Belgium Today Newsletter!

Belgium Tour Home Newsletters Introduction Edition #1, July 26th, 2001 Edition #2, July 29th, 2001 Edition #3, July 31st, 2001 Edition #4, Aug 3rd, 2001 Edition #5, Aug 8th, 2001 Edition #6, Aug 13th, 2001 Edition #7, Aug 20th, 2001 Edition #8, Aug 31st, 2001 Edition #9, Sep 7th, 2001 Edition #10, Sep 21st, 2001 Edition #11, Oct 9th, 2001 Edition #12, Oct 16th, 2001 Final Emails, Oct 18, 2001 Final Edition, Oct 25, 2001 Belgium Websites 24 Hours of Beer (Official site) Alfa Theater Hotel Antwerp Hotel Hoksbergen Amsterdam Currency Exchange Belgium Tourist Office Belgium Travel Network Belgian Museums & Art Belgian Brewery Info Travel Planning Info Who Is Going On The Trip? Passport FAQs EasyEverything Internet Cafes How Beer Works Marketplace Rick Steves' Travel Store Magellan's Travel Store Hangover Kombat (Special Belgium Deal) Photo Memories? Who's Going Pix Belgium 2000 Pix More 2000 Pix Airlines, Hotels & Transport Airlines A+ Continental A Expedia.com A Travel 4 Students A- Priceline.com B+ Lowestfare.com B Lufthansa Germany B Orbitz.com B- United B- Delta C+ Cheaptickets.com C Discount Airfare Hotels A Utell World htls. A- Euro Hostel List B+ Hostels Int'l. B Small Lux. Hotels B Italian Villas B- Italian Villas 2 Trains, Boats, Maps A+ Euro Train Times A+ Rick Steves Rail A Italy Train Times B- EuRail Info/Tix B- 'Net Ferry Sites B- More Ferry Sites B+ EuroDrive Maps B Good Maps, Europe B Lnly. Planet Maps C CIA Country Maps

July 29, 2001 Volume #2 Europe > Belgium > Antwerp > 24 Hours of Beer Festival Welcome to the 2nd edition of the Belgian Today Newsletter. 24 Hours of Beer Festival: Sat/Sun Nov. 3/4 Let's get right to it! IMPORTANT AIRFARE WAR INFORMATION As of this weekend, both Continental and United have a 10% discount special when you buy via their websites. United's giving 5,000 bonus miles. Other airlines may also soon announce deals. This 10% includes U.S. to Europe fares, and is good September through December, which should be golden for us all! Last week the best fare I could find was $643 from Denver. Today, I found via united.com a fare of $543 roundtrip -- good deals are to be had! The main stipulation is departing Mon (beginning at noon) to Thurs (ending at noon) and on Saturday/Sunday. I'm probably considering flying Thursday, arriving on the East Coast Thursday afternoon (Nov 1st) and hitting Brussels Friday morning, one day early. DID YOU KNOW? So, we know there are 10.2 Million people in Belgium, but so what? We'll be in Antwerp, where 456,000 souls make their home. If you're considering Brugge, it's pop. 120,000. For those so inclined, Amsterdam is a close 2 1/2 - 3 hours away by train (about $25 one-way ticket) (pop. 725,000). Getting around Belgium is a breeze. Travel by rail is the preferred route, especially for drunk foreign American tourists arriving early in the morning. I'd like to propose that we consider trying to meet up Friday morning and/or Saturday morning in Brussels airport and move en masse to the chosen hotels in Antwerp. But, this is open, of course. Staying together's pretty useful, especially for our newer EuroTravelers. OTHER UPCOMING DECISIONS How long to stay What hotels we should stay at Transportation to/from airports How much to drink -- okay, no discussion necessary here Who snores How much it will likely cost For our fence straddlers, whether they are going or not! CURRENT LIST OF ATTENDEES BilFish (Definite) Erich Beckmann (Definite) John Jaser (Definite) Dan Rowley (A Shoe In) Ian Wilson (Highly Probable) Steve Urban (Missing In Action) Tom Collins (Possible) (Another programmer buddy of mine from Phoenix) DON'T Forget to ensure that you a) have a passport and b) it is active! I checked mine and just remembered it expired in February! It can take a couple of months to get your passport made, so get crackin' even if you are just thinking of going on the trip! To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please simply email me and give me a damn good reason, ya fool! Cheers, BilFish Editor Belgium Today!