I'd leave the (attempts at) humour to others... 
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Belgium...
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Posted 1 year ago #
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by the way, who were all the famous Dutch you know of?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Armand Van Helden
Dutch Schultz.....Posted 1 year ago # -
I've always fancied a holiday in the Ardennes but haven't been yet. Anyone know what the cycling is like round there?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Belgium is fantastic! Not only the Beer/Choc/Chips/ the people ore fantastic.
But the number one reason by almost a metric mile is the Chimay Moto Classique - As you can probably tell a classic motorcycle race held on public roads, and I raced it this year! A Motorcycle race, sponsored by a beer company!!!!! FFS, on entry you are given a 1L bottle to 'enjoy' at your leisure!!!!!
Turn up the sound on this - only if you like motorcycles flat out - Check out how close people are to the 'track'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMvWajgYwew
Best Country Ever.....
Posted 1 year ago # -
I lived in Holland for 4 years and have to say, Belgium was our regular escape route - particularly weekends in Antwerp. Better food, better beer, better service, not so uptight and generally a lot more fun loving and laid back bunch of folk to hang out with.
What he said. I also endured 4 years of Holland, made endurable by heading south as often as possible. Amazing the change just one km across the border.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Famous Dutch people - Van Gogh ? Surely you have heard of him ??
Stayed in Brugges once we hired some silly dutch bikes for a spin along the canals to Holland, look at some windmills. Stopped at a town about 50 metres into Holland, and every second shop rented adult films. And every second car in the square had Belgian number plates. Vive la difference...
Posted 1 year ago # -
I lived in Holland for 4 years and have to say, Belgium was our regular escape route - particularly weekends in Antwerp. Better food, better beer, better service, not so uptight and generally a lot more fun loving and laid back bunch of folk to hang out with.
What he said. I also endured 4 years of Holland, made endurable by heading south as often as possible. Amazing the change just one km across the border.
[rant and generalisation mode on] Oi! As a Dutch person I need to defend my country here! The differences between the Dutch and Flemish really are not that big. Yes, the people in the Netherlands are more big-mouthed, rude, arrogant and calvinist and as such Belgium is more akin to the English lifestyle I would say. This may be why some of you who lived in the Netherlands fled there. For example relatively few people over 30 regularly go to the pub in the Netherlands - life takes more place inside people's houses. Also people in Belgium are more polite (and more backstabbing when you are not with them - just like in the UK :P) and the roads are in a poorer condition. However similarities are great as well: both Belgium and the Netherlands are pretty conservative and at the moment very schizophrenic. Equally, people in boht countries have a great sense of humour (the Dutch variant is darker and harsher and a bit coarse) and are (still) fairly equal with regards to the differences between poor and rich. [/rant and generalisation mode off]
Coming back to the opening post's questions: the cycling culture, the Belgian Ardennes (nice mtb'ing), the beers, chips, mayonnaise, pub culture, friendly people, incredible historical cities, historical figures (Rubens, Jacques Brel, Eddy Wally), great music, the saxophone etc. It's a great country and definitely worth multiple visits!
Posted 1 year ago # -
Van Gogh
Tell you another thing, loddrik above most of us here would get the pronunciation bang on
Posted 1 year ago # -
I can't believe nobody has mentioned the waffles!! And the weekly outdoor parties on a Friday night.
The Magritte exhibition is also good, and I'm normally bored to tears by museums.
Spent most of my summer there this year getting thoroughly trashed on what is frankly the best variety of beer that I've ever had, and dancing on tables in Le Corbeau.
Delirium needs to open a branch in the UK, until then I'll be relying on sites such as http://www.beerboxx.com/belgian-beers.html?limit=40 to get my fix.
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Been going there pretty much every year for the last 35 years, mostly for motocross GPs. Love it and would happily live there. If i was stuck between France and Germany, i'd keep my head down as well as they've done enough shouting for the last few centuries.
Frites, mayo, chocolate, waffles, beer, moustaches, mullets, mad drivers, motorway road signs right at the junction rather than giving you a bit of warning, cyclocross, domination of european motocross, debatable scaffolding, surprising number of attractive town squares and buildings considering the last few hundred years of war action in the area, beer for breakfast :?, just down the road from Luxembourg city which is lovely to, cyclists and mx'ers winning the sports personality of the year pretty much every year (Everts, Boonen, Smets).
Lovely to walk around a town or city early in the morning and still see shop and home owners scrubbing the pavement outside of there premises rather than phoning the council or a radio station to complain.
The atmosphere down near the road at the Cafe du Monument in Namur the first weekend of August in the 70s, 80s and 90s was something to behold.
Famous people - Joel Robert, Roger DeCoster, Andre Malherbe, Georges Jobe, Stefan Everts, Joel Smets, Roger DeVlaemink, Eddy Merckx, Tom Boonen, Phillipe Gilbert and Tintin.
Trying to persuade the misses that a trip to the Citadel de Namur Cyclocross next year would be a good family getaway.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Tell you another thing, loddrik above most of us here would get the pronunciation bang on
I'd say the welsh could nail it even better than me, just....
Posted 1 year ago # -
Robert Cailliau
12 Nov 1990Posted 1 year ago # -
Posted 1 year ago #
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SSEC2011 will put it on the map!
Posted 1 year ago #
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