Belgium Travel Thread

[stupac2]

 

[TheFarmBoy3]

Saw this on 3F Facebook. *sigh*

 

[wethorseblanket]

Changed my FB profile pic, terrorism defeated.

 

[LukeAleTime]

Yeah that's the official store. I think the bar is De Kelk but it's been a really long time and I'm going from vague recollections of where in Brugge it was.

You got it, De Kelk is the one you are thinking of.

Yeah, the owner was in the now defunct (?) single barrel club. We paid through the nose for one of the club beers when there - it ended up being a Black Albert variant. Apricot? Something about apricots? I forget.

The guy is great and has some crazy bottles. But from memory it was all $$$

 

[Ednolb]

Yeah, the owner was in the now defunct (?) single barrel club. We paid through the nose for one of the club beers when there - it ended up being a Black Albert variant. Apricot? Something about apricots? I forget.

The guy is great and has some crazy bottles. But from memory it was all $$$

Probably the A2. It was later released as the Black Damnation XII - Nuptiale. I think it was Black Albert aged on rum barrels with apricots.

 

[stupac2]

Yeah, the owner was in the now defunct (?) single barrel club. We paid through the nose for one of the club beers when there - it ended up being a Black Albert variant. Apricot? Something about apricots? I forget.

The guy is great and has some crazy bottles. But from memory it was all $$$

I don't remember his prices being particularly absurd, but I probably wasn't looking for the weird de Struise stuff anyway (I love Pannepot, but am lukewarm on pretty much everything else). Had an old-ish Westy that wasn't ridiculous.

 

[LukeAleTime]

Probably the A2. It was later released as the Black Damnation XII - Nuptiale. I think it was Black Albert aged on rum barrels with apricots.

Yeah that one.

 

[Sage1]

Hey guys, going to Brussels in a few weeks. What’s my best option for dealing with cell phone ****? (I haven’t traveled internationally since before I owned a cell phone.) I have an iPhone 6 with AT&T. Hierarchy of importance for me is data > texting > phone calls (I’m going for 8 days, so I’d probably like to have at least 1 GB of data).

 

[NAD1983]

Hey guys, going to Brussels in a few weeks. What’s my best option for dealing with cell phone ****? (I haven’t traveled internationally since before I owned a cell phone.) I have an iPhone 6 with AT&T. Hierarchy of importance for me is data > texting > phone calls (I’m going for 8 days, so I’d probably like to have at least 1 GB of data).

You are pretty much ****** with AT&T if you want full coverage, unless cost doesn't matter to you.

What exactly do you need/want data for? I can offer up a few suggestions for getting around data, texting and phone calls depending on what your data usage will consist of.

 

[nanobrew1]

Hey guys, going to Brussels in a few weeks. What’s my best option for dealing with cell phone ****? (I haven’t traveled internationally since before I owned a cell phone.) I have an iPhone 6 with AT&T. Hierarchy of importance for me is data > texting > phone calls (I’m going for 8 days, so I’d probably like to have at least 1 GB of data).

Not sure how well this would work, but I know T-mobile has free text and Data internationally, plus you can use Wi-Fi for free calling. They also brag about no contracts. So it might be possible to sign up with an existing phone, or getting a phone and returning it after you are done (their phones are essentially leased until you pay it off), then end the plan after you are done. Not sure what that cost would look like nor how big of a pain in the ass it would be compared to just getting a big plan for AT&T. But just an out of the box idea.

The other option is looking into a temp phone internationally. Especially if you have a spare phone you can just put a sim card in.

 

[ckowalski]

Hey guys, going to Brussels in a few weeks. What’s my best option for dealing with cell phone ****? (I haven’t traveled internationally since before I owned a cell phone.) I have an iPhone 6 with AT&T. Hierarchy of importance for me is data > texting > phone calls (I’m going for 8 days, so I’d probably like to have at least 1 GB of data).

I bought a pre paid phone when I was in Germany. It was pretty cheap, maybe 20 euros, and i pre paid about 10 euros for a limited amount of texts and minutes. It wasnt a lot, but it would last me a couple of weeks at a time. Didnt care about using data, so I didnt do any research into that. I got mine at the T mobile store there and they were very helpful.

 

[Sage1]

What exactly do you need/want data for? I can offer up a few suggestions for getting around data, texting and phone calls depending on what your data usage will consist of.

Maps, Uber, Slack, Twitter, etc. I know a lot of places have wifi but I don’t like depending 100% on that.

Looks like this might be the winner for my use case: https://vikingco.com/en/mobile-vikings/offer/bundles/call-text-data/#tab:focus-data

 

[howL]

Maps, Uber, Slack, Twitter, etc. I know a lot of places have wifi but I don’t like depending 100% on that.

Looks like this might be the winner for my use case: https://vikingco.com/en/mobile-vikings/offer/bundles/call-text-data/#tab:focus-data

AT&T iPhones are SIM locked if you bought it with a subsidy. You can request an unlock here but my co-worker had better luck giving them a call. Once you've got that settled you can just buy a SIM when you get there. We bought ours in the airport right after the baggage claim and (I think) paid 10 euro for 1 GB of data + more voice & SMS than we could use. It was on the BASE network which had good 4G coverage most everywhere we went.

 

[chitowntink]

I actually switched from AT&T to Tmobile because I travel a lot and having unlimited data/texts while in other countries and needing directions is fantastic. I tried out T-Mobile by just doing the no contract month for $50 (but they do a credit check even for that), they will give you a SIM card so you will need an unlocked phone to use it in. But I highly recommend it.

 

[DougOLis]

I actually switched from AT&T to Tmobile because I travel a lot and having unlimited data/texts while in other countries and needing directions is fantastic. I tried out T-Mobile by just doing the no contract month for $50 (but they do a credit check even for that), they will give you a SIM card so you will need an unlocked phone to use it in. But I highly recommend it.

The only downside of T-Mobile's free international data plan is that it's 3G (other than Mexico/Canada).

It's moot though if his phone isn't unlocked.

 

[chitowntink]

The only downside of T-Mobile's free international data plan is that it's 3G (other than Mexico/Canada).

It's moot though if his phone isn't unlocked.

Agreed but honestly it's never horribly slow, sometimes it's slower here!

 

[amk1]

Get a prepaid SIM card? I got one at the airport store for 15 euros which came with 1.5 GB of data (data worked great, but never used texts or calls).

 

[TheFarmBoy3]

Going to be in Europe for a few weeks in September for Honeymoon. Do you guys have any idea when 3f open beer days will be? From what I've read it looks like it usually takes place first week of September. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[FrenchBeerGeek]

We don't have the days yet.
Have you plan to go to Boreft Festival, or Zwanze day in september ?

 

[iong516]

Going to be in Europe for a few weeks in September for Honeymoon. Do you guys have any idea when 3f open beer days will be? From what I've read it looks like it usually takes place first week of September. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Per their website: Open Beer Days will be held from Thursday September 1st to Monday September 5th 2016 and most probably on a new location. But more on that subject later…

 

[TheFarmBoy3]

Thanks iong516! I sent them a message on FB and they confirmed those dates with being open 10AM to 5 PM. FrenchBeerGeek would love to go to Zwanze if it falls on the dates I'm there...sadly I'll be back home for Boreft. I'll also be mostly in Paris (minus open beer days) during the Honeymoon (Sept 2 - 18th). Hopefully we can meet up and have a drink!

 

[andrewdrinks]

Phones - JOIN do a prepay sim called Banana that's pretty good. Look for one of their stores on arrival?

 

[Macenson]

So I'll be in Brussels Saturday (today technically now here). I've been to good local places for lunch before like Mer du Nord. Loved it. I'm looking for a really good place for dinner that is still relatively casual. Jeans and a button down shirt to wear maybe.

Any good suggestions on where I can get good beer and food at the restaurant? I thought about the restaurant right by 3F owned by Armand's brother. Any thoughts? Better ones where I can get some good dialogue and learn about people's local views on what's going on in the world around here? A lot has happened recently and I like to get some local points of view.

 

[Wino1]

Moeder Lambic (Fontainas)

It wont' be on the menu, but ask if they have Zenne - cost 50 Euro when I was there late Feb.

Fancy (1 Michelin Star) dinner - The Mercedes House. This was ******* baller (I hate this word, but it fits here). 68 Euro tasting menu and you're dining in the Mercedes show room.

If you've got a car, see if you can eat at De Heeren (they likely are all booked up tho). I had an awesome convo w some locals about Trump when I was there.

 

[Macenson]

Moeder Lambic (Fontainas)

It wont' be on the menu, but ask if they have Zenne - cost 50 Euro when I was there late Feb.

Fancy (1 Michelin Star) dinner - The Mercedes House. This was ******* baller (I hate this word, but it fits here). 68 Euro tasting menu and you're dining in the Mercedes show room.

68 Euro for the food tasting menu? Will I be under dressed as I described?

Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Wino1]

No you'll be fine in jeans and a button up. Yea the tasting menu was 4 courses but they gave another 5 or so small sampling bites the kitchen had cooked up. took about 2.5 hours. Highly highly recommend if you don't mind splurging a little bit - great value of a restaurant tho and v cool experience.

 

[FrenchBeerGeek]

If you want more traditionnal: Nuetnigenough or Beer Circus
One of the greatest beer geek in Brussels is a roman chief but brought a nice range of italian beers: https://www.facebook.com/latanabrx/?fref=ts

 

[Digita7693]

Another vote for Nuetnigenough

 

[Wino1]

I'm sorry but Beer Circus is absolutely terrible. Avoid.

 

[Digita7693]

I'm sorry but Beer Circus is absolutely terrible. Avoid.

I'll also agree w this, i hated that place.