Liege, Belgium

I'm a little behind but want to note how great a time I had in Liege. Belgium is a lovely country but the trip was made all the better by gorgeous hospitality of Emma's host family, the Ledant's. Veronique, Guy, Sarah and Martin are some of the most lovely people you will ever meet. Luckily for me, Sarah and Martin spoke very good English and I always appreciated Guy making a huge effort to practice his english also. Without them, (plus Emma's passion for the place) I don't think I would have stayed as long.

Photos are at: http://picasaweb.google.com/ajoest/Belgium#

Liege was one of the first places in the world to develop a coal market way back when. Thus Liege is still an industrial area. In fact Belgium relies heavily on being a European manufacturing hub. While Belgium doesn't strike you as the nicest place to live, it seems to me that Belgians would enjoy a reasonably high standard of living. My perspective may be tainted due to my hosts!

Sarah and Martin gave us some great tours of the city. Finding little knooks and crannies was fun. There is some great architecture among the old buildings. Some of the architecture was designed by the Sarah and Martin's older brother Bruno (there is also Sophie, the second eldest sister). Emma got very excited visiting her old stomping grounds from when she studied in Liege some 10 years ago. On the Monday Emma and I toured together to Antwerp and Oostende. Antwerp is meant to be a global hub for diamond trade, but try as we did, we couldn't find much glamour in Antwerp. Oostende was definitely not what I expected. It was the Gold Coast on the north sea. We were both very tired by then but found a great little surf club in front of Napoleans fortress and enjoyed some beers in the sun before heading home. Martin and Sarah took us to Spa, where their grand parents had a weekend home. The hills behind Liege are really beautiful and well worth a visit. Many of the spring water companies name their filtered tap water the natural springs that are in the area. After another a great picnic of fresh bread, cheese and rillette and some belgian beers, I had a magnificent sleep in the grass under an old oak tree! Magnificent.

On the Wednesday I decided to take Martin's grandfathers 20 year old Peugeot road bike for a little ride! My aim was to see Nick Mitchell's race in a small town between Brussels and Antwerp. The bike rolled along nicely and I got to see the Belgian countryside uninterrupted! After nearly 6 hours of riding I caught the last two laps of Nick's race. The Belgians certainly don't muck around when it comes to local bike racing! All the big Belgian teams were there and it was a grand spectacle. Unfortunately I missed him as he had to rush off. I rode back to Mechelen and caught the train home. I had a little crash on the way to Mechelen so had to get the peddles replaced! Luckily it happened just near a bike shop and the guy loved my accent so much that he refused to charge labour! I enjoyed a lovely meal with Emma and some of her old friends at a little restaurant in the back streets up my return. Le Tour a Tour I think it was called. Needless to say I was stuffed. Riding an old machine with no knicks, no cleats, in a foreign country and on a hot day was bordering on being a little silly! Martin's grandfather was very excited to hear that his bike was still a willing and able adventurer!

Emma and I had been planning to leave on the Thursday and make a road trip down to Mannheim. As it turned out we decided to stay. This meant more time to eat and drink and hang out with the Ledant family. The Belgian is great but pretty repetitive. Fries / Pommes / Chips are will every meal. The waffles are to die for though. They have little sugar balls inside that melt upon heating! Boullet (big meatballs) is also a special dish in Liege. It has a very rich sauce and is served funnily enough with fries! We spent many hours at the restaurant with the long table as well as finding another bakery that served a really rustic and village style breakfast. Not only did we eat food but also made it a priority to drink as many different Belgian beers. There is something pretty cool about going to a pub and never needing to drink the same drink twice. The Pot au Lait was a favourite drinking hole. It was Emma's favourite spot 10 years ago too! Apparently the bar staff hadn't changed at all! Unfortunately Sarah's bag got stolen one night which put a dampener on things...watch your bags!

On the Thursday evening Emma were out exploring the city and found a little pasta place called Gusto. You can really tell when the chef actually wants to be there as the food is just amazing. I ordered a simple looking pasta dish which turned out to be one of the most amazing i've ever eaten. Being a fan of pasta that's a big call. The dish was a fresh pasta doused in truffle oil, cracked pepper and sauteed cherry tomatoes. A bit of parmesan on top with some paprika garnish topped off a magnificent dish. After i'd ordered it I noticed many other people at the restaurant eating. It was clearly a local favourite and I know why!

On Saturday we attended Martin's graduation ceremony at the University of Liege. For what is meant to be a pretty big occaison in ones academic life, this event was pretty disorganised! The dean eveh put up cartoons in his powerpoint to keep everyone interested! Martin also found out his grade that day in the ceremony and did very well. Needless to say he was a happy man and it was fun to experience the day with him.

We celebrated my birthday eating out on the Saturday night before my actualy birthday on the Sunday. We ate Indian. It was a great night hanging with Em and enjoying the back streets of Liege on Saturday night. There is a lot of activity in the old cities when you know where to look. I wish I had such good tour guides in all the cities I have travelled to. On the Sunday morning I cooked for everyone as a thank you! They all wanted pikelets for a Sunday breakfast so I obliged. It was very nice to share it with new friends and Em. They especially like being introduced to squeezed lemon and sugar topping on their pikelets! I normally prefer crepes but that's too normal in Belgium!

It was sad to leave Liege on Sunday afternoon but it was time to head to Mannheim and get this MBA underway! Thanks again to the Ledant's and Em for inviting me!