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Belgium

It is not the time for moulles...
Leuven is perfect.
Maybe you can bring a sample of your work with tou and show it in Willebroek in the w-e
You're welcome.
 
Beautiful day in Leuven today. Our hotel is above the Cafe Leffe, and we were exhausted from traveling, so we went downstairs for a steak frites for lunch, and I did have a Leffe Trippel, but that shouldn't stand in the way of sampling other Trappist ales, which I've had in the US, but I'm sure they're fresher and otherwise better over here. We've otherwise been wandering around aimlessly, while we have the time to do it, which seems to be a perfectly delightful thing to do in Leuven.
 
Philippe is quite correct about the beer... Leffe is made by Interbrew... Try Chimay, Duvel, La Mort Subite, Delirium Tremens... If you're into strange new tastes you can try Kriek too...

In Brussels, don't forget to visit the Falstaff and La Mort Subite, two of the oldest and most beautiful bistrots. And you can eat great fish (try the soup, it's delicious) at Chez Jacques, which is on Place St Catherine (st Catherines Square).

Campion is a thief. Don't even consider buying anything there. Just opposite you can find L'Ultime Atome, a neat bistrot that attracts young population... not a must-see, though....

I hope my info is still valid, for it is old...
 
Chimay, Duvel, and Delerium Tremens are easy enough to find in New York, and I used to get Affligem from a shop in Brooklyn, but I don't know if they pasteurize them for the US market. I'm not sure if I've seen La Mort Subite in the US. Clearly, research is needed after I've given my paper at the conference. Fortunately, I'm the opening speaker.
 
The Duvel I drank in Flanders didn't taste like the Duvel I drank in Omaha.
 
Thus, the environment one is in inflicts on ones senses....
 
AgX said:
Thus, the environment one is in inflicts on ones senses....
Click to expand...

Well, yes...but that wasn't my point. What comes out of a tap in Belgium is objectively different than what one buys here. First, draft beer is superior to bottled beer. Second, unpasteurized beer may kill you but it tastes better than pasteurized beer. Third, fresher beer is better than less fresh beer.

There is no way I can get a Duvel here that is as good as a Duvel I can get there....not even if I bring it there to drink it.
 
George Papantoniou said:
Campion is a thief. Don't even consider buying anything there. Just opposite you can find L'Ultime Atome, a neat bistrot that attracts young population... not a must-see, though....
I hope my info is still valid, for it is old...
Click to expand...

Dear George,

I am pleasingly surprised by your knowledge about the our beers, go on like this and enjoy life!
I can advice the superb and very tasteful BINK beer, an extremely well brewed lager coming from an micro brewery near Sint-Truiden! It is the best lager I have been tasting in 20 years and I am very serious about this! See : http://www.brouwerijkerkom.be/ .

About Campion, yes he's not cheap, quite expensive, but the stuff he sells is of rather good quality, comes with a correct warranty and he is offering a vast supply of interesting items, everything has a price...

The Ultime Atome is one of my favourites in Brussels.

And about Leuven, I can advice a nice an very informal caffé-bistrot called DE WERF at the corner of the 'Hogeschoolplein' good and affordable food (but int********w beer...).

Santé,

Philippe
 
leicam5 said:
I can advice the superb and very tasteful BINK beer, an extremely well brewed lager coming from an micro brewery near Sint-Truiden!
Click to expand...

I could add that BINK is served in Leuven, Oude Markt - I believe at the BLOKHUT or somewhere...

M.
 
Beer, beer, beer! Hey y'all, Belgium is not just about beer! Will someone please talk about . . .chocolate?! (some cafés there give you GODIVA chocolate with your cup of coffee...as Homer Simpson might say , "mmmmm .. Lady Godiva")

By the way David, —if you're still reading this-here thread that you mothered (no insult intended!)— the town of Dinant, birthplace of instrument inventor Adolphe Sax, is really a worthwhile visit. I believe it is closer to you than Brugges (?) and there are many great pictures to take, especially from the citadel on the cliff behind the super-tall church. (http://goeurope.about.com/library/graphics/gal/dinant_1.jpg)

Also, I just remembered that I have a photographer-friend in Leuwen, Berten Steenwegen. Good photographer, good person. Sometimes he helps-out at the Fotospeed stand at Photokina. If you'd like to get in touch with him, here's his website; http://www.berten.be/index.html

Best,

Christopher
 
Dear Christopher,

You are absolutely right, there is more than good beer, good chocolate and exquisite restaurants in Belgium!
As a matter of fact, there are a lot of historical and archaeological sites over here, not to mention the superb musea. Actually, for a population of hardly 10 mil., there are a lot of cultural experiences to live, and numerous photo opportunities...

And every body is more than welcome!

Santé,

Philippe
 


..and nice people (with very few exceptions so far!).


.
 
Today's events didn't leave much time for photography, but Leuven is such a civilized place. The cafe culture is much more laid back than anywhere in the US, and it doesn't feel like a tourist thing. Bicycles, pedestrians, and cars seem to share space with astonishing ease. It's been very child friendly--lots of strollers everywhere. The food and beer have been great. The weather has been perfect, but tomorrow there should be rain. We'll definitely have to come back when we have more time.
 
It's no wonder that people like Paul Strand went to Europe not intending to move there and stayed. Even more so these days.

Are there WWI memorials nearby?

Have fun,
Curt
 
There are many memorials in Leuven. The library was destroyed twice, once in WWI and once in WWII--an enormous cultural loss since it had been a repository for Latin books and manuscripts from the age of Erasmus--so the exterior walls of the library are carved with the names of many international educational institutions that made donations to rebuild the collection and the university.
 
argus said:
David,

very nice subject you have:
http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/slavic/schulz/program.htm

But I'm sure You won't give a talk on neither Belgian or Tsjech beer ;-)

Greetings,
G
Click to expand...

Hmm..
So of course I follow the link, and then the link to the abstract, and then read the abstract and then... argh, information interruptus. There must be a full text version somewhere... more poking around... oh well. There was a quote in the call for papers which described the writer's works as, "...open to a variety of esoteric readings, which often demonstrate the inventiveness of critics rather than representing a convincing explication of the text." I really enjoyed that.
 
Why didn't I become a lecturer...?

(Perhaps I should have stayed at the KUL...)
 
Curt said:
Are there WWI memorials nearby?
Click to expand...

David did not state that in both cases the library has been devastated by German forces (intententionally as widely believed); only few people in Germany know that, if they know Leuven it all…
At least I did not encounter any anti German feelings at that University though…

One does not need to resort to memorials to remember war over here.

WWII here is obvious to those with open eyes. I grew up still seeing ruins. The scars in city architecture is still to see.
As are bunkers, trenches, shrapnell scars in buildings. I encounter all these daily…
 
In Heverlee, town next to Leuven, there is a soldiers cemetery of WW II

M.
 
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