Sorry for the lapse in travel posts from my trip to Belgium and Germany! I can't seem to keep Deb in line - she's always too busy to spend time with me! Darned dissertation!!!!!!!!!
And - can you believe this: she didn't manage to get any photos of me into this post???? That is ridiculous, and calls for a coup! I'll just take over this blog!!!! (Oh, wait - I just realized, I can't; I don't have fingers. Oh well...... I'll just push her to get going on the next post so you all can see me, Gumballhead, again soon!).
Anyhow, back to our journey through Belgium:
After our wonderful visit to Westvleteren, we hopped back on the train and headed up to charming, picturesque Brugge, on the northern side of the country. It is very well preserved in its mostly medieval state. The town has a lot of scenic canals, beautiful churches, real antique windmills, and is very walkable and pleasant. It is often criticized as being "Disneyesque," and I must say I could agree with that. However, it's well worth the trip to see it, and there are lots of fun things for tourists to do and see - canal boat tours, horse-drawn carriage tours, shopping, dining, a chocolate museum, a brewery tour, and a few really wonderful places to try a good selection of Belgian beers. The city center is mostly pedestrianized (is that a word, Gumballhead? I don't know, and I don't care. As I've said before, it's my blog and I'll make up words if I want to!). We spent a couple of days there, anyways, and had a wonderful time.
Our hotel (Ensor) was wonderfully located, within a short walk of the train station (though we discovered that pulling wheeled luggage across cobblestone streets leaves something to be desired - you are likely to break a wheel off or injure your wrist! If you go there, take the short bus ride). 
It was close to a central shopping and dining area (t'Zand) and sits on a quiet, pretty canal. Here's a view from our window:
One of the owners was working at the desk, and he was very friendly and helpful, producing maps and writing down addresses of places we wanted to see.
Unfortunately, that is where the charm of this place ended. It was sadly in need of renovation - to the point that we felt our room was actually full of dangers. For example, a slippery shower that was elevated above the bathroom floor, with no grab bars, a glass door, and a showerhead that kept falling off. A bad fall just waiting to happen. Not to mention the twin beds pushed up against the windows, which have no screens. Because there is no air conditioning, we pretty much had to open them, and I could easily imagine a child falling from our third-story window. Ugh!!! Thankfully, we didn't have children with us for this leg of our journey. The old linoleum floor also had big gaps in it. Ah, what we do to have the travel experience!!!!
In short, wouldn't recommend the place unless they do some serious renovation. It looked like there were other places to stay closer to the city center, and even though you couldn't drive to them, you could catch a bus for the short ride very easily from the train station or the large nearby public parking garages, where most everyone must leave their cars. This city reminded me a lot of Venice. Of course, we cats don't take much to water, in general, but Deb and Jeff really liked it. Below is a picture and a detail of the hotel we WISH we'd stayed in:
The first night, after checking in at the hotel, we headed to a "must-see" destination: t'Brugge Beerjte. This is a favorite local beer bar that has an amazing selection and very knowledgeable bartenders. We read about it in Tim Webb's book, The Good Beer Guide to Belgium. In fact, there's a photo of the owner, Daisy, in the book, and we had the good fortune to sit at the bar and chat with her all evening. She was warm and friendly, and we ended up staying until well past the posted closing time (it was weird, sneaking back into our hotel late at night, trying not to wak the innkeeper, honestly!!!!). Daisy was well aware of her notoriety among American and British beer tourists, and didn't seem to mind the attention. But can you believe we didn't get a photo with her???? Duh oh!!! Travel guru Rick Steves wrote an article about Brugge not too long ago, and featured this particular bar. In fact, one of us probably sat on the same bar stool he sat on only a few weeks before we were there. Here's a couple of shots of the bar:
Did ya notice all the different shapes of beer glasses? Yup - every beer style has its own glass. Many breweries even have their own glasses, with the brewery's name silk screened on them.
While there, we were introduced to what may have been the favorite beer of the entire trip (even when compared to Westvleteren 12 and Cantillon's gueuze!!!!). That was Rodenbach's Vin de Cereal - a wonderful barrel-aged wheat wine. It's an amazing sour, comes wrapped in paper, and sold in Brugge (we found it in a couple of locations) for 7 euros for a single-serving (about 11oz, I'd guess) - which was about 11 US dollars at the time. Therefore, we didn't drink much of it! We were told it will not be exported to the U.S., though we recently have heard rumors to the contrary. We'll have to see what happens on that. My advice, though, is if you see it in a store this winter, jump on it!!!!! :)
Our second day, we visited several places. For now, I'll just post a few pics of what we saw as we walked the city and then took one of those fun, but touristy canal boat rides. The scenery is great from both perspectives (from boat or on foot!). 
I'll finish today's posting up with a teaser for my next post! Here's a view from the roof of the De Halve Maan brewery in Brugge:
What was Gumballhead doing on the roof of the brewery? Tune in to find out! I promise to have more pictures of myself up here soon!
Brugge, Belgium - Venice of the North
Also new Paris show rumored
Na de bevestiging (zie onder) van enkele Duitse open air shows deze zomer, zou AC/DC volgens een Franse AC/DC nieuwssite (die, net als deze site, nauw samenwerkt met de platenfirma) nogmaals in Parijs optreden ergens in Juni (Parc des Princes). Een nieuwe Spaanse show zou volgens een Spaanse krant aangekondigd zijn, maar ook hiervan tot dusver geen bevestiging. Dat zou goed nieuws zijn voor diegenen die tot dusver geen kaartjes konden bemachtigen. Het zou zeker de ticketprijzen op de zwarte markt een serieuze klap geven. Van zodra ik meer weet over een derde show in België hou ik jullie natuurlijk op de hoogte!than a beer-producing central-European country.
WoW now officially has a larger population than a beer-producing central-European country.
With the latest expansion just around the corner, Blizzard's World of Warcraft hit yet another milestone today. 11 million and counting, was the message from Blizzard HQ, in a fairly brief statement released on their official site as the world's most successful MMO became even moreso.
WoW was the best selling PC game in both 2005 and 2006 and was beaten in 2007 only by its own expansion, The Burning Crusade. But even with such high subscription numbers, Blizzard say they aren't finished yet: "We remain fully committed to [providing] a high-quality, constantly evolving game experience."
And with the latest expanion, Wrath of The Lich King due out next month, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime's words look to be right on the money.
Belgium Travel Blog Part 3 - Abbey
If I haven't convinced you that you need to visit Belgium, here are a few more reasons.
Among many other very old buildings we saw, our friends recommended we head to the ruined Abbey. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about going to see an abbey, much less one that was ruined but after we arrived, I was enchanted.
We headed to Villers Abbey or abbaye de Villers. This abbey was built in the 12th century and survived many wars before finally succumbing to French revolutionaries who raided it for stones at the end of the 18th century.
This is the entrance to the main church.
The picture below is taken from the opposite direction of the picture above. Our English pamphlet about the abbey told us that this was an excellent example of Cistercian architecture.
Here is a possible tomb but there were no signs around to explain its presence. I actually emailed the abbey about it. I will update this post if I get a response.
They had a wonderful exhibition going on called Abbeys from the Air. You can see some of the pictures of different abbeys on the wall below. They took different aerial pictures of abbeys all over the world (including Egypt). They were amazing photos with very interesting histories.
I love this picture of the vines draping over the window almost like ancient curtains.
Baby Bird enjoying sitting on a stone in a room believed to hold special holy relics. The stone shelves were still visible (although ironically not in this photo!). 
I could show you 100 more photos and similes of the word beautiful of this peaceful place but I will let you discover it when you visit!
I still have one more Belgium post to go...TBC!
Belgium axing game rentals
ere's an interesting tidbit for you to nibble over the weekend: Belgium is about to ban all game rentals, on the grounds that it has always been illegal, but is only just now to be enforced. They're not the only country to say no to rentals, either.
NeoGAFfers discussing the shift have compared the practice of game rentals to piracy. What do you think of that statement? If you agree, you may even consider it worse, because with rentals, someone else who is not the develper and publisher is reaping all of the monetary benefits of the game being rented again and again.
Of course, many of us do rent games, and probably don't feel that way about the practice ... but should we?
Belgium Travel & Tours Guide | Trip to Belgium | Complete Belgium Information
For years, Belgium has mesmerized the world with its famous dark chocolates. So much so, that today immense research is being done in chocolates themselves. But this beautiful country has much more to offer tourists than simply its international speciality. Firstly it is located in northwest Europe. Secondly, the two largest regions here, comprise of Dutch speaking natives in the north and French speaking natives in the south. Belgium had the distinction of being recognized as a sound place for commerce and culture, from the Middle Ages to the 16th century. However, from then onwards, when the quest for power among the European countries began, Belgium became the battlefield. However, with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, Belgium saw a chance to generate wealth by fuelling the need for raw materials. Today, Belgium is a country noted for its industries in food and automobiles in particular. Brussels is its capital.
Belgium over the centuries has made significant contributions to the arts, notably in painting and architecture. Various fine examples of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architecture have been made here. Artists such as Jan van Eyck, Lambert Lombard and Pieter Brueghel are few famous personalities. The 19th and 20th centuries saw a rise in surrealism and expressionism, two different artistic expressions. Belgium too, had painters such as Egide Wappers, Jan Fabre and James Ensor among others who made huge contributions. The violin was to Belgium what the flute was to Austria. Eugene Ysaye and Henri Vieuxtemps are two violinists who emerged, as important musicians. The saxophone was invented here in 1846, by Adolphe Sax. The field of science too saw a few 16th century pioneers such as Mercator in cartography, Andreas Vesalius in anatomy, and Simon Stevin in mathematics. Georges Lemaitre was credited with having proposed the Big Bang Theory in 1927.
The beauty of Belgium lies in the fact that each corner of the kingdom ahs something different to offer. While the north ( Flanders) is famous for its art and architecture, the south ( Wallonia) is famed for its beauty. The best way to begin a tour would be with the capital city itself-
Brussels - Brussels has so much to see but there are a few sites that should not be missed out. The Grand Place which has many decorations and gothic styled houses, is a World Heritage Site and was built as a merchants market in the 13th century. Many concerts and others events take place here. Although there are 8o museums here, a visit to some of them should be on your agenda. If you are a lover of musical instruments, then a visit to the Museum of Musical Instruments is a must. This building combines different architectural styles, and has more than 7000 different instruments. The Dinosaur Museum, which is the largest in Europe is also interesting. The Museum of Ancient Art and the Museum of Modern Art are a must visit for art enthusiasts. The Cathedral of Saints Michel and Gudule, which was built in the 15th century, has breathtaking interiors and is a popular tourist spot. The Royal Palace, where the royalty stay, is open to visitors in the summer and has lovely Neo Classical architecture.
Antwerp - Located in the north of Belgium , Antwerp is home to a diamond district which supplies more than 80% of the world’s diamonds. Steen Castle, which was once a jail, is today a museum of local history and archaeology. The Antwerp Zoo, is reputed to be one of the oldest zoos in Europe, and even has many breeding programmes for endangered animals. The Saint Carolus Borromeus Church, which was built in the 17th century, has many beautiful artwork and paintings done by one of the most artists to emerge from here- Ruben.
Bruges - It is often called the ‘Venice of the North’ and this place lives up to its name. One can go for a quiet boat ride on the canal or even take a trip in a horse carriage. The Church of our Lady, which took more than 200 years to build has a lovely statue by Michaelangelo. The Groeninge Musuem, is home to some of the most premier art pieces by Belgium’s famous artists.
The south of Belgium with its French speaking population has many natural wonders to see. The south has always been renowned for having a little bit of everything- man made monuments and castles, and plenty of nature. To add to it, the culture is also very warm and friendly as are the people. Wallonia, also known as the Ardennes, is a mountainous area famed for its forests, lakes and streams. The Ambleve Valley is quite wild and deep, while the grottos found in Fond de Quarreux, are another famous attraction. One can indulge in quite a few activities such as walking, hiking, kayaking and even have an adventurous ride in a hot air balloon. There are many towns here as well as charming little villages where one can spot many old houses and natural woods. One such place called Liege is famed for the museums, which showcase Wallonian art and life, for the St James church and for the 18th century Town Hall. Tournai is famed for the Notre Dame Cathedral, built in the 13th century, and especially for the Museum of Fine Arts. The capital city of Namur is also one of the most fortified cities in Europe, and has two well-known museums too.
Although Belgium is home to both the NATO and the European Union, it takes immense pride in retaining its own culture. A tourist will have plenty to admire and see here. Needless to say, with its many art museums and huge contributions to painting, this city is a must visit for art lovers all over the world. Belgium isn’t just about tourism or business. People take great pleasure in relaxing over one of the 400 varieties of beer produced here, or simply relax with friends in a café. There is much to see here that will fill up your days and nights.Elgium Travel
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