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I’m not going to pretend that I know the intricacies of beer brewing and tasting, but I can say that I concur with RateBeer and BeerAdvocate in that the best beer in the world is Trappist Westvleteren 12, which is brewed by the monks of the Trappist Abbey of Saint Sixtus of Westvleteren in Belgium. The beer itself is very hard to come by (only available for pickup by appointment), and that fact alone probably accounts for much of well-deserved the hype.

After Bruges, all that separated us from Delft were three more train connections, including another “impossible” connection in Ghent. Calling upon our skills learned on the way to Gimmelwald, we caught all three.

Eurotrip I officially ended once we made it back to the apartment on October 6. John and I spent nearly the entire time from Bruges to Delft reminiscing about our 11-day journey, and we both agree that it couldn’t have been much better.

Before heading back to Delft, John and I decided to spend some time touring Belgium, specifically Bruges. A traveler from the Mountain Hostel recommended we pick up a free Use-It map and “use it” to find a Belgian pub called ‘t Brugs Beertje, where we could sample the best Belgian beers. After wandering around around Bruges and into the Béguinage (a nun community and UNESCO World Heritage Site), we finally got the map and found our pub. We spent the afternoon chatting with the local connoisseurs and ordering beers based on their recommendations.

After the pub we were craving some Belgian fries, so we checked out two fry stands that’ve been competing at the foot of the Bruges Belfry since 1896. In order to see which fry stand was better, John purchased fries smothered in stoverijsaus (hot meat sauce) from the stand on the right, and I purchased the same from the stand on the left. If you ever find yourself faced with the same decision, two out of two Bruges visitors agree that the fry stand on the right is superior!

Deeming the day another great success, we headed back to our hostel/hotel (‘t Keizershof) for a refreshing night of sleep.

After Oktoberfest, we caught a night train from Munich to Cologne, where we connected with our train to Belgium. Since the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is literally right outside the train station, we used our downtime to check out this impressive UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From September 25 – October 6, I traveled with a friend from Minnesota on a whistle-stop tour of Europe. Over 11 days, John and I managed to visit four countries (Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium), master public transportation, witness a small avalanche, hike into a glacier, eat amazing foods, participate in the world’s largest fair, and take over 1000 photos. Over the next few days I’ll be posting some of the highlights of the trip and my favorite photos.

To answer the popular question, yes I am taking classes this semester! Because of the scheduling here at TU Delft, though, I only have one class this quarter, which meets once a week. So, there’s some free time to explore a bit.