Week 17 August 3-9

It has been a pretty normal few weeks here in Belgium.  We have done a few things on the weekends, but we have mostly been doing everyday, non-blog-worthy things... like work and Dutch lessons.

Last Sunday, we headed up to the Sint-Sixtus Abbey and Westvleteren Brewery.  Another Trappist brewery of Belgium, so now we have visited 2 of the 6.  This one is even a bit more special than the others as they don't distribute the beer nationally.  Only the cafe across from the Abbey can sell it, and you can buy it yourself after a series of calls to the brewery where they give you a specific time and date to arrive.  If you can't meet those demands, you have to wait 60 days to try again.  Needless to say, we decided to try from the cafe instead of the more difficult ordering process.  They have 3 different brews and one was once touted as the BEST BEER IN THE WORLD!  It was good, but since we have had at least 3 other beers that make that same claim to fame, we aren't sure what to think anymore.  We tried the beer and of course tried the beer ice cream sundae at the cafe before heading out on a walk around the Abbey and surrounding farms.  We had a good walk and saw our first hops plants growing and headed home.

The Abbey entrance

The Beers 

Beer Ice Cream!

Hops Plants

WWI Memorial near the Abbey

Bessie (she wanted to be our best friend)

On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to go watch the Derny Antwerpen, a bicycle race featuring some of the riders from the Tour de France.  But it isn't just any race, it is a race with the riders following behind a Derny (motorized bicycle used for pacing).  It was a very interesting spectacle (see video below) and insane to see how fast these guys were going around turns!

This weekend was Antwerp Pride.  On Saturday, we attended the Pride Parade which was led by the Gay Classic Car Club, our two favorites being the Aston Martin and the Chevy Classic!  We watched the parade and then headed for the Zomerbar... basically a grassy patch/parking lot that has been covered in sand and turned into a bar for the summer.

Pride cat

Awaiting the parade

Aston Martin

Chevy

Zomerbar