Today we decided to take a quick trip into Belgium from Tilburg. The primary reason is to buy fuel for François. The diesel in Belgium is 30 t0 50 cents per liter less than the Netherlands. In fact in the morning I ran into one of the campground workers and he asked our plans for the day. When I told him we were going to pop into Belgium for fuel- he laughed and said that we were now officially Tilburgers, as they all did that, he also mentioned we should get some beer while we were there.
We took a walk around Turnhout the town in Belgium and it is a nice market city that looks quite prosperous. Ton and I were talking and I mentioned that I liked Belgium better than the Netherlands. Ton agreed, the differences are minor (Flemish and Dutch are virtually the same language), but we have had more fun interactions with Belgians than with Dutch, we love Belgian beer, and the towns seem a little warmer and pedestrian friendly.
To follow thru on the advice of the campground guy we stopped in a really cool pub to try a couple of the local brews. The highlight was from a brewery called Corsendonk. This is a former Trappist Brewery founded in the 1400’s that is now not affiliated with the church, but still brewing great beer. We really enjoyed the beer, and Ton put it to a test by ordering her go to Belgian beer to compare, the Corsendonk beat it convincingly. Unfortunately, like our other favorite Belgian beer, very little of this beer gets out of Belgium.
We visited a couple of other historic sites that every medium to large city has, including a small castle, and the church. But, we were drawn to the pubs. There were several, but we had to stick to the one or I wouldn’t have been able to drive back to Tilburg.
Turnhout was a pleasant surprise for us, and “turned out” to be more than just a place to get cheap gas. It is a great little town with good vibes and world class beer. Just perfect for us. Belgium continues to surprise and delight us.
On the way out of town we got our “cheap” diesel. It was still more than $10 per gallon. However, the beer was half the price of Dutch beer, and less than we would pay in Oregon.
When we returned to the campground, the good weather and holiday had brought a big crowd in the park. We got to enjoy a lot of people watching while we enjoyed an excellent dinner Ton prepared. Also, Happy Birthday Ton.
$10/gallon. Hold onto your wallet. Wowza and that is the cheap diesel. I just checked Norway and they are $11.69/gallon. We will definitely be driving slower freeway speeds and minimizing unnecessary driving, but I am also hoping this means less tourists?