Day 3, Cover Busted
IMG_3740, originally uploaded by pilotkip.
It's almost impossible to hide the fact that you're an American while traveling outside the country. Nevertheless, it's fun to try. It could help
For the two weeks prior to my trip, I tried to reduce the number of 'tells' that I exhibited, everything from what to wear on my head to what to wear on my feet. I wasn't prepared for how little it took for native Europeans to peg me.
On the third evening, we were invited to tour the Palm Brewery, quite an impressive operation. What struck me most was how rapidly they took returned bottles and turned them into cleaned, filled, new bottles. Recycling at it's best. The picture below shows part of that operation.
We learned about 4 types of fermentation, top, bottom, mixed, and spontaneous. They have separate breweries for each type. We also had an opportunity to sample some of their beers. Belgian beer is traditionally served in a glass specific to the beer. The different shaped glasses are designed to sculpt the scent that you smell.
Lots and lots of bottles of beer.
For dinner, we were invited to their estate, a working stud farm. During the tour of the stud farm, they informed us that when they purchased the property, the stables had been completely destroyed, leaving nothing but the foundation. They rebuilt the stables to their original grandeur from plans they obtained from the 1600's.
"Whew!" I said.
Suddenly the woman standing in front of me whirled around. "I knew it was an American!" she exclaimed. "Only an American would think that the 1600's were old!"
One syllable and I was pegged.
The picture above is a horse dryer. After you wash them, they need to be dried quickly or they might get sick. (I think because washing gets them wet all the way down to their skin... I may be wrong).
Dinner was served in their castle (above). It was a many-course ordeal, starting with a Framboise (raspberry) beer. They did a great job serving the 120 of us in the party.
By the end of the evening, when we boarded the bus back to town, physical and mental exhaustion set in. I literally could not function any more.
One cool note... on the walk back from the bus to our hotel we could very clearly hear the U2 concert that was going on in the Expo about a mile away!