DESTINATION: Brussels, Belgium

DISTANCE: 67 Miles (108 km)

GETTING THERE: The ride from Bruges to Brussels is very flat and follows cannals for most of the way. You will get slowed down a bit by traffic once you get into Brussels, but otherwise its a very straightforward ride. The GPS split the route so I’ve shared both part 1 & part 2.

OUR ADVENTURE:

Because of the rain, we decided to take a train to Brussels.  After we got to the train station, we realized the rain would hold out.  We made the last minute decision to go ahead and bike to Brussels.  After hanging out and drinking beer for 2 days, we felt like slackers!

We arrived in Brussels in the late afternoon.  Our hotel was a few blocks from Moeder Lambic, so we headed there for our first beers in Brussels.  Like the name says, Moeder Lambic has an amazing selection of Belgian guezes and lambics!

We also checked out Morte Subite.  They make a decent lambic, and the decor is worth the trip.  It hasn’t changed in 100 years.

We ended the night at Delerium Cafe.  The upstairs has an extensive beer list, and tends to be a little more laid back than the other 2 floors.  As we drank our beers, we watched a bunch of 15 year old German kids drink beer with their school teacher.  It was weird.

Day 2 in Brussels was a little more eventful.  We checked out the art museum.  It has its share of boring Dutch portraits and landscapes, but it also houses Jacques-Louis David’s “Death of Marat.”  As an art history nerd, it was one of Casey’s highlights of the trip!

After the museum, we made our way to the Cantillon Brewery.  Be warned, the Brewery’s in a strange Middle Eastern African ghetto part of town.  I wouldn’t hang around there after dark.  The brewery is worth the trip!  It’s not everyday you see open fermentation!  Although, you never want to drink their beer again after seeing the place.  It’s covered in dust and spiderwebs…cleaning up could hurt the wild yeast.  This part of town also has some amazing Middle Eastern food.  If you make the trip, try to check out one of the local restaurants…then get out of there before sun down!

For dinner, we met some friends living in the area and had an amazing meal!  Chicken in kriek sauce is delicious!  We also checked out Bon Vieux Temps after dinner.  It looks like the inside of a church and they have a great beer selection.

Our last day in Brussels was sort of a half day.  We woke up early and rode to the hotel where we originally put our bikes together.  They were keeping our bike boxes for us, so we had to head back and disassemble the bikes at the hotel.  Riding through downtown Brussels is a little harrowing…if you have to do it, avoid rush hour.

The bike packing went pretty quickly, so we headed back into Brussels to grab souvenirs (ie, beer and chocolate).  It was also Cantillon’s Zwanze Day at Moeder Lambic, we couldn’t miss that!  The place was packed, but we were able to snag a table with a Canadian couple.  The Zwanze beer was delicious, and the perfect end to an amazing trip!