Ghent, Belgium — The City That Blows

by Willy Volk on

For the past few months, a female student in Ghent, Belgium has been soliciting balloons from all over the world. Having received countless balloons, sometime next week (“A little mystery is nice, no?”) she will blow up the city. Er, I mean she will blow up the balloons and place them around the city. And you can participate!

If you’re not able to attend the actual Blow this City event, you can send a personalized balloon to the organizer. According to her, there are no rules, just put something on the balloon. Write a message. Attach a note to it. Strap a disposable digital camera to it and ask her to film lift-off.

Why would anyone organize an event like this? Part street-art, part kick in the pants, part senior project — and all fun — the organizer plans to hang the balloons around the city during the night — so people can wake up with a smile.

[Via Neatorama]

Valentine’s Idea: Chocolate Tours

by Willy Volk on

What better way to celebrate this sweet occasion than by stuffing your face with the sweetest sweet on earth — chocolate!

  • Every Saturday, Boston’s Chocolate Tour takes guests on a trolley ride through Boston’s finest culinary landmarks. Of course, guests enjoy a sumptuous array of decadent chocolate desserts from the city’s best chefs, and are treated to the history, myths, trivia, and legends surrounding chocolate.
  • Chocoholic Tours has a variety of options for sampling Melbourne, Australia’s rich history and stunning chocolate. Bonus: since the tours are walking tours, you can burn off calories as you consume them!
  • Join culinary guide/pastry chef David Lebovitz, author of The Great Book of Chocolate, for a chocolate-y exploration in Paris. An expert on the chocolate shops and bakeries of the City of Lights, David treats guests to a memorable tour featuring the best of what France has to offer. Private tours are also available.
  • Chicago Chocolate Tours provides guided walking and tasting tours of some of Chicago’s finest chocolatiers. What’s more, they even have a special Valentine’s Package.
  • London’s Chocolate Ecstasy Tours offers 4-hour long tours (guided by a Chocolate Ecstasy Chocoholic Guide), through London’s side streets and alleys. Participants sample chocolates, enjoy chocoholic chats, take a lavish hot chocolate break, enjoy special prices on the ultimate chocolate luxuries, and receive a goody bag!
  • One day isn’t enough for your chocolate-loving mouth? InTrend offers 7-day Escorted Tours for real chocolate lovers! Spend a week in Brussels participating in chocolate-making demonstrations at chocolate factories, and sample chocolate desserts after sumptuous meals.
  • Looking for a more affordable option? San Fransisco’s Sharffen Berger requires a reservation but offers free walking tours through its factory.

Chocolate tours sound like my kind of holiday celebration. Yum!

Tintin Tour

by Neil Woodburn on

Tintin isn’t as popular in America as he is in the rest of the world, yet I still have fond memories of browsing through these wonderfully colorful books and following Tintin on his adventures around the globe. I didn’t realize at the time that later on in life I would have the chance to visit so many of these strange foreign lands which this comic book character introduced to me so many years ago.

Tintin has touched millions of readers in many different ways; this year many of them will return the joy by celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hergé, Tintin’s creator.

Belgium will be the center of these celebrations for the simple fact that Hergé, like the hero he created, was born in this small country. Belgians are not only fiercely proud of this fact, but most acknowledge that Tintin is arguably the country’s most famous export.

With this in mind, The Guardian has researched the best way for Tintin fans to celebrate this centennial event. Obviously, the first step is to get to Brussels and pay homage at the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Arts where Tintin paraphernalia dominates the exhibit. Fans who want more can journey over to La Boutique Tintin, the “official Tintin gift shop” which is apparently stocked with high-end, very expensive items.

Brussels also sports the world’s only Comic Strip Trail, a walk past more than 30 murals featuring characters from Tintin comic books as well as many others.

This is where my fascination with Tintin would start to wane. For those more fanatical than I, The Guardian points out the home of Hergé, where he is buried, cafes sporting Tintin themes, various locations throughout Brussels featured in the comic books, and even a subway stop featuring a mural of 140 characters which have appeared in Tintin comic books.

Wow. The Belgians sure do love their favorite son!

Atomium – Kids Sphere Hotel in Belgium

by Adrienne Wilson on

The Atomium, a replica of an iron molecule with nine aluminum spheres (built for the World Fair in 1958) has been renovated and remixed and comes to the kid and the kid at heart as an otherworldly playground of sorts. Spotted on the Cool Hunter, Billy T says the Atomium has been dubbed the “Kids Sphere Hotel.” Kids are entertained by films and other packaged events. When it’s time to dine, within the restaurant you’ll find a panoramic view of Brussels. Seems like one awesome place to visit when in Brussels – see the Cool Hunter for more photos and visit Atomium for all details!

Belgian Beer Weekend

by Erik Olsen on

Those who are in the know, well, they know that the best beers tend to come from a country in Europe that is neither Germany nor Austria. The best beer in the world, many say, comes from Belgium. How do I know this? Trust me. One of my old teachers was a brewmaster at a top brewery in Seattle, and everyone was always trying to imitate the Belgians.

The fact is that few other countries can boast as wide an array of distinct beer styles as Belgium, and eve if you’ve never met a Belgian in your life, chances are you’ve tried one of the beers or at least a brand that was influenced by Belgian methods.

Well, so lets say you love beer AND that you want to do some traveling to Europe in the NEAR future. You’re in luck. Because the eighth annual Beer Weekend put on by the Belgium Brewers’ Association in collaboration with the City of Brussels happens this September 1-8. We’re talking all beer all the time. Delicious sudsy goodness until you pass out. The event is free and beers are served from 48 Belgian breweries. This is serious beer fun for you and the family…OK, leave the family at home.