A Pew All Our Own: Belgium Brewery Weekend

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Belgium Brewery Weekend

After Judah's birthday we had a weekend trip with some friends of ours and we traveled around a bit, staying in a micro brewery/B&B that is one of Brian's favorites. We had one room between all eight of us which sometimes works, but this time was a bit too tight. The second night, Brian ended up sleeping on the floor which he does quite nicely since his back seems to like hard surfaces. It only had two full sized beds and one twin. Judah slept in a sleeping bag on the floor and Bobby was in a pack-n-play.

Just a picture from before we left when I was packing and Isaac was spending some quality time with Bobby, reading to him in the rocking chair.

Anyway, we arrived Friday night and just let the kids play in the garden. That day was really just a travel day.

Saturday we had breakfast and then drove to Beauraing, Chimay, and Orvall.

The B&B we stayed at had a house where the rooms and dining hall were, and then had this cute little bar across the driveway. This was Saturday morning before leaving on our day trip.

I got to braid somebody's hair at breakfast!

We have already been to Beauraing, but our friends hadn't so we stopped there in the morning and looked around. We had not previously been down into the crypt with Pope St. JP II's relic, so we were able to do that this time and to see the cloth that had his blood on it from when he was shot.

We had also been to Chimay last time we lived over in Europe, but it had been so long and I have good memories of it. We ate at the restaurant there across from the monastery first and then went to the monastery. I spent most of my time in the gift shop trying to buy gifts for a few people.

Unfortunately, by the time we got to Orvall, the place we had not been to yet, it was closing in ten minutes. We would have had to pay for entry and it was not going to be worth it. We looked around the outside and went in the gift shop there as well. We stopped at a friterie on the way home to get food to go. We had a weird and scary run in with a crazy driver. Basically, a guy pulling a trailer got angry and started trying to block our friend's van so he could get out and confront him, but luckily we were both able to get around him. Then he caught up with us all again and tried to run our friend's van off the road repeatedly. Eventually, I guess he was satisfied with the degree they had to swerve off the road into the grass and left. This was all on farm roads and no one else was around but us. We were behind our friends and so we saw the whole thing. Very bizarre!

The next day, we had planned to have breakfast and then go to Tongerin to the flea markets, where we'd also find a church and have Mass with our resident priest with whom we travel (AKA Godfather Brian.) However, plans were quickly changed since Genevieve got sick and threw up all morning long. Instead we had breakfast and then had Mass an hour later in the gardens of the B&B. Tongerin was abandoned and we just headed home. No sooner had we pulled up to our house then our resident priest got sick and started throwing up too. During the month he stayed with us this was the second time that we got him sick. Poor guy!

Here are the relics of JP II.

This is a terrible picture of us, BUT I think it shows how much we look alike and have a similar non-smiling resting face. Really, it's like in those magazines at the check out counters when they take pictures of famous people when they are just walking on the street and they look horrible.

This is apparently the only real picture we got at Chimay. I love eating outside with the bright green scenery that goes on for days. You feel like you are the only ones in the world. There are two big playgrounds for the kids which made it a perfect break from all the driving for them and us.