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Rough Guides Gets It Wrong :: De Herk

The Rough Guide to Brussels was our weapon of choice, during our June 2006 jaunt through Belgium. Sometimes these guide books get it right, and sometimes they are off. In this feature, we will tell you what the guide pros said about a place and then give you our take.

Drinking at De Herk Bar in Antwerp:

Rough Guides Says:

Tiny bar in ancient premises--down and alley and set around a courtyard. Twentysomething, modish clientele. Good range of beers and alles--including an excellent Lindemans Gueuze.

Jaunted Says:
Courtyard yes, tiny, sort of, as for the crowd, way off. Now we know crowds can change from night to night, but to us, the night we were there this looked like a place older couples headed to have a drink before a swank dinner. The crowd was thin, dressed to the nines, and almost completely coupled up. Alas, we ducked out before we could dig in to the beer selection.

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Getting There :: Antwerp

Antwerp, Belgium's second city, is a fourty minute train ride from Brussels.

Once at Antwerp Centraal Station you will need to take a tram--#15 or #2--downtown to Groen Plaats.

From here you are ready to explore all of Antwerp's boutiques, street art, cafes, bars, nightclubs, cartooneries, and the Schelde River.

What can't be explored easily on foot can be seen via rental bike.

Antwerp and Brussels are definitely rival cities. The Antwerpians we spoke with see themselves as the antithesis to Brussels. Think New York/LA, or Sydney/Melbourne, on a lesser scale of course, after all, this is Belgium.

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Non-Tourist Tourism in Brussels :: Le Tavernier

Le Tavernier is a trendy bar near the University of Brussels. It is trendy, but by no means over the top. There is an outside area with picnic table type seating and an inside area where a DJ spins chill tunes.

Since it is so close to the Uni, you are bound to run into U of B students having a drink, but don't worry, it isn't the same as running into a bunch of American college kids having a drink. We heard no chanting, hooting, or other frat like noises from the tables filled with students.

The bar also features live jazz periodically, check their web site for detes.

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Non-Toursist Tourism in Brussels :: Ixelles Bar Scene

Want to know where the hipsters hang in Brussels? Try Ixelles, a small bohemian area just south of the touristy Grand Place--full of cafes, lively pubs, and plenty of Art Nouveau buildings. Ixelles has a bit of a history--Karl Marx and Alexandre Dumas both lived here for a time and the place still has that struggling artist feel. For those of you familiar with San Francisco, if Ixelles was an SF neighborhood, it would be Cole Valley. Or to put it in geek--if Craig Newmark lived in Brussels he would live in Ixelles.

Avenue Louise, where all the Brussels high end retail shops sit, divides Ixelles into two areas. We spent our time south of Louise, and walked through the tres Belgian streets and squares until we found our spot, on Ru Du Bailli. Here, just up the street from Parv de la Trinite, we found a bar on all four corners of a square, each with its own plusses and minuses. We split our time at two spots: Roxi (82 Rue du Bailli), a definite hipster hang, and the Irish Bank which was a full on sports pub, and, or so we were told, the only Irish pub in Brussels. The evening we were sipping Chimay, France was involved in some late night football action, and the crowd was decidely French, of course. Late night at Roxi we learned our first important lesson about drinking in Belgium--mixed drinks are overpriced and not always made right, so stick to beer.

Once the sun goes down on the rue (after 10pm in late June) the nearby Ste Trinite should light up the night sky for your viewing pleasure. Oh, and the bars are all within stumbling distance of most Avenue Louise hotels.

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Rough Guides Gets it Right :: Le Macaron Restaurant Review

The Rough Guide to Brussels was our weapon of choice, during our June 2006 jaunt through Belgium. Sometimes these guide books get it right, and sometimes they are off. In this feature, we will tell you what the guide pros said about a place and then give you our take.

Eating at Le Macaron in Ixelles:

Rough Guides Says:

Charming French-Italian tavern just off palce du Chatelain. The convivial ambience, homely surroundings and cheap fish, meat and pasta dishes-- main meals around €10--mean the place is often packed to the gunnels, even on weekdays. The spaghetti bolognese is superlative.

Jaunted Says:
The spaghetti bolognese (Bolo on the menu) is really tasty. After a long flight, an inexpensive big plate of spaghetti really hit the spot. Do yourself a favor and get some extra cheese to mix in, if you have €3 Euro to spare. Inside this place is a bit cramped and full of smoke, (everyone still smokes inside Belgium restaurants) so do yourself a favor, sit outside and Belgian watch.

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Jaunted Goes To Belgium

Don't get us wrong: We love free things. In a tragic turn of events, however, the Belgian Tourist Office lost our invitation to their tourism romp, chosing not to pay for us to discover Belgium.

We're not bitter, we love press trips, but we decided we'd check things out for ourselves. We can get around without any handholding, and crashing a party is always more fun that going there with the rest of the herd, right?

Besides, we still got to see all the typical stuff: the Grand Place in Brussels chock-a-block with tourist mobs; Antwerp's high-fashion shops; the romantic canals of Brugge.

Because we were flying solo, though, we also met Cot the bartender who spun us yarns about Antwerp nightlife, gossiped with hotel staffers and hunkered down during a Flanders-wide power outage. We found the red light district of Antwerp (just for research! Honest!), mocked Belgian uni-hipsters in Ixelles, and even discovered that the rough in Rough Guides Brussels refers to their abilty to find a crowd in a bar.

Also, it's hard to explain that photo, but trust us: It made sense at the time.

Our renegade Belgium Field Trip coverage will starts today and wil continue through Monday both in this space and over on our big sister site. If you can't wait to see all our photos of furry fetishists, go to the Jaunted Flickr pool. Or better yet, upload your own Belgian photos to the pool. Otherwise, sit back, relax, and strap on your seatbelt...

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Shouldn't the Food Be Painted Too?

Mwargh! Statue chomp! We knew that Belgium was famous for a love affair with comic strips--as well as for being a mating ground of European bureaucracy--but this is a bit silly, wouldn't you say?

OK, it's just one of the many snaps that Jaunted's Publisher/Fearless Leader Mark has posted of his recent foray through Belgium. No word yet if he used the Von Schlieffen Plan to work his way through the country, but we hear he enjoyed himself nonetheless.

Anyway, you can check out his photos here and don't be shy: you can add photos to our pool no matter where your travels take you.