Sunday - Poperinge

Golden fields of tall corn from the train window on the way to Poperinge. Iowa or Belgium?

Typical houses in the country from the train.

Dogs are commonly allowed in restaurants.

Had ordered lasagna for lunch and lasagna for 4 arrived. I said wow and the waitress laughed. Most of you who know me know I can eat but I could only manage a little over half of this. Plus I was planning to head to St. Sixtus soon and did not want to get too bogged down. Also contained ham as an interesting twist, and because it just didn't have enough in it already.

Finally arrive at St. Sixtus Abbey at the In De Vrede (the abbey pub with parking for tour buses) for my first Westvleteren 12 - the consensus "number one" beer in the world according to a lot of different beer rating sites. It was pretty darn good but a little too strong on the alcohol at 10.5%. I could only "choke one down" but I gave it a 4.5 anyway.

The abbey from the outside, you are not allowed inside.

With seating for about 300 the place was completely packed. Lots of senior citizens were putting the strong beer away on a Sunday afternoon. But that goes for pretty much any afternoon in Belgium.

The blond - a much better choice for a Sunday afternoon. Sort of like a strong hoppy Belgian wheat beer.

A slightly blurry self portrait while waiting for the bus to take me back to town.

Poperinge is the center of Belgian hops production. Took this photo of a hops field from the bus. They are about 16 feet tall.

At my Popering B & B - saw this in the garage - the owners Bea and Guy know how to have fun.

A very very nice room with great beds.

A very nice shower.

Sink with a view.

In another nice pub called The Old Fiddler with a kind of Lord of the Rings feel to it. Hops hanging from the ceiling.

Night scene of one of the old churches with a statue from WWI. Poperinge was the main rest spot for allied troops fighting in Belgium. The front was about 20 miles from here. There are huge military cemeteries all around the area.

One of the local restaurants.

A Chinees Restaurant - note the spelling change.

I liked this sign - does it mean you will encounter that in 70 meters or that there is 70 meters of it waiting for you?

Another cool sign.

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Today I got up early and packed to head to Poperinge in the far southwest corner about 5k from France. As has been the case consistently, I made it to the train station by chance with 5 min to spare - hopped on and was on my way. First the train went to Kortrijk, and then I switched trains from there to Poperinge. People were already drinking beer at the Kortrijk train station at 10:21 am and the vending machine outside next to the platform contained cans of Jupiler - the Bud of Belgium. Arrived in Popering and walked about 1.5 miles to the B & B. Ironically in the smallest town I visited, my sleeping spot is furthest from the center. Arrived at Bea's and there was a note taped to the door with a cell phone number written on it. Luckily I had my cell phone so I called and Bea answered. She was terribly sorry but they though I would arrive in the evening and they were driving to Brussels for the day. It was my fault that I didn't confirm things - and luckily Bea's daughter lives in town so she drove over to let me in.

Got settled into a very nice place. The house is amazing and has been in the family since 1910. It's in perfect condition with great rooms and a huge private garden out back. Headed back into town with hopes of renting a bike and riding to St. Sixtus and maybe around the town a little. The bike shop which is in a hotel was closed - both the shop and the hotel. I called the number of the hotel and the owner answered and it sounded like he was in a pub somewhere. Sorry we are closed today. So my hopes of a bike ride evaporated. Luckily the tourist office was open so I went there to inquire about getting to St. Sixtus. There are no taxis and no regular buses or trains, only a bus that you phone in to arrange a ride. You have to call 2 hrs ahead, because the bus is usually pretty empty. So they try to get reservations lined up. Since I had 2 hours to kill I decided to eat lunch (see above) and then went to the Hops museum - which was really well done and covers the hops production which is centered in this area. There were even real hops spilled on the floor of the museum elevator - so it must be good.

Caught the Bell bus to St. Sixtus and headed out to try the #1 beer in the world. The place was packed to the gills. Even the garden out side was full. Word had gotten out about the reputation of this beer and it is extremely hard to get as you can not buy it in stores. You have to phone in to the Abbey on specific dates and then drive out to pick up you beer at a set time. That's the only way to buy bottles - but you can drink glasses of it at the Abbey pub across the street. My return on the Bell Bus was for 2 hrs later and I certainly did not want to miss it and walk the 4-5 mi back to town. I enjoyed one of the #1 beers and a couple of the lighter blond beers. They were all very good and the countryside around the Abbey is beautiful and worth the trip.

Got back to town and back to the B& B and met Bea and Guy. They were very nice and Bea even treated me to a beer because she felt bad about not being home. We talked for a while and it turns out they used to own the main hotel and pub in town that was famous for it's beer list. The guy who wrote my Belgian beer tour book used to stay with them on a regular basis. I mentioned that I had his book and that he had emailed me and sent me the book from England - and they asked for his email address so they could contact him. Guy is the president of the local beer association and has organized a yearly beer festival in the area. He also has a tasting club with 24 members - one for each beer in a full case.

Afterwards - I went to get a late dinner. The place closed at 9:00 which is when I arrived. It was still completely full and they let me order dinner. Belgians feel it is idiotic to close your bar if the place is full and people are spending money.