Brugge – How lucky we were to be in Brugge/Bruges on the same day as the “Pageant of the Golden Tree”. This parade happens once every 5 years and involves more than 2,000 participants. They parade through the city, then head to the foot of the Belfry, which still houses the city’s medieval charter.

To the Belfry!

Knight in full armor

Three camels

Now, onto the good stuff! There are some really important aspects of beer culture in Belgium, which could leave someone in an awkward position, if not appropriately respected. Namely, one should not scoff at a healthy head of foam atop a Belgian beer. All beer glasses are designed to hold the appropriate quantity of beer, plus 3cm of foam. However, you are not supposed to drink through the foam. You see, as the foam dissipates, the drinker is supposed to be “developing a relationship” with the beer.

The drinker thinks about the beer, imagines what it is going to taste like, talks to the beer, etc. Once the foam is gone, the relationship has had enough time to develop, turning the first sip into heaven. Apparently, the drinker knows which beer is going to be the “last relationship” of the evening, when the beer talks back!

I learned all this thanks to our horrible tour guide at De Halve Mann Brewery. I guess if I was to retain nothing else from her impatient ramblings, this should be it!

My father-in-law ordered this beer, just to check out the glass. I thought I would try my hand at pouring the perfect 3cm of foam, but failed horribly! The waiter gave me a healthy (and very, very loud, yet friendly) ribbing when I poured an entire glass of foam and only 3cm of beer. A little bit of trouble-shooting and we were able to fix the problem.

A friend told us that the waffles in Brugge were made with a little bit of crack. He was right! Luckily, waffles are considered more of an any-time-of-day snack than a breakfast staple. WOW! They were soooo good!

Brussels – Brussels’ heart of the city is definitely the Grand Place. The square was listed as a UNESCO site in 1998 and is home to the bi-annual “flower carpet”.

Liv was included in our Brussels sight-seeing and apparently caught the eye of some other tourists. Here are the weirdoes who asked to take a picture with her while we were enjoying the Grand Place. Who does that?

Brussels is crazy about the “Manneken Pis”, a statue of a little boy relieving himself. The original was stolen in 1817, but a replica is dressed with the traditional costume of visiting heads of state and enjoys unbelievable notoriety in the city.

Finally, no trip to Brussels is complete without some mussels….

…and more waffles!