Leuven Tourist Information

General summary of the city:

Leuven (Louvain in French) is a university town and the capital city of the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Catholic Univeristy of Leuven) is the oldest catholic univeristy in the world. It is also one of the world's oldest universities. With respect to the adage "old is gold", the univeristy which is the hallmark of Leuven, is one of the most beautiful sights in the whole of Europe.

An ancient town Leuven, grew industrially from 11th century onwards. The town soon became famous for linen production (known as lewyn, then) by the late 15th century. Historians argue that linen is actually a corruption of the word "leuven". By the 18th century, the Beer brewing industry came into existence. The local "Stella Artois" brand of beer became a household name. Things turned out even better for Stella Artois when it merged with the Walloon based brewer Piedboeuf to manufacture Interbrew. The brand Interbrew grew exponentially as one of the most famous brewing companies in the world offering some of the most popular beer brands in Europe. Couple of years ago, Interbrew merged with a Brazilian brewer AmBew to merge InBev which is now the largest and the most popular brewer company in the world with a sizeable marketshare.

The city of Leuven suffered setbacks during the World Wars and the library of the university was destroyed and rebuilt twice. Ten percent of the students attending the university in Leuven are international students. All in all, Leuven is an historically gifted intellectual place for learning and spreading of knowledge.

Places of interest:

St.Peter's Church on Grotte Markt ( Great Market Square) founded in the later part of the tenth century is a Gothic building. The Church bore the brunt of warfare during the world wars and had to be renovated. The best part about the church is the treasury of St.Peter which houses the 15th century paintings like the "The Last Supper" and the "Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus".

The Grotte Markt and the Oude Markt (Old Market) reflect the ethos and splendor of the 15th and 16th century BC. No visitor worth his salt should miss the Stadhuis, the townhall of Grott Markt. The Stadhuis is the most beautiful building in Leuven and one of the most popular structures of Belgium. You can take a guided tour of the Stadhuis everyday from 3pm. During the months of April through September, the Stadhuis is open for guided tours from 11 am on weekdays.

The Beguinages built during the period between the 13th and 16th century are the collection of small buiding used by Beguines. They were more than 300 women during those times who lived religious lives, without taking monastic vows. A visit to the Beguinage reminds people of how these sisters dedicated their lives to God without isolating themselves from the world. Quite recently the Beguinages have been able to hold public interest because of their inclusion to the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

Things to do:

Leuven is one place which can make you feel young. There is a continous feeling of learning and education. No prizes for guessing why; Leuven is a "student city" with most of the citizens being students. The Old Market is famous for bars and cafés. Onder den Toog is well known for being Belgium's smallest bar and a haven visitors who want to absorb the folklore and ambience of the Louven culture.

A visitor cannot afford to miss the Rock Werchter festival held for three days in July. Though the city radiates a Catholic sentiment, the festivals in Leuven do not have any religious or historic appeal. They are purely indulged in for fun, merriment and get-togethers. The Rock Werchter features rock bands from parts of Europe and the USA. The other music festival known as Beleuvenissen play more jazz and blue, folk and classical concerts. Come August, and you can see the rise of pop fever in this city with interntional pop and rock bands coming together for the rock festival Marktrock. If you are into sports especially football, then you can pay a visit to the Oud-Heverlee Leuven, a Belgian football club, from the municipality of Leuven. You can also head to listening to some pleasing orchestra like the famous Arenberg Orchestra in Leuven.

Food and Drink:

The Belle Epoque and the Orange par Roland Debuyst restaurants are famous for gourmand delights. Also famous is the French restaurant offering the best in French cuisine called Ramberg Hof. Oesterbar is another beautiful eatery offering the choices of seafood and oysters for people who love seafood.

Since the place is famous for its cosmopolitian outlook, Leuven brims with the choicest international and ethic cuisinE ranigng from Italian, Mexican, Spanish to Chinese, Moghlai and Indian. There are around 1765 cafes and more than 215 restaurants in Leuven. The quality standards for food and drink are quite high as they are strictly monitored under the watchful eyes of the Leuven Catering Inspectorate.

The popular starters consists of soupe à la bière (beer soup) made with chicken stock and onions; a cold pate made of veal, pork and rabbit; flamiche, a tasty cheese pie with leeks or onions; and tomatoes filled with mayonnaise and shrimps. The main course include chicken stew or fish stew, lean beef cooked in a casserole with onion and beer among other favorites. A popular sweet dish is the Gaufres which are waffles served with chocolate syrup or icing sugar. Frijtes is a popular snack here.

Like the rest of Belgium, beer reigns high among the list of favorite drinks in Leuven, the most popular brand being the good ol' Stella Artois. There is also a good demand for French and Luxembourg variety of wines. Other popular drinks are gin and coffee. Leuven Peckhke gin with peach juice and Leuvens Nootje, gin with hazel nut are quite popular among jins. Popular brands of Coffee are Margogyp and Mysore.

Hotel and Accomodation:

Het Klooster Hotel
Hotel Ibis Leuven Centrum
Hotel New Damshire
Begijnhof Congreshotel
Hotel Binnenhof
Theater Hotel Leuven Centrum

Entertainment:

You can take your kids or friends to a beautiful recreational partk known as Kessel-Lo Provincial Recreation Park. Children can have a gala time playing, riding electric boats, driving mini-cars etc. You can indulge in row-boating, pedal boating, go-karts and playing to your heart's content in a spalsh pool. For sports afficionados, there are football pitches, basketball and volleybal courts, a tennis court, two skate ramps and a roller skating rink. The eco-house along with a permanent water exhibition attract a lot of visitor attention. Those who love nature can also find peace and solace watching the greenery, the tree orchard and the blooming flower garden in the recreation park.

Those who prefer night entertainment, can visit some of the zaniest bars which are found around the Oude Markt and the Grott Mart. For people who love shopping, there is the Fochplein, which is famous for popular shops selling everything from food to outfits. There are also some smaller shops in the market area which sell interesting as well as commonplace items. Be it the park, the bars, the museums or the univeristy; the sheer magnetism and the chemisty of Leuven is quite entertaining. The friendly hospitality of the students of Leuven, the humor and the camaraderie shown by them to visitors is really commendable.

About The Author
Meredith Booney is a freelance travel writer with over 20 years of experience writing for travel journals, newspapers and magazines. Belgium Tourist Information. Website: http://www.belgiumcities.info

Ten Tips For A Tech Problem Free Vacation

Heading off for vacation? Here are my top 10 tips for a trouble-free high tech vacation — things to do before you leave and what to do while on vacation to protect and enjoy your gizmos and gadgets:

1. Unplug. Yeah, I know. That's what you hope to do on your getaway. But give your gadgets a break, too. Unplug your computers and printers. This protects them against power surges or nearby lightning strikes while you're away. Same with your cable modem, router and wireless hub.

2. Auto-respond your work e-mail and phone. If you use Microsoft Outlook through an exchange server at work, go into options and compose an auto response that tells people you will be out of the office for a while and won't be answering them. Give them someone at work they can contact in your absence. Do the same with your voice mail at work.

3. Don't advertise that nobody's home. Work is one thing. But don't put a "we're not here" message on your home phone. Just like piles of mail in the mailbox tell thieves nobody's home, so can a home answering machine that tells anyone who calls that you're on vacation. Instead, keep the same recorded message but make sure you have the playback code so you can check for messages from another phone.

4. Pack your chargers. For your cell phone, your camcorder, your digital camera and your iPod. Some people even bring along an extra power strip so you don't hog all the outlets at your vacation getaway.

5. Stay away from the water. Not you, but your gadgets. I have a friend who bought a camcorder for a Florida vacation. At Sea World, Shamu jumped and he thought he got a great shot of his kid getting splashed. The problem was, so did the camera. It was ruined.

Salt water is the worst for electronic devices. And while a mild fresh water or rain exposure may not be destructive, if your camera gets even a tiny amount of salt water inside, it's a goner.

6. Hold onto your cameras. Use the straps. I just lost a brand new digital camera. I was taking pictures of the grandkids and one of them ran by and bumped my arm. The camera fell to the cement, shattering the lens and the case. Use the strap that comes with the cameras. Wrap them around your hand or neck.

7. Think storage. Make sure you have a big enough memory card to store all the pictures you take. I'd suggest a minimum of 512 MB to hold around 125 good-quality pictures. A 1GB card holds around 250 images.

The only thing worse than forgetting the charger and running out of juice is not being able to take more pictures because the memory is full. With camcorders, bring along extra miniDV tapes.

8. Bring a laptop For one thing, you can transfer some of those photos to your laptop and free up more memory. But for another, the laptop is great for reviewing the pictures at the end of each day. Create a slide show of the day's highlights. Looking over the pictures is a great way to pass time on a rainy day. Besides, most resorts and hotels now offer free Internet hookups. If not, a library or Starbucks offers wireless access so you can send family and friends a picture or check e-mail.

9. Bring Ziploc bags for the beach. Sand can cause almost as many problems as water. When you take your iPod and mobile phone and other gizmos to the beach, keep them in those clear bags that can be sealed to protect the outside from getting in. And don't keep them in the sun for long periods of time.

10. Create a vacation blog. Remember when we used to go over to friend's homes to see vacation pictures projected on a screen? Now we blog it.

About The Author
Mike Wendland http://www.techtipstoday.com

Christmas On Cape Cod

The vivid colors of autumn have now faded, the first big shopping day of the season is past, winter has already started to show her hand, and this year that we seemed to just ring in sees her days dwindling away. Yes, it's December on Cape Cod and it comes with a special feel in the air. Beginning with the weekend after Thanksgiving, there are many delightful activities all over the Cape that people of all ages can enjoy. You will see a different side of the Cape other than sunny beaches, whale watching and seafood, but it might just start a new Christmas tradition in your family for years to come.

Towns all over Cape Cod celebrate the coming of Christmas with various activities that have become traditions. Christmas strolls, caroling, festive harbor lights, and holiday fairs bring residents and visitors together to celebrate. Concerts and shows abound, helping build the excitement of the season. Many Bed & Breakfasts show off their warm and cozy accommodations with open houses, homemade refreshments and their best holiday finery.

You could start the festivities off by joining a holiday wreath making workshop on the Saturday after Thanksgiving at Pastiche of Cape Cod in West Barnstable. Or how about joining the Chatham-By-The-Sea celebration starting in mid-November and stretching through December. There are arts and crafts fairs, candy cane making, holiday plays, and a dinner dance at the Chatham Bars Inn. The Chatham celebration all culminates in a First Night Celebration on New Year's Eve.

In Sandwich, the Heritage Museum and Gardens are decked out with a million lights on over 100 acres of gardens from November 24th through the 31st. They also have indoor Victorian displays, a holiday boutique, holiday treats and free rides on an antique carousel, along with other special programs. The classic and timeless holiday tale, A Christmas Story, is being performed at the Harwich Junior Theater from December 8th to the 30th. Other performance treats include the Cape Cod Symphony, the Vienna Choir Boys, renditions of Vivaldi's Gloria and Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, as well as readings of Charles Dickens' favorite Christmas Carol.

Christmas strolls have become a popular Cape Cod tradition in many of the towns. Barnstable, Chatham, Dennis, Falmouth, Harwich, Hyannis, Osterville, Sandwich and Yarmouthport tie in these holiday strolls with other events such as caroling on town greens or at lighthouses, tree lighting, the arrival of Santa (sometimes even by boat!), festive shopping, open houses, holiday treats, special museum events and Christmas parades.

Only a few of the holiday activities awaiting you have been listed here, but if you have never experienced the Christmas season on Cape Cod, you might want to consider spending a few days exploring what the Cape has to offer. So break out your warm clothes, the hot chocolate and your Christmas spirit and start a new tradition for you and yours here on Cape Cod.

About The Author
Linda Behrle has spent many wonderful vacations on the Cape beginning in her childhood. It is still her favorite place on earth to be. You can find out more about things to do on Cape Cod and Christmas on Cape Cod at her website http://www.everythingcapecod.net, as well as complete information for all of your vacation planning needs.

Tour Egypt for Ancient and Exotic Adventures

If you've ever dreamed of witnessing the magnificence of the Great Pyramids, standing in awe before the Great Sphinx, or reveling in the treasures found in King Tut's tomb, the magic of Egypt awaits you. You can tour Egypt for an unforgettable experience of a lifetime.

Whether you want to cruise the Nile in the style of Cleopatra or visit the Valley of the Kings, a Cairo program tour may be just the thing to fulfill your dreams. If your tastes lean toward adventure travel, a Cairo tour may mark the beginning of a journey that will include, for example, a diving excursion in the Ras Mohammed underwater nature reserve or a trek to a desert Bedouin Camp.

A Cairo museum tour will enchant you with the breathtaking antiquities of ancient Egypt, while retaining the services of a Cairo travel guide will allow you to experience the beauties and mysteries of a city from a local perspective.

If you have an interest in Egypt's ancient Holy Lands, you can travel Cairo and see the Red Sea and visit Old Cairo, where early Judaism and Christianity flourished.

While you're in Cairo, photo travel adventures await. You'll want to bring plenty of film - or extra storage cards for your digital camera - when you visit the Ben Ezra Synagogue, the Saint Serguis Church, the Great Citadel begun by Saladdin, and the Mohamed Ali Mosque, also known as the "Alabaster Mosque."

In Cairo, Egypt, travel can mean entering a time machine and visiting the sites of a wondrous and mysterious civilization, or enjoying very modern activities and amenities such as golf, cruises, and even bowling. You'd be doing yourself a disservice, though, if you didn't learn at least a bit about ancient Egypt before booking a Cairo, Egypt tour.

Some other things to know before you go:

* According to the U.S. State Department, a passport and visa are required to visit Egypt. Although renewable, 30-day tourist visas are available for US$15 upon arrival at Cairo International Airport, if you're arriving overland, you should obtain your visa prior to your arrival in Egypt.

* Egypt has close to 79 million residents, and Egypt's size is approximately three times the size of New Mexico.

* The official language of Egypt is Arabic, although French and English are widely spoken and understood.

* Egypt is bisected by the fertile Nile Valley, which spurs Egypt's economy.

* The currency is the Egyptian pound, and the exchange rate in 2005 was 5.78 Egyptian pounds per U.S. dollar.

Whether you're traveling for business or pleasure, with the right tour, Egypt will enchant and engage you, drawing you in to its ancient mysteries.

About The Author
Chris Robertson is a published author of Majon International. Majon International is one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing and internet advertising companies on the web. Visit their main business resource web site at: http://www.majon.com
To learn more about subjects like tour Egypt please visit the web site at: http://www.magitour.com
For more information and informative related articles and links about this subject matter and content, please visit Majon's Travel directory: http://www.majon.com/directory/Travel

Motor Home Living Part 1

Motor Home Living - Part 1

So here we are, in our forties, the kids have moved out, and we are tired of the rat race. Then the idea came, lets look into full time Motor home living.

Since I have a virtual career, and my wife is in accounting, this just might work.

No more mortgage payment, property taxes, sewage, water, home repair, and most of all, if I hate my neighbors, I can move in a day.

But now the real problem starts. How to get ready?

Over 25 years of junk. What do we keep? What do we store? What about the cars and boat?

So now we are in the planning stages and what a scaring thing. We have started looking at Motor homes at lots and RV shows. They are beautiful and cost a lot less than my Yuppy home.

So many questions come up about living in a motor home. Will we be happy? Will we get to see the world and still be comfortable? Will we meet new friends? Can we live with only one car?

We have also been trying to talk with full time Motor home couples to ask them about the lifestyle. Everyone of them so far have quoted "We should have done this years ago". Most of the folks are retired.

Do you have to be retired to enjoy a Motor Home?

I think not. Remember how our parents use to tell us we would work for companies all our lives and retire with a great pension. Well that went to pot. But we now have virtual careers available and the cards dealt to us can allow us to look outside the box.

This will be a 8 month project for us to get ready. So we will be publishing a series of articles as we get closer and more educated about Motor home living.

To read more and follow this story, please visit http://www.rangaerrobchat.com .

Our main sites are:
http://www.motor-home-living.com
http://used-rv.blogspot.com
http://rv-motorhome.blogspot.com
http://www.rangerrob.com
http://rvdealer.blogspot.com
http://rv-sales.blogspot.com
http://rv-trader.blogspot.com

About The Author
Rob Scribner
Owner of Rangerrob,com Outdoor Family Online Magazine.
To read more and follow this story, please visit http://www.rangaerrobchat.com.

First Time Travel to Europe - Your Six-Month Planning Guide

So, you've decided that you want to travel to Europe within the next year. Fantastic! Your trip is sure to be an exciting learning experience.

Traveling to Europe - Six Months Before You Go

It goes without saying that at this stage of the game that you'll need to pick where you plan on traveling within Europe. Pick up travel brochures, talk to a travel agent specializing in European destinations, speak with friends, and read magazines on the subject.

If the European destination you've chosen to travel to speaks another language that you aren't familiar with, why not start learning the basics of the language? Grab a book, take a course, or ask a friend familiar with the language and customs to help you out.

Also, you should think about picking up a European travel guide, such as Fodor's or the Lonely Planet. Highlight the areas and attractions you'd like to visit.

Traveling to Europe - 3-4 Months Before You Go

Your European travel destination is getting closer. Are you excited yet? Now is the time to start with the practical planning aspects of your trip. Get a passport now, if you don't have one already. Shop around for airline tickets, and places to stay. If the locale you've chosen has a different climate than what you are used to, look for clothing to take along with you – and don't forget a good pair of walking shoes!

Are there any special festivals, activities or events that will occur while you are traveling to Europe? If so, you'll need to book now. The larger the event, the more time in advance you'll want to make reservations.

Traveling to Europe – 6 Weeks Before You Go

Departure day is inching closer, and there is still a lot to accomplish. If you haven't already booked a hotel for your stay, do so now. Have you figured out how you plan on getting around yet in your country of choice? Car rentals, rail passes, and bus trips all require advance planning, so research these options, and make your reservations around this time, too. Finally, don't forget your travelers insurance, and health check up. If you'll require immunizations or medications to take with you while traveling to Europe, having this all on hand well before your flight is critical.

Traveling to Europe – Four Weeks Before You Go

It's crunch time, are you ready to travel to Europe? You are if you have luggage that will make the trip, cameras with adequate film, the right currency in your pocket, gear to keep your valuables safe, an electrical converter (if required, think about your shaver and curling iron), maps of the area you are visiting, and have contacted your local Embassy to check of any current dangers in the area.

Traveling to Europe – Last Minute Plans

Europe, here you come! Anything that hasn't been done now, probably just won't get done. Just make sure that you have photocopies of your passport and credit cards available at all times. Now, go have fun traveling to Europe!

Jacky Uy writes for http://www.cheapairfareguide.info where you can find out more about cheap airfare guides and other topics.

About The Author
Jacky Uy writes for http://www.cheapairfareguide.info where you can find out more about cheap airfare guides and other topics.