[Minamu]

Oh wow, now that you said that, it really does remind me of City17 :lol

And Brussels isn't even in Eastern Europe :)

[Krabardaf]

The surrounding of the Grand Place at brussels are cool to see at least once, past that, that's not a city i love, but I can't pretend to know it very well.

Liege doesn't have much charm compared to Brugge or Gent. In 2008 readers of the Dutch newspaper "De Volkskrant" could vote for the ugliest city in the world. The Walloon town Charleroi was number one, followed by Liege. (I guess we Dutch don't particularly like former mining towns in decline that are dominated by dirty, smog and ugly architecture)

Liège is not overall a beautiful city, but we have very nice places to see, only you have to know where to find them. That said, Charleroi is far, far worse. The old industries in Liege are not directly in town. Charleroi seems directly built on old factories. It's cool if you want to experience STALKER irl though.

Also I need to have waffles still before I leave Belgium ;b

Brussels Waffles and Liege Waffles are very different, and both delicious!

[CrunchyB]

Haha, Belgium-GAF looks extremely Belgique.

[EviLore]

Brussels Waffles and Liege Waffles are very different, and both delicious!

Gonna try both right now at Dandoy. And then work out for three hours in the fitness room tonight ;b

[Maiar_m]

Gonna try both right now at Dandoy. And then work out for three hours in the fitness room tonight ;b

And yhen you can make liege waffles at home : Here's my recipe and pics

[EviLore]

Both fantastic :o

[Krabardaf]

And yhen you can make liege waffles at home : Here's my recipe and pics

Oooh looks delicious, I think I'm going to bookmark this for later ;)
Btw, with a little cinnamon I find them even better.

Oh and EviLore, I may have missed this part of your trip, have you had fries yet?
If you want to go full Belgian, ask them in a cone and try some strange sauce like the Diesel, Joppie(love it), Chtit (hard to find), Toscane, Brazil...Andalouse is a classic but I guess you must have that in US too. And you can't eat that without messing up your hands, so be prepared, the last fries will stain your fingers with sauce, for sure.

[Prez]

If you're gonna eat fries, try friet speciaal and down it with beer!

[CrankyJay]

Gonna try both right now at Dandoy. And then work out for three hours in the fitness room tonight ;b

3? Sounds like overkill. Do you renourish during those 3 or is this hyperbole?

[EviLore]

..........

[hiro4]

Good to hear that you are enjoying the beer.
Also if you have the chance try Grimbergen double.

It is perhaps my favorite double beer.

[Krabardaf]

..........

lol

Good to hear that you are enjoying the beer. Also if you have the chance try Grimbergen double. It is perhaps my favorite double beer.

Nice one indeed not my favorite though, but I'm not sure I could pick one...
I'm going to back up that guy I forgot who recommended La Chouffe. I've even been to the brewery during a hike, cool place.
Another great one, not very reputated : Lupulus. The bottle is neat, the content better! By the way, in many bars, you can actually ask for a whole bottle of beer (75cl), with a few glasses. If you're not alone, that's super convenient and generally a little less expansive.

[CrankyJay]

..........

What? Some people are insane with this stuff. Lol.

[Tieno]

Glad you saw Antwerp station, it's really pretty, especially in the morning. Went through it every day for the past two years.

[subversus]

Meetup pics!

Belgium GAF looks very nice.

[Blue Ninja]

My face is on GAF. The end is nigh.

It's an unspoken rule that I should never look straight into the camera, yet every time a picture is taken I do. :lol

Anyway, it was fun hanging out with you guys. EviL, enjoy the rest of your journey.

[Prez]

My face is on GAF. The end is nigh. It's an unspoken rule that I should never look straight into the camera, yet every time a picture is taken I do. :lol Anyway, it was fun hanging out with you guys. EviL, enjoy the rest of your journey.

Which one is you?

[Blue Ninja]

Which one is you?

The one who's on both pictures (i.e. the one on the right). :p

[Prez]

The one who's on both pictures (i.e. the one on the right). :p

Okay and now I want to know which member everyone else on the pictures is. Reveal yourselves!

[EviLore]

In Bruges

[EviLore]

From the top of the belfry

[TCRS]

Beautiful.

[Milchjon]

Damn, what a city. You just sold me on it.

[EviLore]

The Chocolate Line. They work on chocolate behind the glass while you shop the store. Excellent chocolate with probably better handled exotic flavors than Pierre Marcolini, but the latter did some excellent core taste explosions.

[Jtwo]

oh man i love watching them smear fudge over marble

[VPhys]

From the top of the belfry

Wow, you your camera has some crazy dynamic range or you are really good at postprocessing. Either way great pics.

[Hoo-doo]

Fantastic images. I want to go to Belgium now and just roam around.

[distantmantra]

Evil, you really need to visit the Cantillon brewery in Brussels.

[EviLore]

Ghent

[Woorloog]

EDIT /\/\ Whoah, a castle! Want to visit that too! (Love castles).

Beautiful.

It is. I want to visit that place.

Helsinki feels so drab and boring... We have a classy part, the older sections build during Tsarist Russia but that's about it.

I really want to visit middle-European cities.

[Raiden]

Nice pictures from Ghent! So weird to see the place you live at on GAF. I actually went to that bar you can see in your last picture just last night.

[Souldriver]

Awesome pictures, EviLore.

[Animation-Imp]

The Chocolate Line. They work on chocolate behind the glass while you shop the store. Excellent chocolate with probably better handled exotic flavors than Pierre Marcolini, but the latter did some excellent core taste explosions.

You went to the chocolat line!
One of the three chocolatiers in the world who own a michelin star...

Did you try the chocolat shooter?

[Linius]

Ah the Belfry, now you should watch the movie 'In Bruges' if you haven't seen it yet Evil :P

Great pictures as always :D

[EviLore]

Off to...somewhere, today. Might leave Belgium behind and take the train to Cologne.

Need to go back to how things were earlier in the trip, I think. I'll be racing on the Nurburgring soon, sure, but hostels made for consistently fun daily stories. As it stands I haven't been getting that for the last two legs of my trip, not meeting enough people outside of the GAF bubble (read: women ;b). After I do the whole meetup with OnkelC and ascend to food heaven, and race on the Nurburgring, maybe a week in Berlin staying at hostels and partying every night.

Had my quiet, pleasant time in quiet, pleasant countries recovering from being sick successfully ;b

[Keen]

Go for it! More shenanigans pls!

If you plan to come to Stockholm, I did a quick write-up about restaurants in this thread

[The Dutch Slayer]

Off to...somewhere, today. Might leave Belgium behind and take the train to Cologne.

Ahhh wait just a week for Cologne, and we can meet up again :P
Seriously next week is GDC EU and Gamescom super fun and a lot more people will be in town.

If you don't want that I can understand but already planning a big get together for next week Friday.
Hopefully a lot of industry and gaffers can make it (still working on the thread will be up soon).

[EviLore]

Ahhh wait just a week for Cologne, and we can meet up again :P Seriously next week is GDC EU and Gamescom super fun and a lot more people will be in town. If you don't want that I can understand but already planning a big get together for next week Friday. Hopefully a lot of industry and gaffers can make it (still working on the thread will be up soon).

Can't, OnkelC is going on vacation soon. Not interested in Gamescom either ;b

[Gala]

Yeah, avoid Gamescom. The days for the public are horrible. Your Berlin idea sounds really good, but make sure to get to Hamburg as well. It's even better than Berlin!

[Krabardaf]

Köln is a great city to visit too, have fun!
Much more American brands there than in Belgium (Burger king, KFC, dunkin' donut etc)

You'll stop by our main station at Liege if you go with the ICE(Germany super classy high speed train)
That's not much, but that's still a hell of a station, and an important part of the town architecture. Surroundings kind of suck though.

[Shiryu]

Good times in Ghent (join GAF, meet EviLore one month after hehe).
At least we made you try authentic Belgian fries. :)

Did you find any intresting bars that night?

[The Dutch Slayer]

Yeah, avoid Gamescom. The days for the public are horrible. Your Berlin idea sounds really good, but make sure to get to Hamburg as well. It's even better than Berlin!

I did not mean going to gamescom itself, but just being in town at that time.
Lots of parties and meet ups.
And a great atmosphere in town that week.

[OnkelC]

GermanGAF, prepare for meetup in Cologne!

[wolfmat]

make sure to get to Hamburg as well. It's even better than Berlin!

Good to hear someone thinks this. I agree, but am biased. Anyway. I suppose more people go to Berlin because it's the hip young city in their heads.

I suppose Berlin has its own charme. Certainly an experience.

GermanGAF, prepare for meetup in Cologne!

I can't afford the train. But you surely know how to treat a guest, so EviLore is in good hands. All is well.

[la_briola]

Good to hear someone thinks this. I agree, but am biased. Anyway. I suppose more people go to Berlin because it's the hip young city in their heads. I suppose Berlin has its own charme. Certainly an experience. I can't afford the train. But you surely know how to treat a guest, so EviLore is in good hands. All is well.

If you like electronic music, there is nothing equal to Berlin.

[wolfmat]

If you like electronic music, there is nothing equal to Berlin.

That's what all my friends tell me. And it's pretty cheap, too. Probably hard to not have a good time then!

[Kola]

Your Berlin idea sounds really good, but make sure to get to Hamburg as well. It's even better than Berlin!

Jesus Christ, idiot-talk starting already. Please, don't...

[Milchjon]

GermanGAF, prepare for meetup in Cologne!

Bah, Cologne is so far away.

[Booser]

Cologne is a cool city. You gotta visit the cathedral - the Kolner Dom. Its amazing. Kinda coincidental you are heading there. Im in the middle of reading a book called Icefall which is about the theft of the bones of the magi. The bones of the three wise men are held in the treasury behind the altar. I didnt know that when I was there years ago. I would have checked it out.

You heading down into Italy at some point? Venice is my fav european city. Very expensive but just so unique it has to be seen.

[Micerider]

You heading down into Italy at some point? Venice is my fav european city. Very expensive but just so unique it has to be seen.

Venice is beautifull but certainly not a real city anymore, it's so full of tourist and so empty of actual inhabitants that it tastes more like Disneyland for grown-ups.

And I would certainly not recommand it during summer : it's packed with tourists, prices are over-inflated and...well, it smells...

I loved the 3 days I spent there once in December, it was freezing, but sunny and the streets were really quite, you could really enjoy the place a bit more.

The area of the University is still nice though, it seems to be a bit more grounded in reality, with a few actual stuffs for inhabitants.

I will always remember the clerk at the reception of the hotel we had :

Us : "would you have a restaurant to recommand, if possible, not a tourist trap?"
Him (with a wide grin) : "There are only tourist traps in Venice" (that said, we found a few places that were quite ok still, aside from some over-inflated prices here and there).

Still, it's magnificent, but I'm just trying to lower expectations. It worth the visit but sometimes people are over-estimating the experience and get disapointment out of it. I found Florence much more attractive. It has it's tourists traps too, but it is an actual city with a real "own" life. And Tuscany is so beautifull and pleasant that you can just move in the region to find nice places (some under-estimated cities like Lucca for instance, really charming).