We are greeted by four guys in traditional dress swishing enormous flags around on the end of long poles to a drum beat. The gardens below the castle have sculptured box hedges and there are stone steps up to the first terrace, where we can see out over the farmland, which is bathed in a golden early evening light. Espaliered pear trees and grapes grow up against the castle walls. It feels like being in a fairy tale. it's hard to believe I didn't even blink and I am in another country.
We walk up spiral stone steps inside the castle, lit by candles. I'm with Alberto and Ariadna from Spain. Behind the castle there is a complex of interconnecting caves, hollowed out of the hill in 1698. The caves are lit by candles and there are several white-uniformed waiters handing out drinks. Everyone has a glass of wine and I wonder if there is even an alternative, until I spot a waitress with a glass of orange juice near me, so I ask her for some orange juice too. The other person with orange juice is Jos from Holland and I say, "Ah, a fellow orange juice drinker!" and we clink glasses.
The food is very European... scampini in lobster sauce, veal with prunes, potatoes in mozzarella cheese, and this slices of raw beef with bacon and salad (I couldn't bring myself to try the raw beef!) Different dishes are served in different parts of the caves. There is a jazz band playing outside and a DJ inside.
It's a great atmosphere and I talk to some interesting and nice people, but after a while it's getting pretty loud and there are so many people, and I feel the need for a bit of space. Not sure where to go, so I wander around and then discover that inside the castle itself is a wide wooden staircase going up to another level. There are no signs saying not to go there, so I decide it must be ok. Upstairs there are two high-ceilinged dining rooms, dimly lit, with heavy patterned curtains and ornately framed pictures and mirrors on the walls. One of the dining rooms has several large chandeliers and I figure out that this must be where the Treaty of Maastricht must have been signed. The other room is warm and ambient, and has classical music playing, so I sit down on one of the dining chairs, feeling a bit guilty about being antisocial, but at the same time knowing that this is the way I'm built. I'm quite capable of being sociable and making conversation, and I've very much enjoyed people's company, but I don't handle big crowds for extended times and I do like space and solitude to balance that up.
A girl pops her head around the doorway and it turns out she is also looking for some peace and quiet. Kindred spirits! She is from Kansas and her name is Sarah. We sit and talk for a while and then we go down to get our dessert. Feeling like naughty kids we carry our plates up the stairs and back to the grand dining room. We have it all to ourselves.
Leaving on the bus, I can hardly believe I've been so lucky to have dinner at a castle in the Belgian countryside. I'm going to remember this for a long time.
That big room sounds beautiful! I think I would have hung out in there as well. Sigh...oh to be a world traveller right now.
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