Now, when I was 17 I did not like beer. But that year something happened to forever change my mind about the amber ale - I went to Belgium!!
During this visit to Belgium for Lieselotte and Wouter's wedding, I also had the chance to visit my very dear friend Mariéve in Brussels. When we were both exchange students in Lund we had spent many many hours gossiping and discussing life’s challenges, usually over a delicious meal and bottle of wine! And as we had not seen each other for three years, one of our marathon conversations over good food was definitely in order...
Mariéve is now working for the Canadian Embassy in Brussels, and has a lovely apartment is a charming area of town. The evening we met we went and found a small pub down a narrow ally in the centre of town. I think the bar had been there for maybe 500 years. It was likely that that tables, tiles and stairs were put in place before Australia was even colonized. There we had some delicious local beer, started one of many long and funny catch-up stories and planned our meal for that evening.
For dinner we went to a bustling, friendly, local brasserie near Mariéve’s place. It was a real treat for me to have delicious steak, green beans, hollandaise sauce and of cause, frites! After which we split a dessert that has possibly the funniest name I have heard for a while, ‘A Brazilian’ (the ladies will get the joke!)
The following day was a public holiday, so Mariéve had time to walk with me around Brussels, looking in some of her favorite stores and cafés. I got to visit the most incredible chocolate store Pierre Marcolini, where you enter through big dark stairs draped in black velvet and little lights - as if going into an exclusive night club, and everything is displayed like jewellery in black and silver boxes in glass cabinets (no photography allowed!). Mariéve also took me to Palais des Thés, a store with over 200 types of specialty teas. Maxime, you would have been in heaven! We did spare a thought for you and your tea collection!
So, after a truly blissful 18 hours in Brussels, I hoped back on the train on Thursday afternoon and headed back to the pre-wedding mayhem in Wetteren…. Where everyone was gearing up for the following day’s extravaganza!
(Mariéve, la belgique gourmande!)
(the best name for a restaurant: 'And who will walk the dog?)
Mariéve is now working for the Canadian Embassy in 
So, after a truly blissful 18 hours in Brussels, I hoped back on the train on Thursday afternoon and headed back to the pre-wedding mayhem in Wetteren…. Where everyone was gearing up for the following day’s extravaganza!
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