Hello everyone! Sorry for posting almost a month! I've been traveling like crazy during my ridiculously long spring break. On March 22nd, I took an Easyjet plane to Amsterdam, Holland with my friend Brittany. Once we arrived, we took a train to downtown Amsterdam where we were greeted by several of our friends who had traveled to Holland the night before. We took a tram to our hostel that was about a 15 minute ride from the city center. The hostel itself appeared to be a hotel that had decided to pack two or three bunk beds into each room. The [View Full Entry]

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Happy Easter everyone, hope you all over indulged on chocolates! Well I had an awesome time in Brussels. Wasn’t really expecting much having heard that the city is pretty boring, but ended up really enjoying the place. Brussels is of course basically the European ‘capital’ being home to the European Parliament (not a very visually interesting building), and, despite what Jeremy Clarkson might say (and if you don’t know who Clarkson is, well watch SBS on Monday nights), the EU is pretty cool in my opinion. The city itself is not overly interesting, sure there a [View Full Entry]

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We zijn terug in Belgie. Blij van iedereen terug te zien en terug goe te kunnen eten. Maar het mocht wel langer duren. [View Full Entry]

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I'm sitting in a European suburb in Holland, and thought I should fill you in on our last week. Strasbourg was gorgeous, but a bit boring. In 4 days I managed to eat a plate of choucroute (saurekraut with pork 6 ways) 3 times: that's 75% of dinners. We stayed at a lovely former old convent come hotel (sans nuns): Hotel Patricia (highly reccomend). The highlight of the city was a tour of Kronenbourg's old brewery, which included walking around European catacomb's (where barrels of beer were kept cool pre-refridgeration) and a tasting. Since our group was only 4 people, instead [View Full Entry]

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Brussels is the next stop after Amsterdam. The one sunny day, I was able to wander around the area of the Grand Place, the main historic square. (translation:tourist area) Just happened upon an empty seat at a crowded outdoor cafe, so I ordered one of their versions of the specialty. I received a warm Belgium waffle topped with a scoop of the sweetest vanilla ice cream, sliced strawberries and chocolate sauce drizzled all over. The weather was warm enough that instead of a cup of hot filtered coffee, I sipped a tall iced coffee, and sat facing the sunshine. Can you [View Full Entry]

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Another weekend, another excuse to bugger off to the continent and play in another little corner of the world. So Friday right after work it was back to Stanstead, but no train hitches for a change. Check in, laze around and then before you know it a mere 45m after you leave ... Belgium. I flew to Brussels Chareloi Airport, which is about 45 mins from the City, so it was onto the bus then a rather circuitous taxi ride to my hostel near the centre of the city. It's the first time I've had a taxi driver ask me if [View Full Entry]

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In February, Grace and I made a trip out to the wonderful little country of Belgium. We stayed at a Hilton located in the center of Brussels that was convenient to the main train station and the local subway. I really considered Brussels a poor man's Paris. The food and the culture were fantastic, but at about half the cost of what it would've cost in Paris. [View Full Entry]

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Voici un blog qui aurait du être envoyé il y a de trois semaines:o) Comme il est jamais trop tard... voici! Première vraie sortie depuis le début de notre aventure Arrasienne! Nous avons pris le TGV jusqu'à Bruxelles dimanche soir le 3 février après une réunion de travail! Ruth, toujours fidèle, nous attendait à la gare pour nous amener dans sa nouvelle maison trois étages au cœur du centre-ville! Vin, fromage, pain en compagnie de Ruth et de son copain Alain avant d'aller se coucher. Lundi midi, nous avons retrouvé Alain aux bureaux de la Commission européenne pour la conférence de [View Full Entry]

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On the way home yesterday another photo opportunity presented itself. Check out the "Chemicals Vehicle". Unfortunately I couldn't get a decent shot of the Hazchem sign , but I like their style - dangerous chemicals in cardboard boxes in an open truck. At least they have a single strand of nylon rope holding one row of boxes down. "Oh how easy it is to poke fun at these unsophisticated people with their goats on mopeds and kids hanging out of the sunroof," I was thinking, "I am so fucking glad I come from a country with centuries of civilisation, architectural history, [View Full Entry]

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I have to be honest - the main reason I wanted to visit Belgium is for their beer. Sure, I also wanted to visit the EU capital and see a Flemish community, but mostly, for the beer. Belgium has one of the richest histories of brewing beer, and in my opinion, some of the best in the world. I visited a bar in Brugge, and with the 300 different types of beer based on regions, from Trappist monk, to sour Kriek to strong Tripel, I was very tempted to quit school, move to Brugge and become a professional beer taster. Ah, [View Full Entry]

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