Best Western Premier Keizershof Hotel Aalst

... into a shop you have no idea what someone is going to say. I was spoken to mainly in French, to which I replied, “Sorry”, because there is no way I could even attempt to speak French. The beer wench did correct me when I said “Thank you”, she said “We say Danke”. So for the rest of the night I said Danke every time, I was not messing with her.

The next day we headed back into the town centre of Brugge to go to the Christmas ...

... of official buildings and guildhalls is strangely relaxing.  Lots of students plop down in the middle of the square and just sleep.  Luckily Grand Place is car free.  There are many warnings in the guide books and from my friends in Brussels that most of the restaurants around the Grand Place area are tourist traps and not very good.  I found a little trattoria down a tiny side alley that was marvelous.  It even had Belgians eating ...

... three sheets to the wind thanks to camping out at the bar of the Delerium Cafe (always stocked with no less than 2,004 beers at any given time - a Guinness Record) but this dark beer was delicious from start to finish. * Delerium Nocturnum - 97 - The entire reason we came to the cafe was so that I could find this beer. It did not disappoint, proving to be among the very best. A dark beer that is so smooth you could drink it all day ...

... yummmm. They were from Florida and decided to leave the husbands behind and go find winter. I'm thinking they found it. Well, it is time for me to go get some chocolate beer. I am looking forward to it- hoping it is gross so there isn't another thing I love that I can't get at home! :) Wishing you all very well indeed. Take care- and thanks again for reading this and writing your kind words to me- it really does mean a lot! Love, Kathryn

Je me lève tôt ce matin pour rejoindre ma soeur et son copain à Bruxelles pour notre deuxième journée de tourisme ! Nous commençons par la cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule où j'avais été à Pâques avec Yannic. Cette fois-ci, il y a beaucoup moins de monde et nous pouvons nous promener librement à l'intérieur. Nous marchons ensuite jusqu'au Palais Royal où nous voyons la garde faire un changement. Avec leur ...

... sunset, taking pictures of the Arch and killing time around. Then we joined each other again and went to her room, discussing our planning about where we would travel together in the coming days. I also managed to contact Ingrid, she agreed to host me (which is nice). So I could stay at her place for tonight and not have the trouble of not being seen at Nadine's place. So by midnight, I left with the bicycle to Schaarbeek where Ingrid lives. ------------ May 2 I woke up by the end ...

Dans plusieurs pays, le mois de février est synonyme de carnavals. Les deux plus grands carnavals en Belgique sont celui de Binche (Wallonie) et celui d'Alost ou Aalst en néerlandais (Flandres). Après mon cours de néerlandais à Leuven, je saute sur le premier train pour Aalst, curieuse de voir un de ces célèbres carnavals. Le carnaval d'Aalst est réputé pour sa représentation satyrique de politiciens. Je ne ...

... Planet Chocolate" that opened especially for our group. Pedestrians peered in the windows with curiosity. A great demonstration was given by chocolatier Jon, grandson of the founder of this factory renowned for producing 67 different flavors. We learned about the history of cocoa. The ancient Mayans considered it an aphrodisiac and Montezuma consumed it in copious amounts. It was made famous in Belgium by J. Nuehus who added the praline hazelnut cream. Each cocoa fruit contains ...

Today I began my journey through Europe, on my own that is. On the way from London to Amsterdam I had no choice but to stop and try a Belgium Waffle. They were wonderful by the way!I did not spend too much time in Brussels but it seemed like a nice place to visit. The people were speaking French ...

... our trusty instinctive survival skills instead and, after a brief hunt, lo and behold, we found the damn Lao Fah restaurant with a sign at least 100 feet in the frikkin air. Our beacon in the night. Needless to say, we were ecstatic to see the place. After a late lunch, we went to check out the infamous "Peeing Boy", or Manneken Pis, who I hear has over 600 outfits that are changed everyday. Wow, can I have a wardrobe like that? I ...