Blogs from Belgium, Europe - page 175

9 April 2004 Friday. We slept in and after a wonderful breakfast at the Holiday Inn restaurant. I had forgotten to call my credit card companies to tell them I would be in Europe, and by now was on my last card; the others having been cancelled. I called Linda to have her call the companies and tell them where I was and to reactivated the cards. She was well aware that the cards had been cancelled as she tried to pay for groceries and the cards were not accepted. We hit the road about 10 am, taking the autoroute north to Belgium. We arrived at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) near Mons about noon and told the guards that we needed to go to the hospital, so that the kids could see where ... read more

We have been to Brussels many times, but being in Brussels with mum is just a completely different experience. We enjoyed it very much! As usual, Brussels was rainy and cloudy, but it did not spoil our joy!... read more

Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - Brussels, Belgium What’s up with Europe and pickpocket? This is my third personal encounter with pickpockets through our backpack journey in Europe. Ko Sing drove us to Zaandam Centraal around 7:20am to catch a train to Brussels via Amsterdam. When our 8:23am train finally arrived in Amsterdam Centraal platform, we were boarding the second class passenger car in order: Jason and Ryan stood in front of me, making me an easy target for thieves, as my backpack hanging loosely behind my back without anybody worthy keeping an eye on it. My big mistake is that I didn’t pay much attention of my surroundings, as we were distracted by people getting off and on the train, while trying to secure the best seats on the passenger car for ourselves. And surely enough, ... read more

I might not write the exact datas when i visited Belgium because it's always been my home-based when i'm on trip in summer. Brussels is a relatively small and lovely city with a beautiful town square and lively nightscene.. The flower carpets is set in the market square every 2 years... And It's always nice to visit in the weekend and just wander around the old market and have some drinks in one of the bars. Antwerpen is very nice city for dining out with loads of cute and cosy restaurants with many many different cuisines. Brugge is also the city you can called Venice because of its canals (yeah Venice is everywhere lol).. Leuven, the student city... and many more... those cities are in flemish-speaking part (Vlanderen). Even then some of french speaking (Wallonia) are ... read more

It's ball time in Antwerp. Many, many university students have dressed up for the occasion. With some exceptions, e.g. the freak who thinks that wearing a pink t-shirt with a tie is rebelish. Hilton Hotel in Antwerp is a very nice venue. The ball room holds millions of people, this evening a rough equal mix of ladies and gentlemen. Beer is good. Atmosphere is good. Company is good. The band is not bad. They should have continued all night. The DJ(s) must be drunk. Their idea of a great mix of ball music is rather peculiar and confusing. The songs chosen are not the problem. The mix of them becomes a problem, leaving tons of people standing in their fancy clothes confused to their bones. The intro to "Eye of the tiger", continued with some Aerosmith, ... read more