Woke up...

Fell out of bed

Dragged a comb across my head

Found my way downstairs and drank a cup

And looking up

I noticed I was late

¬Beatles

7/1/10

Today I woke up, packed and went to school. In between classes I met my entertainment law professor (Biederman) for coffee. We talked about breaking in, problems with the music business today, and he gave me some great recommendations as far as books to read. After my next class I went back to finish packing and headed over to St Pancras/King's Cross to catch the train to Brussels.

When I arrived I had trouble changing money and finding the subway I was looking for but I finally managed to get to the right place and meet Jean-Louis, my couchsurfing host for the night. Jean-Louis was an incredible host and the location of his place could not have been more perfect. It was right around the corner from Place Du Marche Aux Herbes, the area that I wanted to explore that evening.

After I dropped off my bag at his place we head to Chez Leon for dinner. On the way we come across a parade for the Ommegang festival (a Dutch heritage festival) and while we were admiring the event Jean-Louis bumped into two of his friends who joined us for dinner.

Chez Leon felt like the Carnegie Deli of Brussels but for mussels instead of pastrami. Inside you can find caricatures of mussels, a video of how mussels get from the see to your plate, etc. I ordered mussels, frites, and Maes (a Belgian beer that was very similar to Budweiser) for 12 Euros. Apparently, Jacques Brell (who is alive and well and living in Paris) wrote a song about this place. Anyways, the mussels were great but the fries could have been better.

From Chez Leon we head over to Delirium which boasts a selection of over 2000 beers from around the world. What was even better was that every Thursday night Delirium holds an open mic jam, so there was plenty of great live music to fill the air. The first beer I tried was Orval, a Belgian Trappist ale brewed at the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval monastery in the Gaume region of Belgium. It was very interesting to see how each beer had its own custom glass and pouring instructions. The next beer I tried was Westmalle Tripel, another Trappist beer made by monks in Westmalle. I followed that up with a Chimay Bleue (by far my favorite) another Trappist ale from (you guessed it) Chimay, Belgium. Aside from its incredible taste Chimay Bleue stood out for having a 9% alcohol content. Wawaweewa! I finished off the night at Delirium with a La Chouffe, a blonde beer from Achouffe, Belgium that is not made by monks. From there we headed to Floris Bar, an absinthe bar that had many interesting ways of serving the drink. The one I tried was out of a glass pipe after setting it on fire. Whoa!

The evening took some very interesting turns from Floris, the details of which I'll have to tell you about in person....

Well, let me just quote the late, great Colonel Sanders. He said, "I'm too drunk to taste this chicken."

¬Ricky Bobby

Part of the Ommegang Day festivities

Chez Leon

Delirium (indeed)