Belgium and Beer, another bucket list ticked for Matt

Over the last few days I have wondered if we are the only Australian tourists here because of beer not battlefields.  However our trip to Brussels meant Matt managed to visit a number of Trappist Breweries and that had to be a holy pilgrimage.

To be accredited as a Trappist brewery there are a number of conditions that must be met.

1. The beer must be brewed within the walls of a Trappist monastery, either by the monks themselves or under their supervision.
2. The brewery must be of secondary importance within the monastery and it should witness to the business practices proper to a monastic way of life
3. The brewery is not intended to be a profit-making venture.  The income covers the living expenses of the monks and the maintenance of the buildings and grounds.  Whatever remains is donated to charity for social work and to help persons in need

(Given the price of Trappist beer in Australia compared to in Belgium our Federal Government clearly sees themselves as a very well deserving charity).  There are only twelve breweries in the world that are accredited and most of them are in Belgium and the Netherlands.  Thanks to the help from Steven from Wings Tours Matt has visited as many as were possible over the last few days.

On Tuesday we went to Orval and Chimay.

 

Matt and Steven, our fantastic guide.

Like my souvenirs, I like to ensure my photos are all class.

There are also a few in other countries we think we might be able to reach; one in Austria (guess what!  Our ship goes right past it!), and one in Rome (unlike the Belgian ones, not hard to get to) which we hope to visit.  We might leave the one in the USA for a few years.
I confess,  my favourite part was exploring the ruins.

The Grave of Duke Wenceslas in the ruined Abbey of Orval.  Not the same dude as the Christmas Carol (but our guide Steven had never ever heard of him)

View from our unit in Brussels.  We said we wanted to be close to the big square!

Some people thought the ceiling in the loft bedroom was too low.  Really, some people are just too tall.

Our accommodation really was in an amazing spot, just off the big square but still with a great view of it and we enjoyed live music from just one step back.  The only down size - well we DID have three stories of spiral staircases to ascend to get into it!

We really wanted to stay an extra day in Brussels but couldn't without moving so we continued on to Bruge today.  We were surprised with another free upgrade (a garden room,  YAY, no stairs!!) and again are staying very close to the old city centre.

Matt gives thanks for beer.

Not all breweries are within sacred spaces, but sometimes they give rise to a holy moment.  Or...Not.

You get a neat hat when you say how wonderful the Waterloo beer is without bunging on an ABBA accent.  I did suggest Matt go back tomorrow for a second glass and hat so we could pass on one each to the youngest nephews.  Just to save fights of course. 

Bruges is only a little more than an hour from Brussels and we are again in the central district. We nearly got washed away in a thunderstorm of almost Australian proportions but are looking forward to exploring the town over the next far too short a period - I can see why Mum and Dad keep coming back to little Belgium.   We have managed the obligatory moulles and chips (the mussels were tiny and I'm sorry but not as nice as ours) but I'm still looking for that other famous specialty, the chicken vol au von.