Beer post: Lier rhymes with beer!

Just 10-15 minutes by train from Antwerp, Lier is not only a picture-perfect Belgian town, but is also known for its beer. With a reputation like that, how could David and I resist going? Short answer: We couldn’t.

We chose a sunny Saturday for our day trip so we could check out the Saturday market in Lier’s main square and take a boat tour on the River Nete in addition to scouting out the local brews. [Check out my previous post for a travelogue of our day in Lier.] At casual market-side café ‘t Gomerke, I chose a Caves (pronounced, more or less, like “cah fess”) for my first beer of the day and David opted for a Sint Gummarus Tripel. read more

Picturesque Lier, Belgium

A Koninklijke Moedige Bootvissers tour boat on the River Nete in Lier

Pretty Lier, Belgium, is only a 10-minute train ride from our local Antwerpen-Berchem station and it was top on my day trip wish list for our current cat- and house-sitting stay in Antwerp. (The trip is another 5 minutes or so if you leave from Antwerpen-Centraal, the architectural gem that is the only other train station in Antwerp.) With our sights on weekend-only boat tours of Lier, we took advantage of our first gorgeous October Saturday to make the short trip. Our Belgian Rail weekend fare tickets cost €4.40 apiece, round trip. (Choose the “weekend ticket internet” option when given a choice for the half-price weekend fare. Print your ticket and show it to the agent on board the train when asked.) read more

Bargain First Class to Asia: $18,681.60 in tickets for $34.30 apiece and points!

I love paying for flights with points and miles and David and I try to maximize the points we earn on nearly every purchase we make. But, as anyone who’s tried to book awards flights knows, those “free” flights are often hard to find. Airlines tend to raise the amounts required for convenient times and schedules, offer less award seats on a flight than you need, or simply don’t offer award flights at all on certain flights. Taxes and fees on some airlines and at certain airports (I’m talking about you, Heathrow!) can turn a “free” flight into an expensive proposition. For flights to Asia from DFW, we think Korean Air is the ticket. (Our opinion holds even with all the saber-rattling currently going on between our government and North Korea, although we’ll definitely keep an eye on developments.) read more

Back in Antwerp for 6 weeks and a preview of travels to come

David and I are happily back in Antwerp, Belgium, for 6 weeks once again cat- and house-sitting for some of our favorite people and cats in one of our favorite cities. As always when in Belgium, we’ll be exploring this beautiful country and scouting great beer. We’ll spend a month in Paris when we leave here, just to touch base in my old home and enjoy the holiday season before heading back stateside.

Coming up in the spring [March-June]: Another Korean Air First Class mega-flight from DFW to Seoul to Singapore(!), a few weeks in Indonesia (Bali, Java, etc.), then back to Singapore to catch a month cruise to Europe (via Sri Lanka, India (Cochin, Goa, Mumbai), Oman, UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi), Suez Canal, Jordan (Petra), Greece, Italy). When we get off the ship in Italy, we’ll spend a couple of weeks in Umbria (in an agrotourism farm) and Tuscany (at a small-town apartment) before flying from Florence back to Antwerp. read more

Quick tip: How to keep Google from going local when you travel

When your computer finds itself in a new country, Google will “helpfully” switch to the local version. Even when you type in “google.com,” Google will automatically switch to “google.xx” (e.g., in Belgium, it’s “google.be”). This can be really annoying when you don’t speak the local language and downright mystifying when the page is in an indecipherable alphabet. Often, you’ll see a link option for English or can click through to the U.S. “Google.com” at the bottom of the search page, but I’ve found those options are not always available (or findable). To solve the problem, just type in “google.com/ncr”. This will get you back to good ole google.com. If, like me, you’ve got your browser set to automatically open Google when you open a new tab, just make that default page “google.com/ncr” and you’ll automatically get the standard Google no matter where you are. read more