Belgium Correspondent - Bri

The Missus moved out here in 1999 because of her job. Being on the old “Rock & Roll” at the time and not having played any for a while I decided to join her. The only thing I knew about the place was that in Belgium they speak French & Dutch and that Liége is in the French-speaking part. I now know a lot more about the place…

Liege is “SPECIAL” as the French say, this is a catch-all term to mean everything from daft-as-a-brush to funny-peculiar. It has a population that is 40% Italian and 100% party animal. Unlike their Flemish cousins the Liégeois embrace the Latin culture which means spending the annual budget on street parties instead of roads and lounging around café terraces drinking Pastis with a Salvador Dali moustache. At times the place borders on Latin America with its cultural mix of inhabitants and if there seems to be a world shortage of supermodels it’s ‘cos there all here. Jaw-droppingly gorgeous women shimmy around the streets everywhere you look.

Stella Artois (40p a can from the supermarket) is brewed just up the road in nearby Leuven but no bugger drinks it ‘cos the local beer JUPILER pisses all over it. In fact when it comes to beer the Belgians rule, not just because of the dazzling number of types they produce but because they have cracked the problem of brewing 9% (and stronger) that doesn’t taste like treacle mixed with WD40.

One of our local bars has 900 beers in stock, 30 on draught. All in all there’s never a dull moment, whether it’s a palm tree mysteriously appearing in the town square or the Tour De France passing through, and as Holland is 20 minutes away (Maastricht - see photo of the Carnival- MENTAL) we can easily buy magic mushrooms over the counter…not that you need them in Liége . And I still can’t persuade me mates to visit…

Bri