This majestic little town is nestled between a steep cliff and the river (which also divides it in half) and it absolutely charming while still fun to explore. There is a large Citadel, Citadelle de Dinant, that impressively overlook the entire town and was a fortress during the World Wars. There are also pictureque streets to meander through, throngs of small bars offering all of the Belgian beers that you could ever hope for, the home of the man who invented the saxophone, and many other charming aspects. Unfortunately, one thing that we did not have time to do, that was really highly recommended, was the cave exploration that was available in the area. If you make it here, I would recommend that you schedule some time for this!
We arrived mid-afternoon after a dreary and rain (but still completely awesome drive made awesome by pastry!) and spent some time just walking around the town to get a feel for it before heading out to check into our accommodations for the next 2 nights. The reason that this town was on my list was the impressive Citadel looming over the city and this one restaurant that was so highly rated for its waffles. Many Belgium towns have citadels, but this was was so impressive on it's cliff overlooking the town that was confined by the river. It was just a site/sight that I wanted to see with my own eyes, not just from looking at pictures.
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| The saxophone museum...the instrument was invented here |
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| Free concert at the cathedral |
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| Walking over the bridge between the two halves of town |
After walking around for a few hours, we FINALLY sampling on some fine Belgian chocolates from Neuhaus (Here is the
*LINK*, trust me, order some!), the dark chocolate truffle was my favorite! Honestly...Belgian chocolate is hands down the most amazing chocolate in the world. I don't know what they do so differently but it is incredible. I know I could find it somewhere on the internet, but I prefer to stay in mystery. And no, there is no picture of the chocolate, just as there were no pictures of French pastries...we ate them. I think that says enough.
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| Adam and another Trappist brew |
After checking into our new place and cleaning up for a bit, we headed out for a nice "Belgian" dinner in the country and enjoyed some libations back in Dinant over the course of the evening as the sun slowly disappeared from the sky. One thing that we had to get use to was the fact that the sun did not set until 9:30p while we were there, so it made the days seem graciously long for our vacation enjoyment.
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| Sunset over Dinant |
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| Beautiful sunset colors |
Honestly, I am not a beer drinker, I think we all firmly understand this about me by now. This is why Dinant was one of my most eagerly anticipated stops, as it had nothing to do with beer, but just about enjoying Belgium. Yes, I did find some wonderful beers that I liked along the way, but I did not know that when we set out on this trip. Though I do always love doing the brewery tours! So we were up early to get out exploring Dinant more in-depth, so to the Citadel we went! You can opt to take the tram to/from the top or the stairs, or any combination there of, so we opted for steps up. Trust me, you need a good work out whenever you can get it on a trip like this one, to burn off some of those calories! So up we went.... No I did not count the steps, but I should have, it was a good but quick workout of at least a few hundred steps. It was also a beautiful way to overlook the city from different vantage points.
The fortress itself is now a museum that we spent about two hours milling around and exploring, quite intriguing and interesting. It is a "must see" if you are in the region.
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| Citadelle de Dinant: Up we go.... |
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| ....and go.... |
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
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| Citadelle de Dinant: LOVE |
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
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| Citadelle de Dinant: Hiked up but enjoyed the tram ride back down |
Yes, we did the work to get up, but there was no way that I was going to risk my clumsy self venturing back down the narrow and steep steps. Plus, the tram just offered different views to enjoy. You pay the same price whether you hike or tram your way to/from the top.
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
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| Citadelle de Dinant |
Afterwards, we had worked up a decent appetite for breakfast/lunch and headed to the highly aniticipated
Solbrun cafe/restaurant in the heart of the town, overlooking the river. This is worth going out of your way to enjoy waffles if you are anywhere in the area. We (we = Americans) have absolutely NO concept of what "Belgian waffles" are, and I promise you, no matter how fantastic of waffles you have had...these were better. Oh dear God, the waffles. They are slightly crispy on the outside and soft/poofy air batter on the inside. The locals only enjoy their waffles with a small sprinkle of powdered sugar over them (no syrup, fruit, jam, anything...), but we opted to indulge a little bit. We shared a waffle with powdered sugar and a scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream and a waffle with bananas and ice cream, all waffles coming with chocolate sauce. I cannot emphasize enough how amazing they were. Just know that this experience should be on a life bucket list.
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| Solbrun: Post hike celebration |
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| Solbrun: Cappuccino love |
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| Solbrun: Perhaps the greatest breakfast of my entire life. PLEASE note the liquid chocolate topping = HEAVEN! |
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| Solbrun: Les Gaufre = WAFFLES! So many different options! |
