Besides diamonds, what chick doesn’t crave chocolate? Chocolate is medicinal, an aphrodisiac for lovers, a guilty pleasure, and heavenly reward.

Allow me to quote my tour guide Joyce Mousny from Our Explorer:  ”If you’re not tasting Belgian chocolate (70% cocoa), then you’re only eating cocoa flavored candy.” 

After your first nibble of Belgian chocolate, you know she’s right!  Wow, your taste buds will go wild!   

Interesting factoid:  Belgium produces 172,000 tons of chocolate per year and you can purchase that at more than 2,000 chocolate shops throughout the country. 

Besides pure chocolate satisfaction from white to dark, try the Pralines. These sculpted chocolate shells conceal a delectable center exploding with flavor — from raspberry to strawberry to cream. No matter where you land in Belgian, every town and even small villages have chocolate stores and most feature pralines.

Belgium’s sojourn into the chocolate world began in the 1800’s with the “acquisition” of the Belgian Congo.  Cocoa beans were imported from Congo and energized the industry that still thrives today. Check out the history of Belgian Chocolate. Your visit to Brussels wouldn’t be complete without a stop at the Musee du Cacao et du Chocolat  Museum, located on the Grand Place.

My tasting adventure was in Brussels, and no one has to tell you’ve arrived at the home of chocolate! Your scents are overwhelmed with the smell of chocolate (merging with those Belgian waffle stands!)  and your mouth is watering for just one taste.

The Brussels centre is a simple way to discover chocolate shops tucked away in magically tasting corners. Most will start at the magnificent Grand Place and then follow the medievally winding cobbled streets. Some suggest that chocolate shops around the Grand Place are for tourists, and that might be true. However, the chocolate is still divine! Make sure to check out Chocopolis too (where I had my first taste of Belgian chocolate)! All you need to do is put one foot in front of the other, and follow your nose.

Or perhaps you’d rather start Place du Grand Sablon, an upscale town square/plaza and home of the “royal chocolatier”  Wittamer’s (Click here for a picture of Wittamer Chocolate).  Check out Wittamer’s tea room. Down the street is Godiva Chocolate shop, and look across the street to another great chocolate store, wander through the alleyways and cobbled streets and just about everywhere you look there’s chocolate.    Follow your nose!

When I returned to Denver, I reverently laid the box of Beligan chocolates on my kitchen counter next to the Belgian beer. I looked forward to sampling both when I returned from errands. My man beat me to the sampling. I received a text message from him – “the best chocolate I ever had!”  I panicked for a moment — surely he hadn’t sampled them all. 

I peeked inside the box, and I managed to breathe again. Yes, Diana, there is still more chocolate.

Until next time, Diana

When our guide Sasha explained that our tour would be of the famous “cafes,” I admit I was disappointed. Hey, I thought isn’t Brussels about Belgian beer, chocolate and waffles?  Then Sasha lead our small group to the first “cafe,” and I realized that cafe = pubs. My once-hestitating steps suddenly turned eager for my next taste of beer.

Sasha reported some interesting statistics — at one time Brussels was the proud home to around 140,000 “cafes” translating into 1 pub for every 37 people. Now the city is losing 500+ pubs per year.  Why? Because people are now “cocooning” and staying at home more. Restaurants seem to be replacing some of the old pubs. 

But no need to be alarmed, beer-drinkers!  Apparently, Belgians drink to enjoy the taste, so there’s still plenty of pubs to go around.

One of our first stops was in the “Times Square” of Brussels at the 1895 hotel lobby bar, Hotel Metropole Brussels.

On its rooftop is a statue reminscent of NY’s Miss Liberty, but instead called “Statue of Progress.” 

The next pub up was The Postman, a working class, very smoky bar located (still) across from a post office.

Other stops included those hole-in-the-wall bars like I visited the day before.  These bars were from the good ol’ days, when the working class popped down a blind alleyway to enjoy a quasi-cold one before heading home (or passing out…). Check out: Estminet a L’Imaige Nostre Dame, 19th century, and Ala Becasse.

Don’t forget the contribution of the church to the beer “religion” in Belgian.  Here are a couple of handy links to the beer of the monks and abbeys:

• History of Legendary Monastic and Abbey Beers
• Trappist Beer
• Belgian Beer Tours

Your visit to Belgium might coincide with one of the many beer festivals. 

Belgian beer is a taste worth discovering. Belgium is home to more than 100 breweries producing more than 500 beers. Add the mom-and-pop brew pubs with one or two specialty beers, and you’ll have plenty of choices to fill your mugs. Personally,  I might pass on their Lambic beer, produced by spontaneous fermentation – too cideresque bitter for me, but their blond lagers and darker beers (sweet) are worth a sip.

I posted some pics at Traveling In Heels Blog.
Until next time, Diana

Need I say more?  Actually I think I will.  Aside from the fact that I’m still waiting for “lost” luggage.  What an amazing trip! 

The U.S. Airways flight from Denver through Charlotte into JFK was uneventful, except that my one checked suitcase didn’t make it. 

Short story: I flew to Brussels directly from JFK via Jet Airways. Some airlines don’t have “agreements” so I was unable to check my bag all the way through to my final destination: Brussels. And now I’ve arrived with just one change of clothes and no update on my lost bag, now 24 hours later.

One comment about my direct flight on Jet Airways, an international airline based in India:  WOW, what amazing service, friendly people from check-in to flight attendants to pilots. These people like their job, and they eased my travel stress (after lost baggage) within moments.

Not looking good for fresh clothes on Friday, unless I take advantage of the fabulous shopping here in Brussels. I’m a couple of minutes walk to spending my hard-earned American dollars.

I arrived early am here in Brussels, took a refreshing nap at my newly opened hotel, The Dominican Brussels, located smack dab in the heart of the medieval city behind the theatre La Monnaie and off the Grand P’lace. Then I set off for a 25-minute walk to Hotel Bloom, a boutique hotel with a fresh new, hip look including artsy rooms created by art students from all over Europe.

I was fortunate to connect with a local professional tour guide by contacting Our Explorer.  Joyce Mousny is a licensed tour guide, training & coaching consultant, translator (French, English, Italian), and also a part of another organization. She offered her wealth of knowledge about Brussels and bubbling personality, and I loved soaking up as much as possible within our limited few hours this afternoon. 

Places visited with Joyce:

• Outside City Centre, we drove throughout the Gardens of the Royals, open to the public and built under the visionary eyes of King Leopold II. Read here about the amazing history and timeline of this forward-thinking royal.
•  City Centre a couple of hours of winding through the cobblestone streets and peeking in windows of shops and restaurants included:
  • Chocopolis - my first “official” taste of Belgian chocolate!
  • A La Becasse — a hole-in-the-wall (literally!) beer garden that serves the hard-to-find Trappist monks brew.
    • The Trappist monks of Westmalle, just north of Antwerp, claim their beers not only cure loss of appetite and insomnia, but reduce stress by half. Whatever the truth, the prescription certainly tastes good. Their most famous beer, the Westmalle Tripel, is deliciously creamy and aromatic, while the popular Westmalle Dubbel is dark and supremely malty. These monks also make some tasty cheese!
    •  Here’s an overview of Belgian beer.
• Heading toward my hotel, we ended with a walk through the cobblestone “market place” of the Grand Place and past the theatre La Monnaie.
• Need more? Read this — highlights of Brussels.

That’s it for tonight. Hopefully I’ll be able to update more frequent as long as my Internet access is reliable. Also, I’m twittering as I travel, so be sure to check it out.

Last weekend, the first of November, was one of those sunny, fall gifts from Mother Nature and a perfect opportunity to head up the “hill” to just outside Winter Park to stay overnight at the Devil’s Thumb Ranch for an upcoming article. 

From their web site intro: “Devil’s Thumb Ranch is an environmentally friendly year-round Ranch resort and spa offering newly built cabins in the woods, a brand new Lodge, fine dining and an array of winter and summer outdoor and wilderness recreation activities. We’re located in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, west of Denver - ten minutes from Winter Park. Our Ranch encompasses 5000 acres at the foot of the Continental Divide in the beautiful Ranch Creek Valley of Grand County. ”

I’ve visited and stayed here before but only in their sustainable cabins. Not cabins as in rugged, bare necessities, but beautifully designed and decorated log cabins, mini-homes, without a T.V. to encourage visitors to explore the 5,000 acres surrounding the ranch. These 16 deluxe ridgetop cabins contain EP approved wood-burning fireplaces, geo-thermal, radiant heat and full kitchens. Along with three other couples, about 18 months ago, we rented a four-bedroom cabin and had an absolutely great time.

We even managed to get some alone couple moments when we went for a walk and then hot tubbed near then-under-construction lodge. Rachel’s Pool is a heated indoor/outdoor pool with adjacent hot tub, deck and views of the Continental Divide.

This time, we stayed in its new main lodge with 52 rooms that debuted earlier this year.  Just as stunning, “parkitecture” with all the in-room amenities including wireless Internet, oversized “stone” shower and deep clawtub bathtub.  The missing T.V. wasn’t missed, until my man needed to get college football score updates.  (Of course, this would just happen to be one of the biggest days in college ball!)  Within the lodge, Heck’s Restaurant serves three meals a day, and the menu features many local and organic items from the area. I did miss my visit to the fabulous Ranch House Restaurant as it was closed for cleaning & repairs last weekend.

While our arrival was greeted by windy gusts, the second day was bright and sunny, perfect for a short walk to enjoy the amazing views!  We followed that with a visit to the renovated Ranch Creek Spa in its new location, the only full service spa in Grand County featuring nature-based products and treatments. Their couples massage room is an inviting retreat, beginning with its sitting room and fireplace and then the short walk into the huge treatment room.

Unfortunately our stay was too brief to enjoy all the recreational possibilities here — from yoga on the second floor of the spa with an inspiring view to the expanded network of mountain bike, cross country and snowshoe trails to the Cabin Creek Stables to wilderness based excursions including fly-fishing.

No doubt about it — I’ll be back!

Until next time, Diana

P.S. Tuesday heading to Brussels, Belgium with a day or two in the romantic city of Namur.