Best Of Belgium

Belgium, the home of country pubs, legalised drugs and euthanasia. Where chocolate flows more readily than water.

Yes, if you want a more liberated version of Britain with less rain and better beer, visit Belgium. Besides which as most Belgians will tell you, the B in Belgium comes from the BEST of everything- and they've probably got a point excluding the rain and damp weather that invades even in summer, on occasions!

Having only experienced a small portion of Belgian life my view is a little hackneyed. But from the short experience of eleven days I now understand that Hercule Poirot's obsession for order and hot chocolate at breakfast are the national norm.

And although the nation of Belgium is a varied as anyother countries - with the french and german influences- at the same time the nation is not much different to every other Northern European country with maybe a little more class and very good taste.

Belgium is a beautiful place to relax in and is a serious bet to get fat in. After alll the butter, chocolate and beer, you'd have to be anorexic to come away thinner than when you arrived. But what a way to put on weight?

Surrounded by the inevitably charming inhabitants, their delicious food -Belgian cuisine- and a long list of national beers. At least 450 different beers here, and I've only tried four, which just goes to prove I'm not a big beer drinker.

For the serious beer connosiour this is the best place to broaden your beer palate. Try any of the local café's or pubs and you will find a wide range of good belgian beers. Long live the Beer industry!!

Now let's talk seriously about the purest, most conscientiously made chocolates in the world. Yes, there are even governmental laws dictating ingredients. You heard me, for chocolate to be considered chocolate, be it milk chocolate, dark chocolate or white chocolate. It must have a high percentage of cocoa paste or cocoa butter. In Belgian chocolate there are no added fats, it's all comes from the humble cocoa bean, producing the finest, richest chocolate ever known to mankind..... womankind??!! Traditionally Belgian chocolates are filled with praline -i.e another reason to get put on weight- for a more detailed look at the Belgian chocolate industry take a delirious visit to the choco story museum in Brugge, Belgium. Where you will drool at the sight of a 120 kilo chocolate egg that would put Cabury's to shame. And don't forget to stop in the Demo Kitchen and watch the chef prepare real Belgian chocolates, which you can try!!! The smell alone adds kilos to your body fat!

Belgium, a country filled with elegance and style -from it's cafés to it's cuisine, from it's fashion to it's high streets, the purest chic is enveloped in the country. It's certainly well worth a visit! From Me,

Over and Out.