I am back from my 5th MBA residency. This time I traveled to Utrecht, De Ruwenberg, Tilburg, and Bruxelles. <\/p>\n
Tour de Benelux without Lux.<\/p>\n
It was great to meet with the class. And I really liked the lecturers this time. <\/p>\n
The first week in Utrecht and De Ruwenberg and Tilburg was very busy with lots of late nights to finish assignments. And I didn’t really have any time to explore.<\/p>\n
Bruxelles<\/strong> Lots of good food. I can recommend: <\/p>\n Tried this patisserie<\/a> on Grand Sablon. The sweets were great but the service was very don’t carish<\/em>.<\/p>\n There has been an explosion of chocolate shops in the downtown area. So many. One lecturer recommended Marcolini, while another suggested Frederic Bloondeel<\/a> near the Sainte Catherine church.<\/p>\n Apparently Belgian chocolate contains less sugar than Swiss chocolate and it is softer (i.e more conching is applied). <\/p>\n All the Belgians we asked were in favor of separating Flanders and Wallonia into 2 separate states. <\/p>\n I went for a walk thru Schaerbeek where I stayed when I was a poor student.<\/p>\n The cinema was right across from the hotel. The same cinema where I watched Schindler’s List 16 to 17 years ago. Watched a couple of movies including an Argentinian film called El secreto de sus ojos<\/a>. It was in Spanish with French and Dutch sub-titles. Excellent film. Category: must see.<\/p>\n I’ve always wondered why so many tourists travel to Bruxelles. I guess it offers good food, interesting architecture, lots of museums and it’s probably less expensive than Paris. By the end of my stay I was nearly persuaded to go back for a long weekend…<\/p>\n Some wild snapshots in the true Chiperoni tradition:<\/p>\n
\nIt was fun walking around Bruxelles again. 17 years after I had studied there for a year. Although speaking French took getting used to. I don’t switch easily between languages. <\/p>\n\n