A Weekend In Belgium

It has been almost 10 years since I last visited Belgium. Back in 2008, during my European summer field school experience, we only spent one day in Brussels, a city where I first fell in love with Belgian beer and chocolate.  I was so heartbroken that we didn't get to spend more time in Brussels that I vowed to come back and spend more time exploring Belgium.

Now, I have the extraordinary pleasure of living within driving distance of Belgium. Over the river and through the chunnel to the land of delicious beer and chocolate we go!!!  

In September I decided to pack up Ruby (my adorable little Fiat) and drive down to the chunnel and go to Belgium. Unfortunately for me, the weekend I was in Belgium was particularly rainy, which put a damper on my usual outdoor excursions (quite literally), but it was still as wonderful as I remembered it!

First, I ventured to the French south to a small town named Dinant. It's known as a gateway to wonderful hiking in Belgium. Of course, it was a mostly rainy day; however, I was able to enjoy a little bit of Dinant. Dinant is known for its beautiful scenery, citadel, and of course, as being the home of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. Consequently, there is a fantastic bridge decorated with Saxophones! It reminded me of the little cakes that were sprinkled through St. Louis a few years back.

After spending a little time in Dinant, I drove back to Bruges, an adorable little town west of Brussels. After being told it's like being in a storybook, I had high expectations, and Bruges lived up to every expectation.  There are so many fantastic places to eat and drink delicious beer!  You could even tour De Halve Maan brewery. The tour is offered in multiple languages and the guides are very knowledgeable.  I have been on many brewery tours, but this one was extraordinary. They have so many examples of old-school brewery equipment, coupled with the new techniques that they are currently using. There are also little restaurants and bars that have their own house brews. One of my favorite finds is De Garre.  Their 11% house brew is so light, you can't help but wanting another.  But they do sneak up on you.  So worth it.

Scotland: Paradise of Scotch and Landscapes

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My first trip to Scotland had only 2 goals: experience what the land of Scotch has to offer in the way of whiskey and explore the landscape.  I feel like these are always my travel goals: discover the landscape and discover local booze.  Both highly worth endeavors, I assure you.

And there's nothing like hitting the ground running: after arriving at the airport, I got my rental car and headed to one of the smallest distillery in Scotland: Edradour. It was certainly small, and the tour was very personal and full of character. It reminded me tours at smaller breweries. I wish I had more time to explore here, but I got here just in time for the last tour.  Interestingly, I never really considered myself much of a Scotch girl...I was a Jack Daniel's girl through and through; however, with this first taste of a Highland Scotch, I was instantly enamored. But alas, it was time to make it to my home base near Inverness.  

The next day I was off to Isle of Skye to Talisker and to play around in the Fairy Pools. Though Skye was beautiful and the Fairy Pools fun to play around in, my truly favorite hike was in Cairngorms National Park. At first I was concerned that beginning my hike at a ski resort would result in a lackluster experience. And it definitely started that way, but I took matters into my hands and took a random stone staircase to some amazing views!  I think somehow I got lost from the hike I was supposed to do, but I'm kind of glad that I did. The views reminded me so much of Alaska!

For me, the most interesting parts of the hike were seeing the size of the boulders...they were huge!  Massive. But, the sizes varied.  It was easy to get lost among them, between them, on top of them.  It was pretty amazing.

Also, in the thick of summer, there was snow!  A very small cow-lick of snow, but snow none-the-less.  

It was a very eventful hike.  Quite possibly one of the most difficult I have attempted.  I got lost (well, not lost..on an adventure!). I pretty much scaled a mountain side to get down into the valley.  But, it was so worth it!

And to reward myself, on the way back to the airport I stopped off at Dalwhinnie.  It was a last minute decision. I called them to see if I can get into a tour, and I was in luck: they could fit me in on the last tour I could take in order to make it back for my flight.  I honestly didn't know what to expect.  Dalwhinnie is significantly larger than Edradour, so I wasn't really thinking that it would be a memorable experience.  However, I was pleasantly surprised!  For such a large distillery, they were able to establish a small distillery feel and a tour that felt rather personal. AND! They pair their Scotch with chocolate.  CHOCOLATE. Yes. You read correctly.  I was in heaven.  Quite frankly, Dalwhinnie became my favorite Scotch.  I'm not really sure whether it's the Scotch I really like or if it's the chocolate pairs, but meh. Whatever.  I'm a fan.