In de Verzekering Tegen de Grote Dorst

One of the things I was looking most forward to in Belgium was revisiting our favorite beer cafe: In de Verzekering Tegen de Grote Dorst. We first visited Dorst a couple years ago and immediately fell in love with the place and the family who runs it (the Panneels). You can read more from our first trip here.

I wondered if they'd remember us two years later. The place is only open on Sundays and church holidays so we rolled up on Christmas day right when they opened. We were the only ones there so all eyes were on us when we walked in the door. There was a brief silence. I could tell we looked familiar to them, but the cogs were turning as they tried to figure it out. Smiles came to their faces when they remembered and they gave us hugs like old friends had just shown up. It was a great moment.

We stood at the bar talking with Maurice, Lydia, and Kurt for a little while and Kurt brought out a nice bottle of Giardin Oude Geuze Black Label for us to enjoy. As people started to file in, we grabbed a spot out of the way at a table. The Panneels told some of the cafe regulars that we were working on learning Flemish and they were happy to come over and give us a hard time. My Flemish is nearly non-existent, and Christine's is rudimentary. But it's fun to learn.

Since our last visit, they have started a guest book at the cafe. They had put the Christmas card we sent them last year inside the guest book, and apparently we had been the subject of some discussion in our absence. I don't know what they talked about, but it was probably something to the effect of "those crazy American alcoholics".

There is no place in Belgium (and probably the world) that carries the selection of Lambics that the Panneels carry. We sampled some really good stuff over the next few hours. We were settling up on our bill as the 1:30 PM closing time approached and Maurice and Lydia asked us if we would come over for dinner. That's not entirely accurate. They insisted we come over.

What an amazing gesture. In all the years they've been running the cafe they've never invited anyone over to their house, so it's pretty cool that they wanted us to come over and talk some more. I originally thought we'd just be going over to have some soup, but we ended up talking and eating for a few hours. It was fun getting to know them and learn more about their family. It's the unexpected moments like this that make a trip memorable.