Hotel Le Soyeuru

the dilemma

by tompt

The dilemma in Spa, what to drink. Belgium famous for its beer, and Spa famous for its water.

In the restaurant of our hotel we ordered two beers (Jupiler pilsner) and a bottle of Spa.
The price of the beer was 2.25 a glas, the bottle Spa water was 6 Euro. That means price related there was not much difference.
So we still have the dilemma what to drink in Spa?

Spa, in search for the source

by tompt

Tucked away in the Ardennes in the east part of Belgium is a small city called Spa. It was once a famous resort, a place where people came to get well. To rest and to bath in the springwater. Today the glamour is gone, but it is still a place where tourists come. In search for the source of the famous natural spring water. In our country the name SPA is so famous it is used to order any kind of mineral water. If you want mineral water without bubbles you ask for Spa blauw and for sparkling water the word is Spa rood. Both referring to the color of the Spa bottles blue or red.

So when the opportunity occured to visit Spa we gladly accepted. Tom was going to do the cyclingtour la Fleche de Wallonie organised every year on the saturday after Ascensionday. Too much steep hills here for Gonnie, so she went walking in search for the source. It turned out to be there are 7 important sources, and failing to understand the Belgian signposts, it took her five hours of walking up and down the hills to find only three. The next day we took the car and found all seven easily.

Then the next disappointment. The water coming out of the ground is absolutely not tasty......
The wells bring up water very rich in iron. You can see it in the orange color on the ground under the pumps. It is all rust.
Some wells have more iron than others. For instance the Pouhon Pierre-le-Grand has 19 mg / liter, and the Géronstère only 3,4 mg / liter. But both taste like putting your teeth in an iron bar.

So what did we learn from this?

wheather in Spa or not after a long and exhausting cyclingtour you drink a delicious icecold beer.....

Want to know more about Spa?
http://www.spa-info.be/ , website in dutch and french.