Belgium Excursion, Part 1 of 2: Beer Edition

Part of Kasey and Evan's trip was spent in Belgium. They both like beer so we wanted to hit a few abbeys to try some out. We'd already been to two of them on our list, and were hoping to add two more. The plan was essentially to do a big loop: drive north and cross into Belgium, start at Val Dieu near Liege, travel southwest and over to Maredsous, Leffe, stop for the night in Bastogne, and the next day go to Orval and then head east across Luxemburg and finally end up at home.

Even though it was overcast, we still had a great lunch at Val Dieu. I was envious of Evan's bacon salad, and I vowed to myself that I will be ordering it the next time we visit.

 Here's Kasey before lunch:

I took over driving on the next leg, since Matt always really really enjoys the Val Dieu beers. We ended up at Maredsous and it's actually a pretty big complex. They had nature paths, really pretty scenery, and of course a cafe to try out the products.

Such awesome glassware! Too bad they were so stingy about them... this reads that it's not for sale. Also, don't take it.

As we did at Val Dieu, we stocked up on some goodies here as well. We also got some chalices to drink out of :-)

Next we drove to Leffe but alas, the entire abbey was closed for the year. (We figured they didn't necessarily make the beer there, but we had wanted to have some at least, and buy some, along with glassware!)

Matt tried to put on a happy face...

Luckily, we found an open bar that served us Leffe. Evan was kind enough to ask our server in French if we could have something to eat, something small.... But we each ended up with huge plates of perfect cantaloupe and even more perfect Iberian ham. And yes, it went great with the beer.

Our final stop the next day was Orval. I didn't get any lunch or drink pictures, but I did get a picture of our dessert waffle before we devoured it. Note to self: Always have a waffle when in Belgium.

We ended up with plenty of treats from the trip. At Orval we got another kilo of beer cheese (approx. 2.2 pounds!!) along with a bunch of other slices we came across at a nice-sized Carrefour supermarket on the way back. Thank goodness we had Kasey and Evan with us, otherwise we could have never gotten all this stuff up to the apartment.

Stay tuned next time for the rest of the Belgian excursion highlights!

Kasey and Evan in Germany

After a solid week of France, Kasey and Evan were ready for some hearty food and lots of beer. Matt and I were happy to oblige.

The first night we took them to Eisgrub, which is where we took my parents. It's the one with the big beer tower. I didn't get a picture (I have several already), but they seemed to enjoy the 5-liters we had, as well as the sauerbraten and gorgonzola schnitzel. 

On the way back, we decided to catch part of the France game at the Mainzer Strand, the beach!

The next day, we went to check out the Marksburg Castle. We managed to just catch the English speaking tour and saw all kinds of medieval awesomeness:

Hanging out in the wine cellar

Kitchen - they also rent out the space for medieval parties!

 Tiny bed.

At the end we grabbed some lunch. And ran into people who were not only French, but also from Connecticut and had people and places in common with Kasey and Evan. Small world.

That night we headed over to Wiesbaden to watch the (somewhat boring) Germany-USA game. Wiesbaden is a highly concentrated area of English speakers, specifically Americans, so it was quite an experience.

It was pretty crowded outside so we found a spot inside to watch the game and have some pre-dinner drinks.

I really didn't care much about the game... to me, it was only a placeholder before dinner at Okinii, one of my favorite restaurants here. It's an all-you-can-eat Asian tapas place, and you order 5 items per round - on an iPad. They've got everything from sushi, spring rolls, chicken teriyaki, grilled veggies - you name it.

Some of us were slowing down....

And Kasey (silly Kasey!) decided to order plain rice. Don't fill up on rice, Kasey! (She insisted it was the right decision). We were all pretty miserable afterwards, but that's to be expected. As one of our friends says frequently, you don't go to Okinii to enjoy it, you do it to see how much you can stuff your face.

The next two days we spent in Belgium, but upon our return, we got back into the German way of life. I really wanted to make sure they went to a festival while they were here, since my parents loved what they called the "river fest" in Mainz, so I was happy to find that Frankfurt had one, with a more international spin.

Places were selling burritos, Thai food, Indian, Argentinean, Italian, etc.

Kasey and Evan were more excited about the German grub, namely bratwurst.

And one of the most delicious flammkuchen ever!

I also got Kasey involved with the Aperol Spritz...the Italian stand guys were making really good ones.

And Evan got this awesome ham and potato salad plate.

A fun day all around... it was a smaller festival that what we typically go to, but I enjoyed it. There weren't a ton of people which made it even more pleasant.

The following day we went to the grocery store. I know that sounds lame, but we find foreign grocery stores to be pretty awesome - there are a ton of products you just don't find back in the U.S.

We wanted to make sure there we hit another German restaurant for lunch, so we strolled through Mainz and over to one of our favorite places. Evan got the sampler plate and Kasey got garlic cream schnitzel. Mmm.

Kasey and I quickly browsed a store while the guys were paying and we found these - it's sauce for PET FOOD, people! How cool!

After lunch we continued our walk and got these nifty bridge pictures, similar to what I have of my parents trip, and had another drink in a biergarten.

Sadly, all good trips must come to an end sometime. Kasey and Evan headed back to the states for more traveling and to see their sweet doggie Bear.

The last order of business?

Bavarian breakfast - white sausages, pretzel, sweet mustard and beer.

Oven-warm pretzels are the best.

Come back soon, you guys!!

Highlights from Kasey and Evan's trip!!

My sister Kasey and her boyfriend Evan finally made it! We had a blast and did a ton of stuff - they were coming from France where they had already spent a week together, and Evan had been there even longer. He's a French teacher who was chaperoning a group of kids from his school. I think we convinced them the beer is much better in Germany (and Belgium).

Here are some of the highlights - more in subsequent posts:

Their first beers after arriving via train.

Touring a castle on the Rhine river

Watching the Germany-USA game at a bar

 Okinii! Yummy yummy sushi and other Asian treats!

 At the Mardsous Abbey

 Blonde beer + ham + melon

 Old German jeep.

Chocolate Belgian waffle in Belgium

 Their first festival wurst!

 Isn't she cute?

 Overlooking Mainz.