Belgium...

Kristie · 03-18-2004, 05:35 PM

Here's my belgium trip report - we went over there for just a quick weekend jaunt in mid march...I don't have the photos up yet to match the text, have to get them uploaded first.
__________________________________________________ _________
Doug and I decided last Tuesday to use his long weekend and get out of dodge... so we were lucky enuff to be able to get into Brussels Belgium. I left thrusday to meet doug after his trip in ATL and off we went and got back into town within 2 days of leaving - a day and a half in belgium is all you need!

The trip was excellent.. had business elite there and back...slept most of the time and actually got good enuff sleep that there were no side effects at all (YUP. NO JETLAG)... sleeping and drinking a lot of water really help out! we decided to go for an "americanized" hotel (Marriott in central brussels) - they had a good deal with included public transportation for a day, free sunday brunch & free museum passes for a day (@ $304 total). The marriott had enuff room for us to move around, good amenities, fairly good shower, high speed internet for $22 per day (good deal if you ask me, esp if you have to look up loads) and they WERE able to check us in EARLY...an EARLY CHECK IN really MAKES or BREAKS the trip because you really NEED a shower in order to stay up all day/night like that... it also helps deter the possible jet lag of which, man, i was lucky - I had NONE... doug had just a titch but it may have been because he just got off of a trip and didn't get his 1 day to relax.. he did however, keep rolling pretty darn good.

we walked all over the place (it's easier to walk or train/metro in Europe), checked out the grand place (Grand Platz) which is where they normally hold the tulip festival in spring... right now - it's fairly dissmal there, rainy and overcast but nice and cold (40deg during the day) which perks you right up. one of the photos is of a park in front of the Royal Palace and includes several leafless trees and i'm betting that during the spring/summer time, it's a spectacular park. In another of the photos, you can see the tulips starting to pop up...

Belgium (or Belgique in french) is know for their 400 different types of beer, the homemade boisson lace, chocolatiers & belgium waffles (belgique gaufres). We tried a few of the beers and found KWAK to be the best out of what we tried... belgium folk are very particular about their beers in that they MUST be served in their own beer glasses (it's actually regulation)... KWAK has an interesting beer glass in which it looks like a yard glass but smaller and seated in wood like so...
[img:5350c4b827]http://www.mbibeer.com/beer/images/kwbotb.jpg[/img:5350c4b827]

we liked it soo much that we bought both us both a glass with 4 kwak beers in it (they even have package beers that include the glass). we also bought a ton of different types of chocolates from all the different chocolatiers - YUMMY... :-)

The interesting thing about the chocolate is that it's SO not like american chocolate... truth be know -> you only need 1 piece to suffice for the entire day. i dunno why, but that's how it works.

belgium is known as "the capital of europe" in that there are 4 different languages used in the city. the brussels people typically speak french, german or english and anywhere outside of brussels is typically dutch/flemmish.. it's so different you have no idea if you should speak french or dutch to them...and it's kind of a different french in that it's just a bit "slang" from the paris french...

you can pick up belgium waffles from small outside waffle stands and they're just awesome (better than what we make here)... and they have mime's and artistic characters (street characters) out during the weekends making some money (see photos)... that's was my first mime sighting in Europe - we didn't see any in Paris...

the beer is really different, you can drink it like water and not get a buzz (or at least I didn't get one).. I tried a wheat beer and it tasted like lemonade and very easy to drink (no buzz)... i tried a bellevue kriek beer which is a cherry beer (kriek=cherry in flemmish/dutch) and that also went down like a coke (no buzz).. each beer we drank had a distinct taste and no buzz attached.. doug tried the Stella beer and a few other different types that i don't recall...

we also traveled outside of brussels to brugge which is similar to venice in that they have canals surrounding the city. we have a few photos of brugge as well.. notice the dutch shoes picture... just a tad different than our types of shoes eh?!

also - you'll see one photo of an underwear shop window.. just goes to show just how sheltered we are here in the US and how developed the other countries are... TV over there is very much like paris tv.. always mocking the politics of hte US and really hitting on Bush (nothing irregular there) - see www.bushin30seconds.com for an idea of what they display over there commercial wise... they'll show french movies with dutch subtitles and in one prime time movie, they showed nudity (both boys and girls) and even a small kid loading a shotgun and accidently shooting his dad... very different from over here!! I like the music better and MTV Europe was the station we watched the most since they have everything but american music on there (except christina aguilera and madonna)... there's so many other musical groups out there - countries even that we never get the opportunity to hear...

as a tip:
when visiting an overseas city - we figured the first thing to do is to find out how to get to the hotel.. then once you get to the hotel - settle down for a bit, take a shower and then venture out and find out how to get around town.. then your off, on your own adventure using your own rules and time... so much fun as long as you know how to get back to the hotel!!!!!

anyways, if i think of anything else trip wise, i'll post it.

TheWife · 03-18-2004, 11:29 PM

I am glad for you that Doug likes to travel. Corbin says he'll be so tired of flying that when he's off he'll just want to be home. Big bum head. Oh well. I suppose it's for the better. I am not sophisticated enough for foreign travel, but I'd at least like to see a little of the US.

So why didn't you bring back some chocolate for me? :cry: LOL

Kristie · 03-19-2004, 11:15 AM

his 'tude will probably change when he gets into an airline where he can fly for free anywhere in the world...

and you don't have to be sophisticated at all for overseas travel.. you just have to do a bit of studying/research before you go (or on the way there)and book an american type hotel.. there's really nothing to it...

we didn't know a thing about belgium before we got on the flight... we decided to take the "crew" hotel (where the crew stays at), so that made it easier and we just went... off and running..

I remember our first overseas trip to frankfurt germany.. I know little german from high school but other than that, we knew absolutley nothing about germany, about the people or how to get around.. but you get over there and you get your "feel" based on getting lost and exploring.. that's the whole fun in it!

Doug usually has the same attitude of "I wanna be home all the time", so sometimes i have to push him and remind him that we have lots of pins left for our WALL map.. yup, we have a big world map up on the wall that we put pins into for everyplace that we've visited -> it's a helpful reminder that we have places to go, people to meet and things to do! especially since we don't have anything tying us down (kids, dog, responsibilities). since we have the opportunity to go, we try to get overseas at least once a month if we can, depending on my work schedule and his schedule... if not overseas, then i usually go visit friends elsewhere to get my flying in... haha

TheWife · 03-19-2004, 11:24 AM

Well it's not knowing the place so much as it is the food-Corbin's parents went to Europe and I'd die of starvation before eating the things they ate. I am such a bland unsophisticated eater. I don't eat a LOT of foods so I guess unless I pack my own, we'd be eating at McD every meal. LOL

Kristie · 03-20-2004, 10:22 AM

well, they still have McD's and pizza huts and types like that over there (we even saw one in Brugge and our hotel had a McD's next to it), that you'd be used to...and a lot of the bars/restaurants do serve typical american style food like sandwiches... one of the things we also do when we're over there is get a baguette sandwich.. same type of meats but in a baguette...

his parents probably tried the interesting european food that you can't get over here in the states...we normally do that too but of course, you don't have too and if you eat italian or french over here, it's going to be the same type of thing over there (just better)!! :-)

as it is, i always take some energy or nutrition bars with me, just in case i don't find anything that i like...

I think you'd do fine and who knows, maybe it'd open you up for trying some different things esp if your in an unfamiliar surroudings...

does that ease your worries any?

TheWife · 03-20-2004, 01:14 PM

Hmmm...is there Escargo in my future? Hmmmm....lol. Well I guess I got the wrong impression from his parents because when they went they stayed w/ people, and were served certain foods. MIL said she got this drink once that was some kind of fruity sludge and to be sure she didn't offend the host she drank it all, so the host promptly filled her glass to the top again. And in the DR they were given Coke that was flat, and yet it was foaming. And they always get "Stomach problems" on their trips. BUT-the chances of us going some where that we would be staying w/ other people is like 0% so as long as *I* get to choose what I am eating, I'd probably be ok!

roz · 03-21-2004, 03:35 PM

The McD's has been there for a long time--it was there in 1985 when I first visited Brugge! But, since I don't eat that kind of food here, I didn't do it there either. We managed to fine lots of really nice restaurants. I did get a kick out of the unisex bathrooms!

Kristie · 03-21-2004, 07:37 PM

well, when your staying with someone overseas, it's important to try and get into the customs as much as possible.. and no, you wouldn't want to offend your host.. luckily, doug and I don't know anyone overseas (yet), so we just do our own thing when staying at the hotel...

I have heard that if you go to Ireland - Don't eat the breakfast pudding... cuz you just don't want to know what's in it (altho i've heard it's very good)..

We didn't see any unisex type bathrooms (was that in Brugge?)..but you get used to asking for the restroom everytime you eat at a restaurant cuz you never know when your gonna have to go... haha

TheWife · 03-21-2004, 08:38 PM

I heard in France they pee outside and that they ask you if you are going #1 or #2 and charge for toilet paper based on how much you need!?! Is this true or is someone pulling my leg?

Kristie · 03-22-2004, 10:47 AM

they don't necessarily pee outside... there are "pay for" toilets that you can use that are set up in squares or medians.. typical to our port-a-poddies (however you spell them) out here but kept up much nicer and non smelly... I haven't yet tried one, but i've heard they're not bad for restrooms since you can't "necessarily" go into a restaurant and use their restrooms... the restroom bathrooms are usually worse because they're to be used by patrons and employees only...

over in london, they have outdoor "stalls" (kind of) for men that they just step up, wip it out and go in the little outdoor urinal thing... it's fairly closed off, but still.. that's weirder!!

I'll see if i can find some photos...

03-18-2004, 05:35 PM	#1 (permalink)
Kristie Admin/Owner Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 6,572 Recipes: Thanks: 7 Thanked 14 Times in 14 Posts	Belgium... Here's my belgium trip report - we went over there for just a quick weekend jaunt in mid march...I don't have the photos up yet to match the text, have to get them uploaded first. __________________________________________________ _________ Doug and I decided last Tuesday to use his long weekend and get out of dodge... so we were lucky enuff to be able to get into Brussels Belgium. I left thrusday to meet doug after his trip in ATL and off we went and got back into town within 2 days of leaving - a day and a half in belgium is all you need! The trip was excellent.. had business elite there and back...slept most of the time and actually got good enuff sleep that there were no side effects at all (YUP. NO JETLAG)... sleeping and drinking a lot of water really help out! we decided to go for an "americanized" hotel (Marriott in central brussels) - they had a good deal with included public transportation for a day, free sunday brunch & free museum passes for a day (@ $304 total). The marriott had enuff room for us to move around, good amenities, fairly good shower, high speed internet for $22 per day (good deal if you ask me, esp if you have to look up loads) and they WERE able to check us in EARLY...an EARLY CHECK IN really MAKES or BREAKS the trip because you really NEED a shower in order to stay up all day/night like that... it also helps deter the possible jet lag of which, man, i was lucky - I had NONE... doug had just a titch but it may have been because he just got off of a trip and didn't get his 1 day to relax.. he did however, keep rolling pretty darn good. we walked all over the place (it's easier to walk or train/metro in Europe), checked out the grand place (Grand Platz) which is where they normally hold the tulip festival in spring... right now - it's fairly dissmal there, rainy and overcast but nice and cold (40deg during the day) which perks you right up. one of the photos is of a park in front of the Royal Palace and includes several leafless trees and i'm betting that during the spring/summer time, it's a spectacular park. In another of the photos, you can see the tulips starting to pop up... Belgium (or Belgique in french) is know for their 400 different types of beer, the homemade boisson lace, chocolatiers & belgium waffles (belgique gaufres). We tried a few of the beers and found KWAK to be the best out of what we tried... belgium folk are very particular about their beers in that they MUST be served in their own beer glasses (it's actually regulation)... KWAK has an interesting beer glass in which it looks like a yard glass but smaller and seated in wood like so... [img:5350c4b827]http://www.mbibeer.com/beer/images/kwbotb.jpg[/img:5350c4b827] we liked it soo much that we bought both us both a glass with 4 kwak beers in it (they even have package beers that include the glass). we also bought a ton of different types of chocolates from all the different chocolatiers - YUMMY... :-) The interesting thing about the chocolate is that it's SO not like american chocolate... truth be know -> you only need 1 piece to suffice for the entire day. i dunno why, but that's how it works. belgium is known as "the capital of europe" in that there are 4 different languages used in the city. the brussels people typically speak french, german or english and anywhere outside of brussels is typically dutch/flemmish.. it's so different you have no idea if you should speak french or dutch to them...and it's kind of a different french in that it's just a bit "slang" from the paris french... you can pick up belgium waffles from small outside waffle stands and they're just awesome (better than what we make here)... and they have mime's and artistic characters (street characters) out during the weekends making some money (see photos)... that's was my first mime sighting in Europe - we didn't see any in Paris... the beer is really different, you can drink it like water and not get a buzz (or at least I didn't get one).. I tried a wheat beer and it tasted like lemonade and very easy to drink (no buzz)... i tried a bellevue kriek beer which is a cherry beer (kriek=cherry in flemmish/dutch) and that also went down like a coke (no buzz).. each beer we drank had a distinct taste and no buzz attached.. doug tried the Stella beer and a few other different types that i don't recall... we also traveled outside of brussels to brugge which is similar to venice in that they have canals surrounding the city. we have a few photos of brugge as well.. notice the dutch shoes picture... just a tad different than our types of shoes eh?! also - you'll see one photo of an underwear shop window.. just goes to show just how sheltered we are here in the US and how developed the other countries are... TV over there is very much like paris tv.. always mocking the politics of hte US and really hitting on Bush (nothing irregular there) - see www.bushin30seconds.com for an idea of what they display over there commercial wise... they'll show french movies with dutch subtitles and in one prime time movie, they showed nudity (both boys and girls) and even a small kid loading a shotgun and accidently shooting his dad... very different from over here!! I like the music better and MTV Europe was the station we watched the most since they have everything but american music on there (except christina aguilera and madonna)... there's so many other musical groups out there - countries even that we never get the opportunity to hear... as a tip: when visiting an overseas city - we figured the first thing to do is to find out how to get to the hotel.. then once you get to the hotel - settle down for a bit, take a shower and then venture out and find out how to get around town.. then your off, on your own adventure using your own rules and time... so much fun as long as you know how to get back to the hotel!!!!! anyways, if i think of anything else trip wise, i'll post it.

03-18-2004, 11:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
TheWife Jetgirls Ol' School Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Utah Posts: 1,264 Recipes: Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Belgium... I am glad for you that Doug likes to travel. Corbin says he'll be so tired of flying that when he's off he'll just want to be home. Big bum head. Oh well. I suppose it's for the better. I am not sophisticated enough for foreign travel, but I'd at least like to see a little of the US. So why didn't you bring back some chocolate for me? :cry: LOL

03-19-2004, 11:15 AM	#3 (permalink)
Kristie Admin/Owner Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 6,572 Recipes: Thanks: 7 Thanked 14 Times in 14 Posts	Re: Belgium... his 'tude will probably change when he gets into an airline where he can fly for free anywhere in the world... and you don't have to be sophisticated at all for overseas travel.. you just have to do a bit of studying/research before you go (or on the way there)and book an american type hotel.. there's really nothing to it... we didn't know a thing about belgium before we got on the flight... we decided to take the "crew" hotel (where the crew stays at), so that made it easier and we just went... off and running.. I remember our first overseas trip to frankfurt germany.. I know little german from high school but other than that, we knew absolutley nothing about germany, about the people or how to get around.. but you get over there and you get your "feel" based on getting lost and exploring.. that's the whole fun in it! Doug usually has the same attitude of "I wanna be home all the time", so sometimes i have to push him and remind him that we have lots of pins left for our WALL map.. yup, we have a big world map up on the wall that we put pins into for everyplace that we've visited -> it's a helpful reminder that we have places to go, people to meet and things to do! especially since we don't have anything tying us down (kids, dog, responsibilities). since we have the opportunity to go, we try to get overseas at least once a month if we can, depending on my work schedule and his schedule... if not overseas, then i usually go visit friends elsewhere to get my flying in... haha

03-19-2004, 11:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
TheWife Jetgirls Ol' School Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Utah Posts: 1,264 Recipes: Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Belgium... Well it's not knowing the place so much as it is the food-Corbin's parents went to Europe and I'd die of starvation before eating the things they ate. I am such a bland unsophisticated eater. I don't eat a LOT of foods so I guess unless I pack my own, we'd be eating at McD every meal. LOL

03-20-2004, 10:22 AM	#5 (permalink)
Kristie Admin/Owner Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 6,572 Recipes: Thanks: 7 Thanked 14 Times in 14 Posts	Re: Belgium... well, they still have McD's and pizza huts and types like that over there (we even saw one in Brugge and our hotel had a McD's next to it), that you'd be used to...and a lot of the bars/restaurants do serve typical american style food like sandwiches... one of the things we also do when we're over there is get a baguette sandwich.. same type of meats but in a baguette... his parents probably tried the interesting european food that you can't get over here in the states...we normally do that too but of course, you don't have too and if you eat italian or french over here, it's going to be the same type of thing over there (just better)!! :-) as it is, i always take some energy or nutrition bars with me, just in case i don't find anything that i like... I think you'd do fine and who knows, maybe it'd open you up for trying some different things esp if your in an unfamiliar surroudings... does that ease your worries any?

03-20-2004, 01:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
TheWife Jetgirls Ol' School Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Utah Posts: 1,264 Recipes: Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Belgium... Hmmm...is there Escargo in my future? Hmmmm....lol. Well I guess I got the wrong impression from his parents because when they went they stayed w/ people, and were served certain foods. MIL said she got this drink once that was some kind of fruity sludge and to be sure she didn't offend the host she drank it all, so the host promptly filled her glass to the top again. And in the DR they were given Coke that was flat, and yet it was foaming. And they always get "Stomach problems" on their trips. BUT-the chances of us going some where that we would be staying w/ other people is like 0% so as long as I get to choose what I am eating, I'd probably be ok!

03-21-2004, 03:35 PM	#7 (permalink)
roz Jetgirls Ol' School Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Philly Posts: 2,184 Recipes: Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Belgium... The McD's has been there for a long time--it was there in 1985 when I first visited Brugge! But, since I don't eat that kind of food here, I didn't do it there either. We managed to fine lots of really nice restaurants. I did get a kick out of the unisex bathrooms!

03-21-2004, 07:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
Kristie Admin/Owner Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 6,572 Recipes: Thanks: 7 Thanked 14 Times in 14 Posts	Re: Belgium... well, when your staying with someone overseas, it's important to try and get into the customs as much as possible.. and no, you wouldn't want to offend your host.. luckily, doug and I don't know anyone overseas (yet), so we just do our own thing when staying at the hotel... I have heard that if you go to Ireland - Don't eat the breakfast pudding... cuz you just don't want to know what's in it (altho i've heard it's very good).. We didn't see any unisex type bathrooms (was that in Brugge?)..but you get used to asking for the restroom everytime you eat at a restaurant cuz you never know when your gonna have to go... haha

03-21-2004, 08:38 PM	#9 (permalink)
TheWife Jetgirls Ol' School Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Utah Posts: 1,264 Recipes: Thanks: 1 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Belgium... I heard in France they pee outside and that they ask you if you are going #1 or #2 and charge for toilet paper based on how much you need!?! Is this true or is someone pulling my leg?

03-22-2004, 10:47 AM	#10 (permalink)
Kristie Admin/Owner Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 6,572 Recipes: Thanks: 7 Thanked 14 Times in 14 Posts	Re: Belgium... they don't necessarily pee outside... there are "pay for" toilets that you can use that are set up in squares or medians.. typical to our port-a-poddies (however you spell them) out here but kept up much nicer and non smelly... I haven't yet tried one, but i've heard they're not bad for restrooms since you can't "necessarily" go into a restaurant and use their restrooms... the restroom bathrooms are usually worse because they're to be used by patrons and employees only... over in london, they have outdoor "stalls" (kind of) for men that they just step up, wip it out and go in the little outdoor urinal thing... it's fairly closed off, but still.. that's weirder!! I'll see if i can find some photos...

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