'B' is for Belgium...and coincidentally also for Beer

(ps, sorry for the backlog of blogs, I've been lazy lately... I blame my current location :-)

It is no secret that I've pretty much been on a food and booze tour of Europe. This is hard to avoid, besides wanting to sample the local "flavors", the usual case is that beer, wine, or liquor (whichever is native to a particular place) is usually cheaper than ordering water or juice.

I went Belgium on recommendation from my Dutch friend Sander (who is my cousin's boyfriend's best friend). Bruxelles and then Brugge. Belgium is in my opinion the best beer country in Europe. (bollocks to all of you who think the Czech Republic is the best simply because the pilsners there are cheap and 10% Alc...I don't like pilsners, so we'll just agree to disagree on this matter) Here are my reasons:

1) Belgian people take pride in their beer making. Beer:Belgium::Wine:Italy or France. So you will usually always be presented with a quality beer no matter what you order.
2) Beer comes in 8%, 10%, and 12% varieties and is mostly Ales, Brown ales, Cask ales, Trappist, wheat beers... all types that I enjoy.
3) When you order a beer, it comes in a glass or goblet from the brewery, specially designed for that particular beer, which makes me feel special for drinking that beer (and also appeals to my food and drink snobbery)
4) There are literally hundreds of beers to try, which leads to inadvertent drunkeness, which always leads to a good time.
5) Once you are done drinking the fabulous beer, you can go out into the street and eat waffles and frittes (delicious french fries with choice of sauce... I am a fan of joppisauce and curry catsup) to your drunken munchies heart's content.

Per-capita belgium is a beer lover's paradise. It offers many different quality varietals of beer, they are all lovingly crafted and served.