Brussels, May 2006

Close to the botanic garden, Royal Crown Hotel offers very comfortable rooms (typical room is about 30 mq), with a sofa, a couple of armchairs, a table, a marble bath, and a little room for your luggage (plus radio and TV service, of course). Baths are a bit old fashioned, but it is a matter of taste. If you are prepared to pay €20 for breakfast, you will have at your disposal a wide selection of foods and drinks. It is worth it if you plan not to eat until evening. The little Hotel restaurant can be a valuable choice, if you are too tired to go outside at evening.

Suggestion: visit the hotel web site for special offers.

Please, get down six steps and come into this confortable restaurant. Few tables lined under a barrel vault where voices reverberate, but don't panic: you are in the right place. Menu offers typical Belgian dishes, from carbonade flamande to waterzooi; from asperges à la flamande to dame blanche. You've got selection of wines, but remember you are in Belgium, so a beer is the proper dish companion.

Suggestion: carbonade flamande with stoemp, coupled with the 't Kelderke own beer

Where once was 'L'Idiot du Village', now you will find this pretty little restaurant (maybe 35 seats available). Low lights starts at 21 and atmosphere tones to romantic. A tasty aperitif made by white wine and raspberry introduces a tasteful menu which suggests typical Belgian dishes, that you can couple with wine (generally from France); if a bottle of wine is too much for you, you can even choose a single glass of wine.

Prices are a bit high, so do your calculations!

Find mary at Rue Royale 73, 500m from Place Royale towards the Botanic Garden. It is a little shop you could even fail to see; it has one single room, with exposition of chocolate pralines distributed on three tables with typical simplicity. On the wall, paintings from the Royal family, just as you could expect. Selection of pralines explores all the possible combinations: don't panic, as Mary assistants will introduce you to that chocolate bijoux. Well, be ready to speak French, as English is not the lingua franca here. In my humble opinion, Mary is the top chocolatier in Brussels: Highly recommended.

Catch an IC train at Brussels Central station: it takes 1 hour and 20 minutes (plus about €30 for ticket) to reach Oostende. Here is the sea, with its restless tides, under a typical cloudy sky. In May, maybe 20°F in the air, you find people walking up and down the sandy beach. Well, a walk with bare feet along the strand is really worth the trip. Shivering for chilled water is a sort of pleasure, so don't run to the warm sand. Then, you could simply stroll along the roads (people talk English, you don't need to learn nederlander!) and maybe taste a beer coupled with cheese and mustard (if this is the case, choose at least a double malt beer).