Love It, Hate It, Miss It – Part 3

Third in a running series answering the questions, what do I love about living here, what do I hate or dislike and what do I miss. Here are some more of my reflections:

Love It
Location: So we put down the little town we are in quite often. Just get Keith started and he’ll tell you all that is depressing about our part of Belgium, but we both agree that our town has a great location. In less then two hours driving we can be in four different Countries...France, Germany, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. By train and plane the list is extraordinary. We live less then five minutes from a train station and just minutes from the major highway so it’s very easy to get around. We came here for the opportunity to travel and our location has been really perfect in allowing us to get all over Europe. My favorite part is the fact that the highway sign by our house says “Paris” on it, a pretty nice change from “Richmond”

Cafés: I know I’ve talked a lot about us heading into the Grand Place to sit at a café, or that we’ve gone to a café for dinner...but it’s hard to explain how much we both love the café atmosphere. Town centers filled with tables under awnings, people out to have a beer or a coffee, and in no hurry. It’s a big adjustment from any eating/drinking experience in the States. Service is terribly slow, they don’t really check in on you, and it takes forever to get a bill, so why do I love it? Because you can sit for hours and just soak up the atmosphere watching people. You can order one drink and never be bothered or given a dirty look to hurry up. Even in the winter they have heaters under the awnings so you don’t miss a moment of the Christmas Markets. Cafes are just such a great part of the European lifestyle that I am enjoying so much while we are here.

The patient stare: So this actually used to be a Hate It topic about the Bureaucracy in Belgium, but discovering an answer has made it a love it or tolerate it. Basically Belgium has a standard response to any question...“no”. However, we have now discovered that "no" does not mean no, it means ask again, someone else, or be more persistent. We learned within our first weeks here that if at first you don’t get the response you want try, try, try and try again. In fact when I first arrived and needed an ID to get on the base I was given the standard no, and circular logic….“you need to get this badge first” which of course those people told me I needed my ID first. Finally I just stood at the window and stared, not angry, just waiting for some guidance, waiting, staring…. VIOLA! Success, “ok, just this time I’ll give the ID and will fix it in the system.” Not long after Keith and I attempted to get our drivers licenses, which surprisingly was not met by no, but instead the insistence that they would have to keep our American licenses. Again I simply, kindly, stared at the woman and said “No, that is not possible”. A day later we had our licenses without surrendering anything, all with a simple pause. Over and over this tactic has worked. It is still somewhat frustrating to always be met with an immediate no. It feels like people would rather spend an hour resisting or making excuses for doing work then just taking the five minutes to do a simple task. But I love knowing how to overcome it!

Hate It
No Websites: One of our biggest frustrations here is that almost none of the businesses here have websites. Those that do are very limited and have only the most basic of information. Surprisingly, the fact that they are in French isn’t really the problem, we’re pretty adept at translating information so that hasn’t really been the issue. I think we’d be more likely to try more restaurants and stores nearby if we could check them out a bit more online. We have been able to do all our banking and bill pay through the web, however, so we’ve been lucky that way.

TV: It’s like they are taunting me! They have a lot of great shows here on TV like The Simpsons, Friends, Lost, etc. but they are all in French. No subtitles, everything is dubbed in French. We get a few channels in English, CNN, BBC, and then there are some Dutch stations that play some shows that are in English with Dutch subtitles. So I can watch Star Trek the Next Generation, Monk, Magnum PI, etc. We even get the North American Sports Network that covers all the major games of the week, so we have been able to catch some Hokie games! But in the grand scheme of things English TV is limited.

Miss It
A Dishwasher: Overall our house has been great, a nice size, nicely furnished, and has all the modern conveniences we need minus one….a dishwasher. I really didn’t think I’d miss having one so much but it gets tiring doing dishes all the time. There are just times you want to throw everything in the dishwasher and walk away. We’d probably only have to run it once or twice a week but it’d be nice to keep the counters cleaned off in the meantime. Our kitchen is pretty dinky so it’s not really an option let them pile up. One can dream.

The Search for the Best Beer in the World

When Mike came to visit a while back, a beer loving friend gave him a list of must-try Belgian beers. I was ashamed to admit that despite living in Belgium for almost a year now, I had never even heard of the one at the top of the list...Westvleteren 12. On a side note, the number indicates the alcohol content...meaning 12% alcohol! I took a look in our Lonely Planet guide to Belgium and noticed that they too had rated it the best in Belgium. After a little more research I discovered that last year it had achieved the title of "The Best Beer in the World" by ratebeer.com, a popular beer aficionado site. (It has since fallen to second...still, not too shabby)

We started by going to our favorite beer shop in Brugge, which has every beer imaginable...except this one apparently. Several beer stores in Brussels proved fruitless as well. I tried the Delirium bar in Brussels who is famous for its beer selection, which is currently at 2004 available brews....again no luck.

As it turns out, the monks that produce this beer make a very limited quantity, and don't sell to stores or bars. The only way to get it is to drive to the abbey and pick it up yourself. Even then, you have to make an appointment by phone (which is impossible to reach, and they only speak Flemish), and you are only allowed two cases (about 40 beers) per car. I read online that there is a cafe attached to the abbey where you could get a glass of the beer, and sometimes purchase six packs when they are available (which is apparently never as I found out). So, we took a Saturday afternoon and headed to the abbey to try the "Best Beer in the World."

Upon arriving at the abbey in the middle of Nowhere, Belgium, we found the little cafe that the websites spoke of. I eagerly walked in to purchase my six pack at the little store, only to be greeted with a chuckle when I asked. Apparently about two times per year they will sell a case or two, but no more, and they don't know when they will get it. However, you are able to purchase a little kit which has 1 of their famous beer, 1 of their second famous beer (apparently the 10th best beer in the world), two of their "regular" beers, and a glass with the abbey's name on it for about 20 Euro. We tried to pick up several of these sets, but you are only allowed to purchase 1 per person. So, Elizabeth and I each bought a set for ourselves and then sat down for lunch, where we were finally able to try this famous beer.

I must say, I was not disappointed. The beer itself is dark like Guiness, but less bitter and a lot more flavorful. It's absolutely fantastic. I don't know if I would call it the best in the world, but it's certainly one of the best I've ever had. I'm sure that some of its fame comes from its rarity too, but it's absolutely worth a try if you ever get the chance. I found a few places that have imported it to the States, but it seems to run about $30 - $50 a bottle. If you're a big beer fan though, it might just be worth the price.

McCrea’s, Thanksgiving, Germany, France…. And so much more……

We are way behind on our blogs, hopefully we'll have a bunch up soon! But here is a bit about our Thanksgiving with the McCrea's

Winter weather didn’t put a damper on our fantastic visit with Kevin and Stefanie. We picked them up on Thanksgiving Day at the airport and gave them the quick tour of Brussels. Unfortunately the first day here is pretty much a waste; it’s pretty exhausting coming our way so we try to keep the sight seeing to a minimum. After a few quick looks around the city we headed back to our house. Bailey was so excited to see some of her friends from back home. Since NATO doesn’t have Thanksgiving we decided to postpone our celebration to Friday, in the meantime we introduced them to “Steak on a Rock” and Belgian beer. Thankfully, neither disappointed.

Other than Keith having to work a short day on Friday it was not unlike a typical Thanksgiving. Kevin and Stefanie got to sleep in, and I did last minute grocery shopping. Our friends here bought us the necessary fixin’s from the military base. The local store doesn’t sell Turkey (only whole chickens), or any of the boxed favorites like Stove Top stuffing. While I started the Turkey in our tiny oven (cooking in Celsius) Keith took them out to meet the cheese lady to pick out some yummy items for the evening. The food turned out wonderful and the night was great, we had the McCrea’s and our Friends Dan, Susana, their daughter Sofia and dog Emma, we couldn’t ask for better company on Thanksgiving Day. Overall a great Thanksgiving!

On Saturday and Sunday we went spent going to two different cities, Brugge and Monschau, Germany. The holiday season is clearly a fun time to be in Europe, all the villages and cities set up outdoor Christmas markets. Brugge is no exception; all the booths were set up selling all sorts fun items. We took them on the standard walk through town, on a canal ride and of course stocked up on beer and chocolate. Monschau, Germany is about an hour and forty five minutes from our place. It’s a small village just outside Aachen. Basically it was like something out of a fairy tale. A perfect German village nestled in the bottom of the mountains with a stream running through it. It didn’t hurt that while we were there for their Christmas Markets it started snowing! It was something right out of a movie. The town was decorated for the season, and pine booths were set up throughout selling Gluevein (the spiced hot wine) hot chocolate, bratwurst, waffles, and all sorts of yummy goodies to keep you warm. We had lunch on a glass enclosed terrace overlooking the stream, watching the snow. Kevin and Stefanie had success in purchasing an authentic German Cuckoo Clock, Keith and I are sure to get one before we move home.

Keith headed back to work on Monday after dropping us off at the train station. The three of us headed into Paris for the day on the high speed train, we only had one mission to accomplish. Stefanie wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We walked around for a bit letting the grey sky’s clear up and checked out their Christmas booths along the Champs Elysees heading from the Louvre to the Arc de Triumph. After lunch and a slight clearing of the skies we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. To my delight the lines seem to disappear with the winter weather so we made it to the top with little delay or complications. Mission accomplished. The rest of the day was just bonus.

Their whole trip was a real treat for us. Not only do we enjoy getting to show people where we live, but we really love getting to go on these day trips with our friends and family. The only problem is the time seems to go by so quickly.