streets leaves something to be desired - you are likely to break a wheel off or injure your wrist! If you go there, take the short bus ride). It was close to a central shopping and dining area (t'Zand) and sits on a quiet, pretty canal. Here's a view from our window:One of the owners was working at the desk, and he was very friendly and helpful, producing maps and writing down addresses of places we wanted to see.

Unfortunately, that is where the charm of this place ended. It was sadly in need of renovation - to the point that we felt our room was actually full of dangers. For example, a slippery shower that was elevated above the bathroom floor, with no grab bars, a glass door, and a showerhead that kept falling off. A bad fall just waiting to happen. Not to mention the twin beds pushed up against the windows, which have no screens. Because there is no air conditioning, we pretty much had to open them, and I could easily imagine a child falling from our third-story window. Ugh!!! Thankfully, we didn't have children with us for this leg of our journey. The old linoleum floor also had big gaps in it. Ah, what we do to have the travel experience!!!!

In short, wouldn't recommend the place unless they do some serious renovation. It looked like there were other places to stay closer to the city center, and even though you couldn't drive to them, you could catch a bus for the short ride very easily from the train station or the large nearby public parking garages, where most everyone must leave their cars. This city reminded me a lot of Venice. Of course, we cats don't take much to water, in general, but Deb and Jeff really liked it. Below is a picture and a detail of the hotel we WISH we'd stayed in:The first night, after checking in at the hotel, we headed to a "must-see" destination: t'Brugge Beerjte. This is a favorite local beer bar that has an amazing selection and very knowledgeable bartenders. We read about it in Tim Webb's book, The Good Beer Guide to Belgium. In fact, there's a photo of the owner, Daisy, in the book, and we had the good fortune to sit at the bar and chat with her all evening. She was warm and friendly, and we ended up staying until well past the posted closing time (it was weird, sneaking back into our hotel late at night, trying not to wak the innkeeper, honestly!!!!). Daisy was well aware of her notoriety among American and British beer tourists, and didn't seem to mind the attention. But can you believe we didn't get a photo with her???? Duh oh!!! Travel guru Rick Steves wrote an article about Brugge not too long ago, and featured this particular bar. In fact, one of us probably sat on the same bar stool he sat on only a few weeks before we were there. Here's a couple of shots of the bar:Did ya notice all the different shapes of beer glasses? Yup - every beer style has its own glass. Many breweries even have their own glasses, with the brewery's name silk screened on them.

While there, we were introduced to what may have been the favorite beer of the entire trip (even when compared to Westvleteren 12 and Cantillon's gueuze!!!!). That was Rodenbach's Vin de Cereal - a wonderful barrel-aged wheat wine. It's an amazing sour, comes wrapped in paper, and sold in Brugge (we found it in a couple of locations) for 7 euros for a single-serving (about 11oz, I'd guess) - which was about 11 US dollars at the time. Therefore, we didn't drink much of it! We were told it will not be exported to the U.S., though we recently have heard rumors to the contrary. We'll have to see what happens on that. My advice, though, is if you see it in a store this winter, jump on it!!!!! :)

Our second day, we visited several places. For now, I'll just post a few pics of what we saw as we walked the city and then took one of those fun, but touristy canal boat rides. The scenery is great from both perspectives (from boat or on foot!).

I'll finish today's posting up with a teaser for my next post! Here's a view from the roof of the De Halve Maan brewery in Brugge:What was Gumballhead doing on the roof of the brewery? Tune in to find out! I promise to have more pictures of myself up here soon!

~ GBH

Just How Rainy WAS It???

2008-11-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

If you live in the Chicagoland area (or watch the news), you may remember, painfully, the horrific rains we had here when the remnants of Hurricane Ike worked their way north this September. We had a record 11" of rain in three days in our town, and many people in Northwest Indiana lost their homes due to floods. It was a sobering, difficult time for everyone in the region.

It was that weekend - day two of the rains, that the Chicago Beer Society held its annual cookout in a park on the north side of the city (yep - there really IS such a thing as a beer society, and though I, a fuzzy yellow cat, cannot join, Jeff and Deb are actually card-carrying members).

Well - you would have thought that a big rain such as this would have caused the picnic to be canceled. NOT SO!!!!!!This annual event includes a rib cook-off, a chili cook-off, a salsa cook-off, and a dessert cook-off. Competition brings out the "strange" in people, I guess, and also the fact that people have already bought and prepared the food, and maybe also a little hope that the rain would subside at least sometime during the day.

So, we coped, each in our own different ways. Deb and Jeff wore rain ponchos. I'm not sure whether most people thought they were total dorks, or if they were envious, lol. Below, left to right, are Thomas (we'll miss you and Jen!), Jeff (modeling the beautiful rain poncho, purchased at an amusement park), Chris, and Pudgy. Below: Jonathan, Thomas, and Jeff. (I love taking pictures of guys who don't want to be photographed. You can SO see it on their expressions!!!!)Many people brought canopies, and lined them up around the perimeter of the picnic shelter. One guy just decided that getting soaked was a given, so he went and did a couple of belly slides in the flooded field. I unfortunately didn't get a shot of it, but here's what the field looked like:
And here's what he looked like after he did it:

Many set up grills under the canopies, and proceeded to cook.

Others managed to set up inside the shelter and cook in there. Here's Thomas - who had the most unusual chili, I think. He served it with sunflower seeds and an amazing cornbread that he baked in a skillet. Loved that!!!

Food and drinks were set up inside the shelter, Randy Moser brought his homemade, battery operated (amazing) sound system, and it all worked out.

The shadow box full of interesting items (below) is actually the trophy that gets passed along each year to the winner of one of the cook-offs (though I can't remember which one - perhaps someone will enlighten me by adding a comment!!! Based on the items in it, my guess is chili). My understanding of it is that it's a tradition that the winner takes it home, adds something to it, and then hands it off to the winner (if it be a different person) the following year. Too funny!!!

Here's just a sampling of some of the foods that people brought (not for the competitions):

The worst part of the rainy picnic was trying to figure out how to get there from your car while keeping the food dry. Or - maybe it was trying to figure out how to wade through the ankle-deep water to use the restrooms - see below!!!!. This is where plastic shoes come in handy.

What made the day fun were the hearty souls who braved the monsoons and managed to figure out a way to still cook their ribs, bring in their baked goods, homemade chili (look at the steam rising off this chili - mmmmmm - it was good!!!!), and homemade salsa: Here's a couple of pictures of a temporary break in the rain. It got everyone outside:

There was an amazing array of goodies - and of course, beer. And even some homebrews that weren't really beer - like this root beer!

For the dessert competition, Deb made a Black Forest cake, using cherries soaked in Kasteel Rouge beer (that's the brewery we visited in Ingelmunster, Belgium, this summer - the one in the castle!). It came out pretty nice, but the cherries needed a stickier syrup. Still tasted yummy!Here's me, striking a pose with the cake. We'll try that one again soon!

The winning dessert was bacon chocolate chip cookies. They were pretty good. There's been a weird thing going around among the Chicago area beer geeks this year about bacon and chocolate. So it seemed natural that a dessert pairing these two flavors would be a crowd pleaser. If you don't know what I'm talkin' about, try a Mo's Bacon Bar from Vosges (www.vosgeschocolate.com). Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The guacamole was also outstanding. All that was left when I went back for more was these avocado pits!!! Whoever made that, I'd love the recipe!!!

This one I didn't try, but it sounds like something a cat would adore. I admit it didn't look too appetizing, but smelled really, really good:

When all was said and done, it was a good day. The empty cornbread skillet just about says it all.
My apologies to those of you who have been waiting for more photos of Europe. I just wanted to get these pics out there, for those who went to the picnic and want to see the pictures, and for those who wanted to go to the picnic but were unable (many people couldn't even get to it, because some of the expressways were closed!!!).

Next time, I'll show ya a couple of fine establishments that you'll want to visit if you ever go to picturesque Brugge, Belgium, and a crappy hotel to avoid (unless they remodel sometime soon)!!!!!

~ GBH

Pink, or Blue?????

2008-10-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

Late-breaking news!!! Deb and Jeff are expecting a new grandchild!!!

Yup, Lindsay and Derrick just shared the news today, so we're wondering if there will be a grandson this time, or a third little princess!

Either way, it's good stuff. July 07, 2009 is the ETA at this point - and that's right around my first birthday!!!! Pretty exciting stuff!!!!

Will be back soon with more travel and beer hangouts!!!

~ GBH

Westvleteren, Belgium

2008-10-12T20:25:00.001-07:00

Oh, my gosh! I can't believe we actually made it to Westvleteren (a tiny town in West Flanders, just a few km north of Poperinge) to see Sint-Sixtus Abbey!!!

One of my life goals (you realize I, Gumballhead, was just born in July of 2008, right???). To beer enthusiasts, this is something akin to making a pilgrimage to a holy site. For a cat like me, it's a really cool place to just hang out.

It all started at a friend's apartment in Chicago, actually ....... long before I was born. Jeff and Deb were having dinner with friends, and Kevin? Dave? (sorry - too long ago to get the facts straight) - pulls out this beer and says something like: "you've gotta try this - it's got a reputation for being one of the best beers in the world." They got to have a little taste, since there was only one bottle for the whole group to share. Gotta tell ya, Jeff and Deb were mighty impressed and vowed to get more of this stuff someday. It is not available for sale in the USA, and generally hard to get in Europe as well.

Well - after a year of trying to figure out how to pronounce it [vest VLAY ter ehn], and probably a month of trying to find the place on a Google map (thanks to Beermapping.com), ....... and then Lindsay suggesting we take this trip to Germany to meet them on vacation, ....... and then Jeff and Deb deciding that, as long as they were going to Germany, why not add a few days in Belgium - and then the whole story about the Belbus reservation (see the Poperinge post!). . . . we finally made it there on a cool, rainy, August day. Here's a picture of the main entrance. The shrubs are planted in the shape of a heart. Can you feel the love???????????????

I love this cool, dark, mossy alley. It's so...............monk like! The Sint-Sixtus Abbey is a popular place among beer enthusiasts - all over the world. It should be. These monks have been making the same beer for hundreds of years. After a while, you can imagine that they would get it right! The problem is, they really don't want to step up their production to meet the growing demand. They just want to keep doing what they do well, for the glory of God, and to make just enough money to support their ministry. They now have to put up with tourists wandering around, probably knocking on the doors (that probably explains the fence, below), ........taking photos............ and asking if they can buy cases of the wonderful Westvleteren beers (currently they make a blonde ale and two bruins (which are high-alcohol browns, aka Trappist ales - the 8 and the 12). The 12 is rated one of the best beers in the world, if not the best. Because of the limited supply, I am sure the demand has also gone up, whether the beer deserves the title or not. (But it is a very wonderful beer, I assure you!). It is dark brown, lightly sweet, and has a pretty high alcohol content.

With the demand so high, and production being held constant, obviously not everyone can have access to the wonderful stuff. The Abbey has put some strange restrictions on the sale of their beers:

* they may not be resold - especially to the American market (though we did see some in a liquor store in Brugge)

* to purchase a case of beer, you must call in advance to make a reservation

* but - you must call at a particular hour, and hope you get through

* at the time you make your reservation, you must give your car's plate number

* you must be driving a car with Belgian plates to pick up your reserved beer

* you must be willing to take whatever is available that day (no guarantee you're going to get the much-coveted 12).

* you drive up this driveway at the appointed time, while American tourists stand and watch in awe:Needless to say, we didn't buy a case! Who needs all that stress????? Note the sign is written in both Dutch AND French!!! That's helpful for all the American tourists in their Belgian rental cars!!! ;)

Below are some pictures of the In de Vrede cafe (run by the Abbey, I think), across the street. It is actually a relatively new facility, designed to meet the growing tourist demand. It serves as a tap room for the Westvleteren beers, a restaurant, and has a gift shop (where they sell small quantities of packaged ales).

There, you can sit down in a noisy, but attractive dining room (see above), or a pleasant outdoor patio (which we chose, despite the fact that it was raining - see below), and enjoy some fine food and a nice big goblet of Westvleteren (the name given to the beer brand, even though it is produced by the Sint-SixtusAbbey).

We actually enjoyed the 8 AND the 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (this is why you DON'T want to rent a car when you go to Belgium).

Below is a picture of me, hanging out with a glass of 8 (or 12?????), Jeff's "man bag," (necessary for haulin' beer and glassware home, of course), and the famous (now mysteriously missing) TV Guide umbrella (Deb swears she didn't accidentally throw the hideous thing out, lol.....................)

Here's an artsy-fartsy photo (below) for people like Lindsay, Jen, and Dave! Those are empty Westvleteren goblets, and by then, we didn't care if it was raining anymore. Just a peacefuly, easy feelin'.................. and a pretty, pastoral view.

Maybe we rested a little too long, though. After lunch, we went inside to buy some take-out beer in the gift shop. Sometimes you can buy a six pack, but today they were selling a gift pack, containing two blondes, a 12 and an 8, and a goblet. There was a limit of one per person. We had to stand in line, and by the time we got up there, they ran out. Oh, NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Deb (this won't suprise most of you, I'm sure) whined, "but we came all the way here from the US!!!! How disappointing!!!!" ............ and the nice young lady told us to hold on, disappeared into the kitchen, and came back out with a box. We were only able to purchase one, but it's better than none!!!!!)

Westvleteren is along a well-traveled hiking and biking route. If you're into either, this region of Belgium is great. The weather is cool and I swear - we never ran into mosquitoes!!!!! The terrain is relatively flat, with an incredible number of breweries and great pubs (often serving up over 100 different local brews). Great art scene, pretty, quiet scenery, and easy accessibility all make Belgium a great vacation destination that most Americans seem to overlook (well - yeah, the dollar was pretty worthless against the euro this summer, but we still had a great time). You can get just about anywhere in Belgium by train (except probably Westvleteren and a few other small towns around Poperinge - but you can ride the train into Poperinge and take the Belbus anywhere you'd want to go). Trains are cheap and efficient, and bicycle rentals are available at or near most stations!

Here I am, waitin' for the Belbus to take us back to Poperinge so we could catch the train to Brugge:
We spent a couple of days in Brugge, so maybe that will end up being a couple of posts ............................ until then, may the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, and may it rain Belgian beer until the sun shines again! (yeah, I made that up - but it works, so go with it!).

Until we meet again,

~ GBH

Poperinge, Belgium

2008-10-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hey, It's me, Gumballhead, leaning on a glass of Rodenbach in the Palace Hotel bar in Poperinge. I know, it's been a while since I've checked in. Deb's been kind of preoccupied with her school work lately. Anyhow, the Palace was a great local pub, where we met some really nice people.

Wow! Did I love Poperinge! I think Deb & Jeff liked it there, too. Deb said if she could ever get a writing grant for a few months, and go anywhere she wanted to write, this might be her town. I'll explain why.

First of all, to get to Poperinge, we made a short hop by train from Lille, stopping to change trains in Kortrijk. We were amazed at how close this town is to everything else in Belgium (and, we were told, only two hours from Paris by high-speed train).

And - you wouldn't believe the beer menus - even in walk-up food counters in train stations. For example, I think it was our stop in Kortrijk where we had a Rodenbach for a mid-morning snack!

Here's a picture taken from the train window somewhere between Lille and Poperinge:Generally, as we traveled around Europe by train, we have learned that you can't take many photos out the window, because you're moving too fast, or the windows are dirty, or the glass reflections get in the way. But, I really liked the way that the rowhouses fit together (like little monopoly-game houses) in most of the small towns we passed in West Flanders. So, excuse the quality of my photos, but I hope that they still convey some of what excited me on the trip.

You have to understand the other main reason Deb likes Poperinge so much: Poperinge is the self-proclaimed "hop capital" of Belgium, and she is a bit of a "hop head." (That would be a person who really likes beers with a pronounced emphasis on the hop flavor and aroma.)

"Hoppy" beers are often more bitter, but not always! People in Poperinge "think" they are hop heads, but I assure you they are not! We shared a little Three Floyds Alpha King and Dark Lord with them, and I think they were surprised at the amount of hops in that Alpha King! Belgians just don't understand the American microbrew enthusiasts' appreciation for (or maybe obsession with) hops!

I know that they are a variety of hemp, but am wondering if there is some relationship to catnip?! All I know is, I often see Jeff & Deb pulling hop cones off the vines, crushing them in their fingers, and sniffing them!

A hop is the little flower of the hop vine (usually referred to as a cone, because it looks sort of like a pinecone), generally bright green and very fragrant - an ingredient used to give beer its bitterness, but some hop varieties also add a citrusy flavor and are also used to give beer a nice floral aroma. They also serve as a preservative in the beer.

Vines can be quite long, and are generally grown on vertical trellises than can reach 20' or higher (see picture below of a field near Poperinge, which Jeff took from the window of a moving bus). This region (West Flanders) of Belgium produces a lot of the hops that they use, and so hops are widely celebrated. It is believed that if you place dried hops under your pillow, you'll sleep better!

Walking from the train station to our hotel, which was only a few blocks, we realized immediately the emphasis on hops here. They actually have these little "hop cone"brass markers embedded in the sidewalk to designate the main street through Poperinge as a hop trail - much like the wine trails you'll find in wine-producing regions of the US.

Poperinge is actually home to the national hop museum (more about that in a minute), and there is a even a whole artist community here because the interesting hop trellises make good subject matter.

For example, here is an interesting sculpture: a giant hop cone! The poles around it represent the poles that hold up the hop vines in the fields.Here's another sculpture, of sorts - in the center of town. It's a big rock, on a pedestal, with water coming out the top and dripping onto the ground. No, really!!! It refers to the nickname Poperinge got as "the boulder" - centuries ago, when Poperinge fought tenaciously to keep the cloth trade going, they became known as "Keikoppen" (pig heads), and the boulder in the town center serves as a reminder (don't know why it has water coming out, though). When the cloth trade finally died off, hop plants were brought in and planted, and the rest is, as they say, "history."

If you are a war buff, there are some interesting WWI points of interest in and near the area, especially Flanders' Field.

Poperinge is also just a really charming, peaceful, quiet town, surrounded by quiet countryside (which actually looks a lot like the Midwestern U.S.). It also had probably our favorite hotel of the trip, which is a bit expensive, but we were able to get a half-price room (75 euros!!!). Yay! Locals tell us it was once the home of a real knight. The sculpture is a reference to a restaurant inside (closed during our stay) called the Pegasus. What follow are pics of the outside, and then our room at the Hotel Recour:The pictures don't really do this place justice. This was actually one of the smaller, less luxurisou rooms, if you can believe that! Our room had two chandeliers, a mini fridge, a carafe of brandy, and an assortment of glassware (so you don't have to have your beverage in an "incorrect glass" - very important in Belgium!!) Deb really loved the big claw-foot tub. The decanters on the side table contain beautifully scented bubble bath! As a cat, I had to say, that's where I draw the line. No baths! Below is a portrait taken of me at the elegant breakfast table the next morning.
Breakfast was pretty good. They serve eggs, coffee, juice, rolls, fresh fruit, an assortment of cheeses (yum - kitties like cheeses!), some cold cuts, yogurt, and Belgian chocolate. It was a bit pricey at 14 or 15 euros. However, they let us have it at half price for some reason (no idea why).

Anyhow, I digress. The first order of business on our agenda, after checking into our hotel and dumping the luggage, was to head to the town square (generally called the Grote Markt in Flemish cities in Belgium) to check out the beer and food! We were not disappointed! Here's the Grote markt (it is sad to see their beautiful city center to be filled up with cars, though):
I think one of the most memorable meals of our entire trip was here, at a sidewalk cafe in the center of town: LaPaix (Peace). Because it was too late for lunch, the kitchen was closed. But - they still serve pancakes. Deb had a locally produced gueuze - a lambic style beer that is fairly sour, very carbonated, very pale in color, reminiscent of champagne, and aged in oak barrels. What makes this beer style unique is that they blend the beer from several different barrels - from different years - before bottling. This ensures a consistent quality. Because the yeast for fermentation literally falls from the air into the beer, you never know what you're going to get from one year to the next, so they mix it. Fantastic with a stack of pancakes, sliced bananas, and then drizzled with chocolate sauce. Mmmmmmmmmm!

Here are some pictures of some architectural details we saw as we strolled around Poperinge:
I just loved the rainbow of colors in the tiles on this roof:And these flower boxes, which were typical of the region (many places we saw throughout Belgium and Germany had them - it makes me feel guilty about my one little container of petunias by my front door!): Before leaving Poperinge, we wanted to head out to the Sint Sixtus Abbey in Westvleteren, just a few miles (maybe 5km) north of Poperinge. Here, they make what is often lauded as the best beer in the world: Westvleteren 12. It's a bit of work to get there, if you haven't rented a car. You have to either walk (too far), rent a bike, or take a bus. We wanted to take bikes, especially since the countryside is so pretty and serene (and filled with hop fields), but alas, the day we planned to go, it rained. So, we got up in the morning, hoping to make a reservation for the Belbus, the local bus system, which has regular routes. However, you can't just pick up a bus schedule; you have to call at least two hours in advance, and tell them which of their stops you'll be at, and make a reservation. Then, you go to the stop at the appointed time, and they pick you up. When you make the reservation, they also want to know what time you want to be picked up for the return trip!

So here's what happened: we decided to call from our hotel in the morning, make a reservation for two hours later, then go to the hop museum (a few blocks away), and then catch the bus. However, the staff at our hotel (who were very lukewarm toward us, maybe because I'm a yellow cat, I don't know) were pretty reluctant to keep trying when they got a busy signal. So, armed with a cell phone, we tried to call them ourselves. However, we kept getting a recorded message, in Dutch, and didn't know what it said, so we gave up.

Depressed because we could not figure out how to get to Westvleteren, we walked, in the rain, to the hop museum. However, we had met one of the staff members at the Palace the night before (thanks, Luc!!!), and, as I said before, we had shared some of our American beers, and they had bought us a couple of beers, and brought out some really good aged beers (yum). And then this guy had told us that if we went to the hop museum the next day, he would see us there and give us a gift. So - we went - and he wasn't there at first. But the guy working there said, "Hey - are you the Americans?" He not only gave us a tee shirt (advertising the hop festival), but also a gift box with three bottles of Chimay and a Chimay goblet!). And - he dialed the Belbus number for us, and told us that the recorded message was just saying, "all of our operators are busy, please hold the line." Arghhh ----- so, being the nice guy that he is, he said we could just go ahead and tour the museum, and while we did that, he made the Belbus reservation for us! So, we did end up going out there - that's the topic of my NEXT post!

The hop museum is definitely worth your time - it is in an old, historic building, has three levels of interactive exhibits (with a translator that you carry and listen to - which comes in an English version!), and a wonderful little tap room/cafe. (notes that guidebooks won't tell you: admission is now 5 euros, it does not include a beer, and they're closed on Mondays!!). They tell you all about the history of the cultivation and harvesting of hops, in interesting multimedia exhibits. Jeff and Deb really seemed to enjoy the part where you get to stick your hands in big barrels full of hops and smell them! But - they didn't take any photos while inside the museuem. Sorry!

Here's some pics of the front of the museum, though:

After touring the museum, we sat in this lovely courtyard out back and had a beer from their little tavern (see if you can find me in one of these pictures!).

Here's Deb, going through her notes while enjoying a St. Bernardus ale. Most notable beers today: Poperinge Hommelbier (pretty hoppy for a Belgian ale), and St. Bernardus trappist ales, made just a few minutes away from here, but their brewery is not open to the public (nor accessible by train). Those turquoise doors in the background are for the original grain elevator where the hops were once delivered, weighed, and then hauled to the top for processing.

Here are some more pictures of Poperinge from our afternoon stroll (the tall church steeple in the first picture is of the Onze-Lieuve-Vrouw, built between 1290 and about 1750):

Every three years, Poperinge hosts a hop harvest festival , with all kinds of activities, including a big parade. They had some of the outrageous costumes at the Hop Museum. Looks like a fun party. Next one is in September 2011 - we're hoping to come back for it; let me know if you wanna go! (more info about tourism in this area is available at: http://www.poperinge.be/).

Here's another really cool piece of sculpture in a roundabout in Poperinge. It's actually a directional sign, pointing the way to Brugge - a wonderful city to the north, which I'll tell you about another day! Bye-bye, Poperinge! I will miss you! Next stop: Westvleteren!

Ingelmunster, Belgium

2008-09-23T22:05:00.001-07:00

Hey, it's me, Gumballhead, here to tell you about our short daytrip from Lille to Ingelmunster.

On our first day in Europe (remember? red-eye flight to Brussels, TGV to Lille, stopped at Les 3 Brasseurs for a beer after we dropped luggage at the hotel) - we went across the street to the Lille Flandres station, and after an exhausting hour with a language barrier (those nifty little electronic language translator thingys are too slow to be helpful when you're trying to ask for complicated directions, and my French is not too good, considering I never took French and only started trying to teach it to myself this summer!); we finally figured out which platform to wait at, and were surprised when five armed guards (3 in camo; 2 in police uniforms) arrived on our platform and stood with their guns pointed at the arriving train (I know what you're thinking, but no - we didn't think it would be a good idea to take pictures!!!). We were a little freaked and weren't sure if we should stay or leave or what. Here's a picture of the train, though: So we kind of walked away and watched from a distance. Nothing happened, and after the train unloaded, new passengers leaving the country started boarding, and the guards left. This was repeated once more without incident, and so we decided that it may have had something to do with the fact that the Belgian government fell apart recently, and maybe the French locals were just worried about those Belgians bringing their anarchy across the border???? Who knows.

We finally got on a train and made our way to Kortrijk, where we had to get off the train, figure out the platforms, buy a ticket to Ingelmunster, and hop another train. This was made difficult by one fact we hadn't anticipated: all signage was in Dutch!!!! Doggone it - why did I spend the summer boning up on my French???? Nobody speaks French in this part of Belgium (at least not to Americans!). My nifty little translator toy has 10 languages, and yep - not a one of them is Dutch! We had French phrasebooks, and German phrasebooks, but no Dutch phrasebooks........Here's a photo of Kortrijk, where we changed trains:

Deb also forgot the map and left it in the hotel room back in France. Doh! So, as she and Jeff wandered aimlessly around Ingelmunster, in the rain, I got pretty sleepy riding around in the backpack - and maybe a little dizzy, too..... since they seemed to walk in circles a lot!Thought this canal was pretty, though.......... there are really a lot of canals in Belgium. Usually they have nice bike paths alongside.

At long last, however, they found their destination: the Van Honsebrouck brewery. Actually, we found the castle first: This is a beautiful place. The brewery was originally in the castle, but they had a fire a few years back and reopened a block or so away. But, their tap room, the Kasteelkelder, is in the basement of the castle, and it is a delightful place. We had learned of this place because their line of beers known as Kasteel are available in the USA, and Jeff had looked up their website to see if it was a place we could visit. Here's their site if you want to see more pictures: http://www.vanhonsebrouck.be/. Here's a few bottles of the beer that were for sale in the Kasteelkelder:The kelder, or taproom, is a lovely space consisting of several rooms with low arched ceilings: They also have an outdoor dining patio, overlooking the moat. Yup! There's a moat! We were sitting at a table in the tap room, enjoying some nice beer and cheese (but not so much enjoying the head cheese - we were starving, so we decided it was edible if dipped in copius amounts of mustard) - when we noticed some ducks swimming in the moat. The weird thing was the water was MOVING in unusual patterns around the ducks. Kind of in a creepy way that reminds you of those movies about the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. We got up to investigate and realized that they were fins sticking up just enough to break the surface - fins of carp!!! Big carp. I bet some of them were three times the size of those ducks. We wondered how many ducks had been sucked under by these huge fish (exciting for cats, but, yes - I know, creepy thought)......I, being a cat, found the whole thing so intriguing, I don't remember much else about the place.Jeff and Deb loved the pretty glassware so much that they bought a couple of goblets. Here in Belgium, every beer has its own unique glass. Usually the style of the beer dictates the shape of the glass, and usually the brewery's logo is screen printed on the glass. But this is a beer glass that is truly unique, because the stem of the glass is molded in the shape of the Van Honsebrouck castle.

After our (tasty?) snack and a couple of beers, we headed out into the rainy night to go for a walk around Ingelmunster. It was a charming town, but we noticed that it seemed to have very few businesses that weren't PUBS!!! I bet there were 6 or more pubs per city block!!! Just amazing!!! (How many pubs can YOU count in this photo?)

We were starting to feel really, really tired - remember - still no sleep yet - but the rain seemed to get heavier and relentless. At one point, we ducked into a tiny pub, called Bacchus, to escape the rain. It was right next door to the actual Van Honsebrouck brewery. (Here's me, checkin' out the brewery itself. Apparently closed on Sundays.......)

Anyway, the pub experience, it was instant culture shock. Not so much for us, but for the locals who were shocked that an American couple would just walk in on a Sunday evening and sit at their bar! This is where we met Dieter and Lorenzo, a very nice gay couple who run the mortuary down the street, and as it turns out, are very involved in the local Catholic parish. Deb found this intriguing, with her interest in sociology of religion and all. We hung out for a while, had a really great time, and they bought us a couple of beers. At some point, we decided we had to leave, or we'd miss the last train back to Lille.

As we walked back toward the train station, we realized we needed to use a bathroom, and ended up in another bar. We hung out there for a little while with a group of women who all had crazy face painting done that day for a birthday party. It turns out, their grandmother had turned 80. After tucking her in for the night, they had decided to take the party down to one of the (probably 20 or 30) pubs in town to keep it going! They were also pretty shocked that American tourists would come to their local hangout, so we chatted with them for a little while, had another beer, and headed to the station just before the last train of the day arrived. (We nearly got hit by the train, because we stood waiting for it on the wrong side of the tracks. We didn't realize our mistake until the train was arriving!!!! Wow - Jeff and Deb can run pretty fast for a couple of 50-year-olds who have been up for 36 hours and then bar hopping!!!!

All in all, it was an amazing first day. I think the only real meal we had that day was on the plane during the wee hours before our arrival in Brussels, but we met a whole bunch of lovely people, saw some pretty sights, and were ready for more! Here's some more pictures of Ingelmunster. Notice the architecture - everything in Belgium appears to be made of brick, and like anything we've seen from the medieval period in Europe, there are narrow streets and a general lack of green space in the cities.

Today we learned some interesting tidbits:

* people don't like to smell perfumy in Europe; they like to smell like people. Therefore, trains smell of B.O.
* hotels are generally not air conditioned. This means you have to sleep with windows open to make the room temperature tolerable. There are generally no screens on the windows. Therefore, things can fly into your room during the night. I hid in the back pack at night!
* train stations in Dutch-speaking Flemish areas are usually located on a street called Stationstraat. When you get lost in a town trying to find a train station, this little fact can be helpful. A track is called a spoor. Good beer (like Rodenbach!!!) is available in train stations, and it costs less than a stale sandwich.
* head cheese isn't made from cheese. It's made from a hog's head. Mustard makes anything taste ok.
* when you're tired enough, you'll sleep anywhere and under all sorts of conditions. Even during the last five minutes of a short train ride.
* people really do sweep and hose down streets and sidewalks at night here, and it's very, very noisy, especially if you sleep with the windows open.

Come back soon, and I'll tell you all about Poperinge: the hop capital of Belgium!

Lille, France

2008-09-14T21:42:00.001-07:00

Our first day in Europe! We left Indiana at about 8am on Saturday, flew from Chicago to Washington, DC in the afternoon, then caught a red-eye to Brussels in the evening. Did I sleep on the plane? Of course not! All that free milk and all those movies - are you kidding???? Besides, people kept steppin' on my tail!

We touched down in Brussels around 7:00 am (that's a little after midnight, Chicago time). After waiting over an hour at passport control in Brussels, we picked up the luggage, and zipped on the metro to the Midi station, where we caught a high-speed train (TGV) to France. Then, we kept going nonstop till late Sunday night! (I have no idea how these 50-year-old people do it. I personally had droopy whiskers long before 10pm!).

The first overnight stop in Europe on this trip was in Lille (the 'i' is pronounced like the 'i' in 'little'; and the 'e' is pronounced like 'uh'). Because Deb's mom's family is believed to have gotten their name from this town, and because it was only a short train ride from the places we wanted to visit in West Flanders, we decided to spend a night here and check it out.

These first pics are taken as we walked from the Lille Europe station to our hotel, which was only 2 or 3 blocks away. It had started to rain, so we didn't take many pics that day. Loved the super contemporary buildings here, and this funky flower sculpture (the building in the background IS the train station):
Above is really our first view of Lille as we walked out of the train station. It is NOT the most touristy city. It's gritty, if anything - but a fascinating mix of medieval, modern glass-and-steel, and even a little art deco.
This was our first destination: The Hotel Chagnot - part of the Balladins chain. We arrived around noon, realized that NOBODY spoke English, and thought, "wow, this is going to be an interesting city!" Since our room was not yet ready, we dumped the luggage and went outside to find lunch.

Immediately we realized, (JOY OF JOYS!) that our hotel was perched on top of a brewery: Les 3 Brasseurs!!! Had we been travelling all day and all night with no sleep? Yup!! Had we eaten a proper breakfast or lunch? Nope!!! Were we going to miss out on an opportunity to drink French beer? NO WAY!!! And so we did! Here's me (and my "pets," Jeff and Deb), trying to stay awake and dry under the awning of Les 3 Brasseurs while they readied our room:

We decided early on in this trip that:

a) beer is cheaper than food here;

b) beer is technically liquid bread and therefore is an acceptable substitute for food;

c) we never had to drive a car on this trip;

d) Europeans seem to like little, yellow kitties who order beer!

(yeah, you figure it out)

Below is a view across the street, taken from our hotel room window in Lille, during a short reprieve from the constant "drizzle weather," which you probably already know, cats hate! Note the mix of old and new architecture.

Next, we headed off to Belgium to visit our first Belgian brewery (which I'll tell ya about in the next blog!!!).

The pictures below were taken from our hotel window (the next day, when it actually didn't rain at all!). In the foreground, you can see the train station Gare du Lille Flandres - the station we used to take the regional train in and out of Belgium. In the background, you can see the Gare du Lille Europe - the big, modern station where the high-speed trains come and go.

After a wonderful night of bar hopping in Ingelmunster, Belgium, we caught a train back to Lille and had a very restful sleep (except for when they came and hosed down the streets and sidewalks at 4am!).

Here's a couple of night shots we took at the Gare Flandres station (inside and outside) and then of our hotel from out in front.

The next morning, after breakfast on the rooftop terrace, we went for a walk to take in some of the old-town sights in Lille, then went back for our luggage and headed out for our next adventure in Belgium. Here's me and Jeff, just chillin' on the rooftop terrace overlooking the Lille Flanders train station and eatin' breakfast.

This big tower/belfry is part of the city hall. Built in 1932, it rises 104 metres above the city, making it strikingly tall. We were drawn to it and had to take a walk to check it out.

These amazing, massive figures support the corners on the Lille town hall belfry. Same belfry, different angle. We were surprised at how close by they built this ugly 1960s mod apartment complex. Below are some street scenes we enjoyed on our walk around Lille.

Big, beautiful church in Lille.

Well, that's enough for one night, eh? Meet me, Gumballhead, back here in a few days, and I'll backtrack a little and tell ya a little about our first-day adventure in Belgium before we returned to Lille for the night (remind me to tell ya the story of the border guards with the big guns)!

;)

Crown Brewery: A Local Hangout Where Everybody Knows Your Name.....And They're Always Glad You Came........

2008-09-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

Psst....Gumballhead here. I just gotta tell ya about the place where I hang out the most. It's called Crown Brewery, and it just opened this summer (June 13). It's located in Crown Point, IN - hence the name.

Built in what was once upon a time the boiler room (or trash incinerator - I'm not sure) of the old Lake County jail, a lot of the old-time architectural interest, including a huge smokestack, remains.

We waited a long time for this place to open. In fact, last spring, while the snow was still flying and they were filming a big, fancy Universal Pictures film about John Dillinger nearby, my people did not care very much about seeing Johnny Depp (although they did sneak just one tiny peek at him) or Christian Bale.

Nope - they snuck through the ropes to peek in the windows of the brewery-to-be!

Jeff & Deb happened to be around the day that the big stainless steel crown was being installed on the top of the smokestack. Love the way the sunshine sparkles on the crown:

And then these letters were added to the smokestack. It has added some real punch to the Crown Point cityscape.

It's a cozy, small brewery/pub with the kind of ambience my maker says ya just gotta love. She says it's so small that you can't help but talk to people you don't even know. The owner/brewer, Jim, is one heck of a nice guy, and so ya can't help but want this place to be successful.

And, as a sidenote, the guy makes really great beer. He learned how to do it at some pretty successful breweries: Goose Island (Chicago), Three Floyds (see my previous post), and Firestone Walker (in California).

He says he wanted to open a small brewery that has that neighborhood-bar kind of intimacy, and I think he has captured it very well. Heck, we were just there today to watch a football game, and I don't even like football!!

(Excuse the raindrops on some of my photos (no, they're not cat pee) - it's been raining like crazy lately and we've been outdoors a lot!)

On the outside is a nice, cozy patio where we have enjoyed hanging out on warm summer evenings. It has a brick paver "floor," wrought iron tables and chairs, cool strings of lights overhead, and potted palm trees (which could, if you think about it, serve nicely as litter boxes).

It has a little bit of European flavor, which I really miss after my journeys overseas.

In the distance, you can see the Old Courthouse clock tower. Pretty at night, too!

It's a pretty quiet place to hang out and enjoy a nice, refreshing beer, perhaps a pizza or a stromboli, and good conversation. Jim makes a supreme effort to get around and talk to customers, and the wait staff for the Carriage House Pizzeria (I'll explain this relationship in a minute) are warm and friendly.

(Above is a snapshot of the pizza side, before it opened. It looks a little better now, with wallpaper and artwork, but I don't have a photo of that! And besides, I just love the purple light in this pic! Jeff took this photo, as well as the exterior shots of the smokestack and crown).

So, you ask ----is it a brewpub or not???? Well - depends on how you define that. Crown Brewery and Carriage House have what I think is a unique relationship. They have separate spaces, to be sure, but the wait staff for the restaurant will take your order, whether you are sitting in the restaurant, out on the patio, or in the tap room of the brewery. You can order food from the restaurant and beer from the brewery, and it will all go on one ticket. Or (preferable in my opinion), you can just walk into the tap room and order a beer from whomever is working the taps.

Inside, the place feels nice and cozy - on the restaurant side, some nice artwork by local artists, a quiet, relaxed atmosphere; on the brewery side, simple furnishings, brick walls, a window looking into the brewery and its shiny brewing tanks (in the evenings, Jim turns off the fluorescent lights in there in favor of more subdued atmospheric-type lighting, which is currently red, and surprisingly doesn't distract at all). And there's a nice flat-screen HDTV. ;)

This here is a funky light fixture in the tap room, made out of beer bottles! Come on! You love it, don't ya????

Jim is currently working on expanding the capacity of the brewery; he only has 4 tanks right now, and is using two for serving, which limits the number of beers available at present to two. But, since they opened in June, they have gone through the first few brews. So far, we've enjoyed a refreshing, crisp Hefeweizen, a nice, basic brown ale, and then a pale ale that had a killer hop aroma (yeah! we loved it!) and a nice summer blonde with a surprisingly floral aroma (a great palate cleanser after drinking something hoppy). The two beers on tap currently are: (1) "Powerderhorn," a really wonderful porter that he's dry hopped like crazy - the first week or two it had a killer hop aroma; that has tamed a bit now, allowing a little chocolate nose to come through and making it seem like an even more complex beer than we originally surmised - it's delightful! Also on right now is (2) "Sarah," a mild blonde ale for those who really enjoy the style, or who aren't into really intense beers. Coming soon: Oktoberfest! And soon after that (I hope): an IPA!!!!

Here's me, chillin' with a nice, hoppy pale ale a few weeks ago.

If you're looking for a quiet, local hangout where you can meet up with some friends to chat or make some new friends; if you're looking for a place to try new beers but big places with tons of options overwhelm you; if you're looking for a nice, European-style outdoor patio; or if you're looking for me, Gumballhead - the doll (not the beer) - this is it!

Open 7 days. To get here from I-65 - exit US 231 (Crown Point exit; mile 247). Left at the light at the end of the ramp. Continue into town. Left onto East St. (one block BEFORE the courthouse square) - then look for Crown Brewery on your right. It's a brick building with black awnings, the smokestack with the crown on top, the patio, and it does have its own parking lot. Their website is: http://www.crownbrewing.com/. Enjoy!

My First Trip: to Three Floyds to Meet MYSELF

2008-09-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

Before my world travels began, my Maker just had to take me to the place where she was inspired to create me: Three Floyds Brewery - a.k.a. FFF - home of Gumballhead the beer. It's a wheat beer, but different than any other wheat beer you've ever tasted. It is highly hopped with Amarillos - Deb's most favoritist (is that a word?) hops ever. They impart a slightly sweet, citrusy flavor - somewhat grapefruity, somewhat apricoty (hey - it's my blog, I'll make up words if I want!!!). What really gets you is the aroma. Mmmmmmm............

You must try this beer on draft to get the real Gumballhead experience. It's pretty darn good in the bottle, but on draft, it's heavenly.

FFF has a motto which really speaks to me and describes their brewery (and their beers) succinctly: "It's Not Normal." Leaning toward brewering extremism, these are not beers for the faint of heart!

Here's ME sitting on a table in the brewpub. I don't mean to brag or anything, but they do seem to feature MY image all over the place. They say Alpha King is their "flagship" beer, but we know better, don't we??????

They use these nifty six-pack cartons to hold mustard and other condiments.

Anyway, I digress. The brewery is a great place to hang out. Not only do they have pictures of ME all over the place, they also have many wonderful beers on draft and in the bottle. And Three Floyds is confident. Unlike most breweries we have visited, they are not afraid to put competitors' beers on the menu. There are usually several FFF beers on tap (I'm guessing about 6 to 8 at a time); as well as a nice list of guest drafts - some from the US, some imported (at least a half dozen at a time) - and then a good number of domestic and imported bottles - always something from Belgium, which I have learned to really love!

Can you find ME in the above picture? I'm sitting on a Gumballhead tap handle - surrounded by taps of great beers that were available that day. If you look closely, above the taps, you'll also see MY head on a platter on the big, original painting that was used on the label of FFF anniversary ale, "Fantabulous Resplendence."

So, on a typical visit, I may have a Gumballhead or a Dreadnaught Imperial IPA, or something seasonal on tap with limited availability (such as the recent Travissimo, which is sadly all gone - but it was a hoppy IPA on nitro - went down really smooth); and then I'll move on to some really fabulous guest draft (for example, this summer I have been enjoying a Belgian Red-Brown, slightly sour "Monk's" ale, really made by Belgian monks). They have had the Kasteel Rouge on draft for several months - a wonderfully cherry beer that's great with dessert. It's a "sipper" - not a session beer! (I'll share photos of my recent trip to that brewery, located in Ingelmunster, Belgium, soon!).

The atmosphere is a bit funky - like maybe being in somebody's makeshift garage bar. This is reminiscent of the old days before the brewpub opened three years ago - we would stand around in the unheated brewery with our winter coats on, (well, you know Gumballhead wouldn't be caught dead in a winter coat, but my friends had to wear them) drinking FFF beer from plastic cups - oh, those were the days!!!! Or were they? Now, we get heat AND food, and all those guest beers, and real glassware - who could ask for anything more? It has mostly gray walls, concrete floors, some funky Ikea furniture - and lots of posters (and some original beer label art). Music and movie styles seem to change daily, based on the whim of whomever is behind the bar. People are friendly; it's crowded evenings and weekends, but nice and empty on Sunday afternoons (you'll sometimes find me in here then). From the dining room, you can look through a large window at the brewery itself (if you can see past the huge picture of ME - above).

They have some pretty wonderful food, too - chefs are allowed a little freedom to experiment with not only pub fare, but also fine cuisine. I especially like the pizzas and flatbreads, the turkey burger, and the chili!!!

So how do you get here? It's located on the south side of the town known as Munster, Indiana - hidden away in the rear of an industrial park. From I-80/94, take Calumet Ave. south - through Munster, keep going......... past 45th.....across the r.r. tracks...... turn right on Superior (there's a really nice war memorial park on the corner), then left on Indiana. Look for the water tower, FFF is right in front of it. Visit their website at: http://www.threefloyds.com/.

Keep in mind if you're from out of town that Indiana state law prohibits the sale of packaged spirits on Sundays, so if you go on a Sunday, you cannot buy bottled beer to go at the brewery! (However, it is close to the Illinois state line, and FFF beer is available in Illinois stores on Sundays).

My next stop: The new Crown Brewery in nearby Crown Point, Indiana!

The Wanderlust of Gumballhead....

2008-09-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

This blog is about two things I really love: travel and beer. It is told through the eyes of our little "travel buddy," Gumballhead the Cat. Now, mind you - he is not my own creation, conceptually. I actually found him on a beer label (one of my favorite beers - by Three Floyds, is called Gumballhead - a delightfully hoppy wheat beer - great in the summer). But he's really a bad-ass cartoon cat, created by Rob Syers and Mark Fischert. He is always in trouble. Maybe he represents the repressed "me;" the wildly rebellious kid who grew up, got married, had kids, went back to school, and became a responsible adult (at least I'm working on that).

My husband Jeff and I love to travel, and we really love beer - especially microbrewed beers. We've gotten in the habit of visiting breweries wherever we go - and I recently decided it would be fun to take some sort of a little "travel buddy" to photograph at the various breweries. Because of his attitude (which is totally not me, remember), and because he has a face that is easily reproduced, and because I love hoppy beers, I decided to make a Gumballhead doll for this purpose (I mean, how many people have little travel gnomes, right???).

In case you are wondering, he is made of felt, stuffed with cotton with an embroidered face. He's about 8" tall and has a tail. And yes, he has a cigarette dangling from his cute little (excuse me..... I mean BAD little) cat lips.

Check back for photos of Gumballhead's world travels and some information about the places he has been!!! So far, he has visited breweries and excellent beer establishments in Indiana, France, Belgium, and Germany!