This week started with the Schuman Day. It is like a national day for EU. Background is a declaration of May 9th 1950 that was presented by the French foreign minister Robert Schuman and which led to the creation of what is now the European Union.
Schuman Day
In this weeks post I continue with the Mural walk. In 1989 Belgian Centre for Comics was opened and shortly thereafter murals started to appear around Brussels as a joint initiative between the City Council and the museum. Today there are thirty or more of them usually outside the normal tourist routes. After the Spinnekoppeke restaurant where we left off last time, the walk continues and soon you will see Blake and Mortimer.
Blake and Mortimer
At this point I did a short cut and took this lovely little street. You will discover new and very different parts of Brussels during this walk.
Shortcut
After several more murals you will reach Le Plattesteen café and a well-known gay area with this mural as a backdrop.
Plattesteen
A couple of blocks later you will pass well known places like Manneken Pis and soon you will find yourself back where you started at Sablon. You can easily search these murals on the net if you like to see them all. There are also several examples of alternative routes to walk.
St Bernardus Abt 12 10,5%, this is another of the many Abbey beers. All of them with a special story to tell like this one; using the water from 150 m, proven to come from rain that fell at the time of Jeanne d’Arc.
This beer, like many others, gets a second fermentation in the bottle. This is a very nice, deep brown beer and with a good head of foam. The high alcohol gives it a very full flavour that seems to last forever. This beer is a little bit sweet with very intense taste. If you can´t get the Westvleteren 12 this is a very good substitute and much easier to get hold of.
Abt, or quadrupel, is the name given to ultra-strong Trappist and abbey ales. The name Abt was pioneered to describe Westvleteren and the beer that would become St. Bernardus. Quadrupel was pioneered by La Trappe. Abts are the darker of the two, with more rich, deep fruity notes. Quads are paler, with corresponding peachy notes. Neither have much in the way of hop but both are very strong and malty. Though both beers are bottle-conditioned, abts trend to be more towards yeastiness. Alcohol content is very high (10+% abv) for both. (info from //ratebeer)
Coming weeks:
- EU continued
- In search for the best beer (an on-going quest for the perfect pint)
- More seafood
- Cheese
- Parks
- Culture
- Markets
- Politics
Facts of the week;
Drink; St Bernardus Abt 12, 10,5%
Location; Le Plattesteen bar/restaurant/café
