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24 Hours of Beer Festival
Belgium
Today Newsletter, 7th Edition.
24
Hours of Beer Festival: Sat/Sun Nov. 3/4 -- details
at http://www.24-uur.be/en/index.htm
75 days to First Sip!
NOTE
I've taken another one for the team in preparation for
this trip.
On
a Hangover Kombat sales call to a liquor store stocking
600 beer varieties, I had a Rodenbach Belgian Red Ale
forced, FORCED, upon me by the proprietor. From 1836,
the Rodenbach's have been forgetting to close their
windows, thereby letting yeast and other goodies blow
in and cause the wonderful alcoholic fermenting and
souring of their beers. Aged 2 years in oak barrels,
this stuff packs a whallop, so Pucker Up, Frauline!
Oh,
and I've added a few more links for maps and Belgium
websites on the left-hand menu. Bonus: Images from Belgium
Tour 2000 now available!
MONEY
SECTION
Look,
Belgium is freakin' cheap. If you haven't figured this
out, read newsletters #1-6 for feckin' details, ya ferkin'
louse, especially issue #3. Plane tickets are cheap.
Hotels are cheap. Shite, that's all I'll say about this.
TIP
O' THE WEEK
Pack light...
I
know it's going to be cold (reference Dan's email yesterday
and detailed climate info below). Yet, this doesn't
mean you bring a laptop, cell phones, PDAs, 5 books,
and your mother's best friend. One bag should do it,
plan to travel light and you'll enjoy the trip more.
Remember, if you really need extra unmentionables, you
can buy them at the Dungeon Shoppe. Forgot a shirt?
Pick up a souvenir.
With
10 years of screwing around in Europe, this is probably
the most heartfelt advice I can give! I've traveled
with others who have traveled with dead bodies in trunks,
and it's a big-ass pain, especially when you realize
you won't use
50% of that junk in your trunk, you drunk!
SAFETY
We'll be traveling in numbers, which helps, but perhaps
a few tips:
1.
Get mini-combination locks for your bag, keeps casual
thieves and baggage handlers out. In fact, carry your
baggage on the plane when at all possible, don't check
it -- it could get lost or be late, which sucks when
you're traveling.
2. Don't stand on street corners holding maps out and
looking dumb. If lost, simply move on to a less conspicuous
spot and then look dumb with the map.
3. Keep relatively little cash on ya. Basically, only
a day's worth or two, and use credit cards.
AIRLINE
UPDATES
See website links to airlines and reservation sites.
John Jaser has confirmed reservations, see below if
you'd like to join him. You'll notice that so far, we're
all getting in Friday morning (November 2) between 7am
and 8.15am, so try to join us if possible.
John's
outbound itinerary – SABENA # 552
Thursday, November 1, dep JFK 6:55p, arr BRU 8:15a Friday,
November 2, 2001
John's
return itinerary – SABENA # 553
Tuesday, November 6, dep BRU 7:20p, arr JFK 9:50p
BELGIUM
- WERD UP
Avg. High temp: 48F
Avg. Low temp: 37F
Avg. Nov rain: 3.1 inches
So,
as mentioned by Dan and George via email, it'll be cold.
Last year it wasn't that bad. Basically, if it's pissin'
down, it's bad. Umbrella's a good idea, I'd say, but
we didn't hit rain last year and, knock on wood, we'll
be too drunk to notice this year!
Found
by John Jaser, more corroboration of Mr. Thomas's advice
(from a previous newsletter): "The one you want is Café
Pelgrim opposite the De Koninck brewery. The beer is
brewery-tap fresh and some devotees take it with a shot
of De Konick yeast (in Flemish, gist). You can tip a
dash of this into your bolleke, to give it that cask-conditioned
feel, or drink it straight from the shot-glass, chased
down by beer."
Either
way, you will not subsequently be, to use John Mortimer's
poignant phrase, "a stranger to the lavatory."
ATTENDEE
(Commitment) / LENGTH OF STAY (LOS) / SNORE QUOTIENT
In
detail on the Who's
Going Page!
Tote
Board:
7 Men of Impeccable Honor – Definitely going to
Belgium
6 Men of Indiscriminate Discipline – Perhaps going
to Belgium
New
Member Focus: Joining Belgium Tour Team 2001 (not
sponsored by the US Post Office) is Dan Rowley. A Veteran
EuroTraveler, Dan's a bright young man with a promising
future and a 2001 BMW M3 to prove it, smurf-blue colored,
which he parks in Phoenix, Arizona.
Introducing
The BilFish. Three of Three (the one with big boobs
on Star Trek) of the original Belgium Fest 2000 trio,
he hails from Golden, Colorado -- Home of Coors megabrewery.
He's a Gemini's Gemini, and Asst. BrewMaster in Connecticut
when flights are cheap and winter gets long.
REMEMBER
Let's party like it's 2001-2.
Cheers,
BilFish
Editor, Belgium Today!
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