Recommend August 2010 - (Page 17)

Opposite page: Grote Markt, the central square in Brussels. Below: The picturesque Ghent Marina. streets dominated by churches. This is where you come for concerts and operas. The most appealing selling point for travel agents is that Flanders is small by U.S. standards and that most of its marvels can be reached within minutes from one another by train or car. Indeed, Flanders is a pocket Rubens, a cameo of delight. bruges Bruges has often been described as a city of fairy tale streets, gingerbread houses and canals. It’s Venice—if Venice were clean and had an orderly Nordic flavor. Shuttles offer regular service between the train station and the city’s Market Square (Grote Markt), where the dreamlike, gossamer quality of Bruges becomes reality. A climb up the 360 steps of the belfry is mandatory. From here the astounding view of rooftops, bridges, canals, gabled houses and churches is stupefying. The first impression is that the whole place looks like a movie set in both architecture and atmosphere. This old town is nearly a perfect model of a medieval town. Bruges wears an engaging air combining tranquility with modern bustle. It’s a reserved, quiet and splendidly elegant city of about 45,000 where colors gush from flower stands and the smells of bread, cheese, wine and meat add a pleasant atmosphere. Every worthwhile place and landmark is near the market, which has been in operation in one form or another since the year 985 when Bruges sprouted from a Viking trading post. Age becomes it as it basks under the golden glow of the Northern Latitudes. Walking its streets or taking a cruise down its canals you’ll find a certain somnolence about Bruges. After all, a town whose principal products are lace and chocolates can’t be too wild. The ancient quarter is bursting with chocolatiers and lace makers and it doesn’t take long to learn more about Belgian lace than you really care to know. brussels Brussels is the obvious first stop for those wanting to savor Flanders. Paris is but one hour removed by train and some Francophobes, who dismiss the City of Light as an over-rated and polluted city with an attitude to match, claim that the best thing about the French capital is its proximity to Flanders. Perhaps the most convenient and easiest way to explore Brussels is on a bicycle and one should begin from the 75-acre Parc de Cinquantenaire, a classic European park with car-free paths bordered by manicured hedges. Here, cyclists can pedal to their hearts’ delight on a bike from Villo Bike, part of a citywide bicycle program that began last year and now has about 200 locations around Brussels. A 1-day pass costs €1.50 ($1.84) plus the same amount for the first 90 minutes. There are additional charges after that. The city comes alive from a bike, making it easier to make the rounds of the delightful and delicious chocolate shops. Chocolatiers are as ubiquitous as Starbucks in a large U.S. city. Laurent Gerbaud specializes in bonbons dotted with berries and nuts. Jean-Philippe Darcis’ forte is almond pralines. The classiest one is La Maison de Maitres Chocolatiers on the Grand Place, a shop of mouth-watering delights that’s almost sinful to enter. If beer is your cup of tea, the Delirium Cafe, also on the Grand Place, is an appealing basement bar in an alley that serves more than 2,000 varieties of beer. Brussels, after all, has been known for more than a millennium for the high quality of its breweries, but food, fashion and nightclubs here all flourish under unique architecture and ambiance. The Odette en Ville, a boutique hotel in the city’s Chatelain Quarter near the high-voltage Avenue Louise in Brussel’s shopping district, opened its doors to raves last October in what once was a private home from the 1920s. The entire hotel is a study in black-and-white where it sometimes seems that the world has turned monochrome. There are black carpets and black doors. The TV in the library (all black and white) shows black-and-white Fellini films in a loop. Black-andwhite portraits of movie stars gaze down from the walls in the bar. The original Odette who inspired the hotel owned a cafe in a French village and her photo (in black and white, of course) hangs behind the reception desk. She looks down on guests like a Gallic schoolmistress. Rates here are from about €250 ($307) per night dbl. ÍÍ august 2010 17

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend August 2010

Editor's Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk
Tour Talk
Uniworld's River Royale
Discover flanders
Five-Star Taiwan
Karisma Sweetens the Pot
Barcelo Los Cabos Palace Deluxe
Playa Grande Resort & Grand Spa
Central America Calling...
Garza Blanca Preserve, Resort & Spa
Israel With Goway Travel
Puerto Rico: A community Experience
Hyatt Regency Curacao Golf Resort, Spa and Marina
The Bahamas: Players' Paradise
Orlando World Center Marriott Resort
All-American St. Louis
PH Towers by Westgate, Las Vegas

Recommend August 2010