It's Not All About the Food...Okay, Maybe a Little

-
Last night while I was downloading photos from our most recent trip...we went to Belgium for five days for Tom's birthday...I was laughing at all the pictures of Tom and me with food and beverages.  You know the sayings...an army travels on its stomach...the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, etc., I guess you could say the Dalrymples travel on their stomachs too. 

I joked with Tom that I was going to do a blog just with all the pictures of us eating and drinking our way across Europe.  I thought that might actually be a fun post.  So, here we go.     

Belgium is known for its mussels, chocolate and beer and we happily tried them all.  We also drank our fair share of coffee.  Now don't get alarmed at all the pictures of us with beer.  We were at no time during any of these trips inebriated and we usually only had a beer a day...okay, maybe two a day.

Tom's Birthday Dinner in Brugge, Belgium
Fish, mussels and beer...good stuff!
The "Brugse Zot" is the only beer that is still brewed in Brugge.  The brewery - De Halve Maan - has been brewing beer since 1856.  The brewery gives tours and a complimentary beer.  
Tom sporting a beer-stache
Taking a break from beer and buying some chocolate.
While in Brugge we went to the oldest pub in town for dinner.  The Herberg Vlissinghe has been operating since 1515...that's almost 500 years!  I don't have a picture of it but I had a DELICIOUS salad with bacon, goat cheese and honey.  It was like a deconstructed BLT. 
Oldest Pub in Town
Trying Tom's broccoli soup - no cream just broccoli.
Resting our weary legs and enjoying the view.
From Brugge it was on to Brussels.  Brussels was a bit of an adjustment after the wonderful cobble-stoned streets and canals of Brugge.  Best thing about Brussels was probably our meals.  For lunch we visited a classic old bar called A la Mort Subite.  It's been in the same family for five generations.  Tom really liked their blond beer and I tried one of their fruity beers...okay two of their fruity beers -- the raspberry (framboise) one and the cherry (kriek) one.  Framboise wins hands down! 
1920s decor
We had some good salads but the beer was the star.
Highly recommend this raspberry beer!
For dinner, the restaurant we were going to try was closed.  Just strolling a bit further we came upon a restaurant called Madagasikara and decided to stop.  It turned out to be amazing.  One chef...one waitress...made to order food.  Really homey, comfortable feel.  Can't say we recommend Brussels but we DEFINITELY recommend this restaurant. 
The kitchen
Enjoying his rum-flavored drink and waiting for dinner.
Now for the random shots from other trips this year.

We went to Rothenburg, Germany over Memorial Day and had a great time visiting this medieval-walled city.  We had a great lunch in one of the local restaurants.  I really liked the decor.
With these specially-carved chairs you never drink alone!
Cheers!
Spargel (white asparagus) soup
Coffee with love
Tommy enjoying his coffee...but no heart for him.
Vienna Easter Market -- street food
Tom enjoying his Budvar in Prague
Apple strudel in Salzburg
When we aren't traveling we don't do too bad for ourselves when we are at home. 
Bon Appetit!

Comments

  1. JuRitaAugust 4, 2011 at 1:28 PM

    Delicious... I would LOVE to eat a meal with you guys again. Even a coffee would do! Bless you both friend!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Letter I Never Wrote

-
Image
A draft of this blog post has been sitting in my unpublished queue for many years now. You'll see that the book I start the post with is one I read in 2020. This post is about the death of my mother's oldest sister, my Aunt Almeda.   I noticed that death, grief, and illness were themes in some of my reading in 2023. I read John Gunther's Death Be Not Proud, Laurel Braitman's What Looks Like Bravery , Elizabeth Alexander's The Light of the World , Terry Tempest Williams' Refuge , Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking , and Suleika Jaouad's Between Two Kingdoms .   Recently I've found a lot of creative inspiration from Suleika Jaouad. There is a documentary on Netflix right now called American Symphony and she recently did a nearly 2-hour-long interview with Rich Roll for his podcast . I would strongly recommend both, as well as her book.  I got the feeling that now might be the time to complete this post. So, here it is.   *** The last book I r
Read more

Walking in History...Visiting Normandy during the D-Day Anniversary

-
Image
This is probably a blog I should do in two posts but I'm going to try and do it in one.  I'll try to minimize my words and let the photos tell the story. Over World War II's D-Day anniversary, Tom and I traveled to Normandy on a 3-day USO tour.  It was a whirlwind, jam-packed trip that maximized every moment of what were 13 to 14 hour-long days.  I had been looking forward to the trip for months and believe that visiting that historic site during the anniversary is a trip of a lifetime.   In two-and-a-half days we visited three of the D-Day invasion beaches (Gold, Omaha and Utah); visited the American and the German cemeteries; visited Point du Hoc and Saint-Mere-Eglise; went to the Airborne Museum (although we didn't stay long because of the crowds) and the Museum of the Battle of Normandy (which is a VERY good museum); we saw the Longues-sur-Mer Gun Battery and concluded the visit at Pegasus Bridge.  If you've ever seen the movie "The Longest Day" it
Read more

The Joys of Nature Journaling

-
Image
Last month I went to a daylong Introduction to Nature Journaling workshop led by Roseann Beggy Hanson of Exploring Overland and hosted at the Amerind Museum . I knew nothing about nature journaling ahead of the class. It just sounded like something that might complement my own personal journaling and the House Journal I've been keeping since we moved into the new house in February 2023.  In my House Journal I record seasonal observations from Dalrymple Ranch, as my girlfriend Sydney calls our place. Since I walk the pups 2-3 times a day, I notice when a type of wildlfower first appears or when a particular cactus blooms. I also try to note when we have snow or a big rain storm. And while I don't do it as regularly, I do record some wildlife observations too. Thanks to keeping my journal last year I learned that there is an order in which our cacti tend to bloom. Hedgehogs bloom before the prickly pear. Cholla bloom after the prickly pear have started and then barrel cactus
Read more