Florence has an exceptional artistic patrimony, celebrated testimony to its secular civilization. Cimabue and Giotto were considered the fathers of Italian painting, they lived in this place, along with Arnolfo and Andrea Pisano, reformists of architecture and sculpture; Brunelleschi, Donatello and Masaccio, founders of the Renaissance. The Italian Renaissance, Europe’s richest cultural period, began in Florence when the artist Brunelleschi finished the Duomo, with the huge dome. Ghiberti and the Della Robbia; Filippo Lippi and l’Angelico; Botticelli and Paolo Uccello; the universal geniuses Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Their works are exhibited in the city’s many museums and known around of the world. Boccaccio wrote his ‘Decameron’ in Florence. From the 13th to the 16th century it was a seemingly endless source of creative masterpieces and Italian genius. During the Italian Renaissance Florence constructed its renaissance palaces and squares, turning it into a living museum. Many squares, such as Piazza della Signoria exhibit famous statues and fountains.

Probably Florence is a city of incomparable indoor pleasures. Its chapels, galleries and museums are an incomparable treasure, apprehending the complex, often elusive spirit of the Renaissance more fully than any other place in the country. The most famous museum in Florence is the Uffizi which houses works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Titian and Rubens. Other great art museums include the Pitti Palace, Galleria dell’Accademia and Palazzo Vecchio. Florence is also home to some of the biggest churches in Italy, including the famous Duomo of Florence, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce.

The surroundings of Florence have many things to offer to the visitor. You can explore this region for weeks without being bored. For these day trips the city of Florence is the perfect starting point.

Information by http://www.justitaly.org

Belgium is situated in the west of Europe. The land here mostly comprises of flat coastal plains in the northeast, and southeast is occupied by the Ardennes Forest. Dutch, Flemish, French and German are the official languages of Belgium, with Dutch being the widely spoken followed by French. The weather here is pretty predictable. Months from April to September are the warmest. Otherwise the weather is pretty humid and skies are gray, that explains why umbrellas and raincoats are a part of the dressing. So, if the visit is planned for holidays during the rainy season, one must not forget to carry sufficient cover for maximum protection, as this is a coastal region. In case of emergency call 100 or 112.

Culture

Belgians are English-friendly and will make every attempt to speak in English with a foreigner. Always remember to carry a small gift or at least flowers especially when invited over dinner. The dress to wear will be mentioned in the invitation, when invited for a party. Smoking in public is acceptable.

Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, Ostend, Namur, Mons, Li่ge, Ghent and Mechelen are the main shopping centers. Belgium is famous for ceramics and hand-beaten copperware from Dinant, laces from Bruges, crystals from Val Saint Lambert, woodcarvings from Spa and Belgium’s finest chocolates. In jewelry, diamonds from Antwerp are on high demand.

Eating Out

The specialty of most of the restaurants is horse and rabbit meat dishes. Although visitors can find a wide range of ethnic foods, but the most famous are frites and mayonnaise and mitraillette; mitraillette is a large bun filled with fries, donair meat and garlic sauce, the vegetarians can ask for a veg. substitute for the donair meat. While eating at a restaurant, tipping is considered customary along with the value-added tax. At the cinemas, leave a €0.50 tip for the attendant and €0.25 after using the public toilets.

Electricity

Voltage is 230 V and frequency is 50 Hz.

Travel

Delta Air Transport has inaugurated its new European airline SN Brussels Airlines recently. It flies to more than 58 destinations in Europe and as well as worldwide. The Brussels Zayentem airport is twelve km from the city and it takes 35 minutes to reach the city from the airport. The airport has facilities like duty free shops, car parking, taxi booking, car hiring, banks, post office, restaurants, and medical help. Internet and fax services are provided for the passengers. The Airport City Express train transports passengers to three main railway stations – Brussels North, Central and South. One can avail a bus which runs regularly from the airport, taxis can also be hired which wait outside the arrival hall. Tipping the taxi drivers is considered customary. Train runs every 15 minutes.

Another airport, Brussels South Charleroi, is 5 km away from Charleroi and 46 km from Brussels. Ryan air serves as the local airline here and has cheap deals for several European destinations to and from Charleroi. The facilities provided here are bus and train services, caf้, car hire, and duty free shops.

Ostend airport is 5 km away from the city and car parking, car hire, duty free shops, and restaurants are provided here.

Antwerp airport is just 2 km away from the city. Buses run to the Brussels Central Station every few minutes.

Liege is situated at a distance of 5 km away from the city. Buses run at regular interval here.

The departure tax at Brussels Zayentem is €20.93, Brussels South Charleroi is €3.49, Ostend and Antwerp is €10, and at Liege is €7.

There is a network of high-speed trains, which are operated by Thalys, from Belgium to France, connecting Brussels with other destinations like Bordeaux, Chamb้ry, Cannes, Marseille, Lyon, Nice, Valence Perpignan, and Rennes. Booking should be made in advance for these trains. The national railway operates through out the day providing service every few minutes to destinations such as Andorra, Austria, France, Czech, Germany, Italy, Poland, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the UK and the Netherlands. Insiders can avail the Inter-Rail pass which allows visitors to travel almost 29 European Countries. This service is valid for residents who have been settled there for more than 6 months.

Duty Free Items

Visitors can carry alcohol, tobacco, cigarettes, coffee and tea without getting customs duty levied on them, but only the goods should be limited. Check out for the limits before carrying such goods. Food items that are not preserved are better avoided.

The truth, however, is that Belgium has ridden out plenty of turmoil to reach where it is today. Forced to bow and pay tribute to multiple empires, including the Roman, Belgium was also plunged into centuries of bloody strife under the yoke of feudalism. Belgium became a battleground for both World Wars, used as a punching bag for Germany and a propagandistic clarion call for the opposition.

Today’s soul-searching quest for Belgian identity has some agitating for a split along ethnic and linguistic lines, but the centrist majority sees the strength in maintaining this unique nation’s political status quo. The disagreement is far from violent, and travelers find

Belgian people and their country to be warm and hospitable–even through this northern land’s cold winters. It is these cold winters that are in large part responsible for the massive, four to six hour dinners that make foreign visitors wonder how the Belgians stay so slim. Belgians don’t skimp on butter or any form of dessert.

Like neighboring France, Belgium is overwhelmingly Catholic. Despite most of its major political parties having some Christian affiliation, the nation, like most northern European countries, operates a progressive, liberal government.

What Belgium lacks in natural resources, it more than makes up for in cultural riches. Antwerp, Brussels and other cities are considered home to sophisticated artistic enclaves, and Belgium vigorously pursues cultural and artistic exchanges with other nations both in Europe and far beyond. Belgium relies on outside contact to fuel its economy. Despite its high number of corporations with vast international scope, Belgium primarily produces value-added products, importing its raw materials from elsewhere. From electronics to textiles, Belgians are the best at what they do.

Visitors to Belgium can expect to take in everything from bucolic expanses to tourist wonderlands to booming port towns with a tasty layer of grime. Along the way travelers will be treated to a cornucopia of gourmet pleasures and some of the world’s best beer. More and more intelligent travelers are stopping to soak up a pint along with the architecture and national character.

People are attracted by the Belgians’ lilting voices, unique outlook on life, and deliciously dark, ribald sense of humor. Too many tourists zip through Belgium on their way from the stately environs of gay Paris to the bawdy pleasures of mind and flesh to be found in Amersterdam. Why not hop off that rusty old train and take a look at one of Europe’s most fascinating and resilient nations–and don’t forget to stop saying “Bon jour!” when you reach the northern regions.

In Belgium, developing and brewing beer was traditionally carried out by monks living in abbeys. Today beer in Belgium continues to be produced by many abbeys. These beers are known as trappist–while an abbey beer is a beer produced by a brewer who has simply taken the name–and possibly recipe–of an abbey as inspiration for their own brews.

And it’s no wonder, after all, the trappist beers are generally highly drinkable, powerful concoctions, with alcohol content for some beers peaking north of ten percent! Chimay, one of the most popular brands of trappist beer, carries a range of brews, its strongest, the Bleue, handing out goodnight kisses at nine percent, with its also powerful Rouge coming in at seven percent. Rochefort’s cream label belies the tempest in a bottle you’re getting whenever you order from this trappist brand’s trio of extra-strong beers (try 11.3 percent on for size).

In addition to borrowing their names from trappist abbeys, abbey beer brewers in Belgium have also adopted some of the attitudes of the trappists, such as insisting on making a stronger-than average beer.

Leffe and Maredsous are well-established. Both brewers have won international acclaim and are essential stock for any bar serious about serving Belgian beer. While powerful, these beers put the emphasis on flavor, with tongue-tickling heads aromas that will have your head swimming in oak barrels filled with herbs and fruit.

Leffe and Maredsous have several labels and top out at 8.4 percent and 9.5 percent alcohol respectively; try their second strongest, and leave the heavy lifting to the trappist brands. Or, give lesser-known Grimbergen a try–it tips the scales at double digits and wears its weight a little more comfortably than its more famous cousins.

Get a little ways off the beaten track of beer in Belgium, and you’ll find fertile fields of fermented hops and barley and fruit yielding an Elyssian meadowland of colors and flavors. Outside the trappist tradition there remain dozens of regional traditions and independent brewers producing great beer. Lambic beers have their origins in the area surrounding Brussells, and while their prominence has been diminished over the last one-hundred years, they are in no danger of disappearing.

They are poured out with no head at all, and plenty of fruit flavor. Their alcohol content is lower than the trappist and abbey brews, with some being below four percent, but most coming in just below five. If you don’t know where to start with Lambic beers, or a kriek–this fruity red beer will give you a glimpse into what was once the brewing rage all over Belgium.

In a tongue-in-cheek reference to their independence from abbeys, many brewers in Belgium adopt names referencing the devil. They produce along similar principles–high quality, rich flavor and with plenty of punch–but the finished product is unique unto itself. Some popular brands include Duvel, Lucifer, Satan and Bush.

But perhaps the most recognized is Delirium Tremens. Along with its brothers Delirium Nocturnum and La Guillotine, this brand’s trademark pink elephants will dance before your eyes long after you’ve finished the beer.

This series of features has already visited the country’s fruit and wheat beers, so here we’re going to look at other classic continental styles that fall outs

ide those categories – beers that the industry has created the catch-all phrase ‘speciality beers’ to encompass.

This is because they are beers that defy categorisation along conventional flavour lines – clean and fresh lager or hoppy bitter ales.

Therein lies the beauty of both beer in general and continental speciality beers in particular. You can safely list many of the individual beers, or ranges from a particular brewery, safe in the knowledge that they deliver a versatility that will complement dishes as diverse

a

s moules frites, cassoulet, steaks, fish, any number of pasta sauces, light and heavy puddings and the cheese board. First, though, let’s deal with some definitions.

Only beers produced by the seven designated Trappist monastery breweries (Chimay, Orval, De Rochefort, Westmalle, Westvleteren and De Ac

helse Kluis in Belgium and the Dutch De Koningshoeven) are legally allowed to use the term Trappist on the label. Brewing is controlled by the monks of the order. These are not to be confused with abbey beers, whose origins lie in the ecclesiastical world but are now brewed under contract by commercial brewers using the old name. Leffe, is the best known of these.

As far as styles go, lambic beer is made through a process of spontaneous fermentation through yeast occurring naturally in the atmosphere, rather than pitching a yeast that has been cultured.

The sour beer style gueuze is a blend of young and old lambics, and faro is a sweetened lambic style. Saison is a term applied to seasonal summer beers, mainly from the southern part of Belgium.

Germany is best known for its lagers, but among the speciality styles is altbier, a copper-coloured, smoky, ale.

The term bock is increasingly used outside Germany, but is thought to be a derivation of the German town of Einbeck where the style – a strong, sweet, full-bodied lager – was reputedly first brewed.

Dopplebocks are stronger, while Eisbock has a higher alcohol level because the beer is frozen and the resultant ice crystals removed to create a more concentrated brew.

Dunkel simply means dark, while hell is pale. The prefix hefe means yeast, and denotes a secondary fermentation in the bottle – what would be called bottle-conditioned in the UK.

Kölsch is a style particular to Cologne – clean and fresh like a lager, though technically brewed like an ale.

This should be enough to get you started, but what do they taste like?