A sad day for Liège.

Yes, Liège made the world news this past Tuesday the 13th when someone decided to take a gun and to randomly spray fire into the crowds of people in Place St. Lambert, one of our most frequented public squares this time of year.

We wish it were for a happier reason that the worlds attention was drawn here, but sadly it wasn't.

People here are understandably shaken.  To the memory of the Liègois, this kind of crime has never happened here before.

We would like to express our sincere condolences to the families of those killed in Place St. Lambert, and to the families of those who are suffering injuries as a result of this horrible happening.  We like many Liègois and Belgians share your grief.

Students of Liège: St. Nicholas

Have you recently been approached by someone wearing a lab coat, asking your for money?  Allow us to explain...

Photo credit: ULg

There are several institutions of higher-learning based in Liège.  It is a popular destination for Erasmus students because it is known as a city that embraces students with open arms, meaning even if you don't speak much French as a student arriving here on exchange... you'll probably still be invited to the parties.  Of which there are MANY.

Photo credit: micheldelamotte.be

Every autumn many students attempt to get 'in' to various student 'fraternities'; they can be seen this time of year throughout the city wearing their white lab coats complete with decorations of fresh marker drawings and scrawls.

Photo credit: ULg

These lab coats quickly become not so fresh and white as the students participate in various hazing rituals and parties.  We have been told by more than one old 'fraternity' member that a student is never supposed to wash the lab coat no matter what has happened to it, no matter what has been spilled (or thrown) upon it.

Photo credit: bruxelloise.be

Older citizens of Liège mostly smile and remember their student-days when they catch sight of a group of youngsters involved in one of the many rituals and celebrations, which brings us to the students and St. Nicholas.

Photo credit: ULg

Traditionally December 6th is the day children in Belgium are treated with gifts for the day of St. Nicholas.  Around the beginning of December, the lab coated students can be seen in public places asking for pocket-change.  The change the students collect will be used to help subsidize their last bit of partying party before the end of semester examination period begins, and so this ritual of asking for change is a students way of asking the public to spoil them a little for St. Nicholas, too.

Photo credit: ULg

Tchantches and I have the personal philosophy that if someone is entertaining while remaining friendly and polite, we will give a little change.  If they are particularly witty in their banter or if they are highly entertaining, we give extra.  After all, it's important to know how to ask nicely for what you want in life.  And knowing how to do so with finesse isn't something the schools always teach!

Columbus Café

(Note: Columbus Café has closed down at this location, and we are presently unaware if there is/will be another in Liège.  We will leave this article in the archives however.)

Columbus Café, we have been told, is Starbucks' biggest competitor in France and other parts of Europe.  As Liège does not yet have a Starbucks, (a fact the anglophone half of our duo routinely laments,) we decided to go and see what we've been told is "the next best thing."

Located just across the way from the Palace Cinema in Lièges centre, the café certainly does have location working for it.  Though the interior isn't quite as luxe as some Starbucks, there are comfortable seats to be had, and the deco is somewhere in between Subway Sandwiches, and Starbucks (if that makes sense to you.)  We'll take more pictures to cover this next time.

Our visit was full of surprises.  The first of which was a cappuccino that came topped with steamed milk!  This is a rarity in Liège where sweetened whipped cream is more often the foam atop a 'cappuccino'.  Was the coffee good?  Yes.  We both agree that it was good, though not spectacularly good.  The coffee itself could be a little more full-bodied, and the layer of foam should ideally have been a little thicker.  A decent cappuccino is hard to find here in Liège though, so we don't consider this evaluation a complaint.  We only know of one other place that routinely serves steamed milk atop their cappuccino, and here at Columbus Café, the cappuccinos are better.

Second surprise: very good customer service.  Our barista was chipper as he answered our questions while taking pastries out of boxes and setting the store up for the day (we arrived right at opening time.)  He told us to make ourselves comfortable and fetched our coffees, muffins and Orange Juice without delay, and even offered us a piece of fruit-tart at no charge as he explained to us it was aesthetically damaged, and would otherwise have to be thrown out since he couldn't place it in the display.  We decided to be kind and help the poor guy out.  (The tart, by the way, was very tasty.)

just a few of the tasty treats on offer

The muffins were correct, which is to say they weren't too fluffy, had a denser quality, enough so to be dipped in coffee without falling apart.  As for taste, they were pretty good (probably some of the better muffins we've had in Liège.)  In fact, all the pastry we tried lived up to its looks or tasted even better than it looked.  (For comparison - we often find Starbucks pastries look much better than they taste.)  We'll pass by for lunch next time, as the sandwiches and salads looked appetizing.

Tchantches' orange juice was labelled on the menu as "freshly pressed", but when it arrived at our table, it didn't seem to be in appearance or taste.  It wasn't bad juice, but buyer beware here if you're the sort to pay a premium price for "freshly pressed" juice.  Other beverages on offer in addition to coffee-based beverages and juices included teas, smoothies, hot chocolate and an array of cold bottled beverages.  Given that Columbus Café caters to the same sort of clients as Starbucks, prices run in a similar range between the two.

Third Surpise: Free wifi!  This isn't widespread in Liège, but we are certainly happy to see the idea gaining ground here.

Our only true concerns about Columbus Café, at this point, are that it seems to have less seating than it needs.  It's hard to feel like you can "take time for yourself" (the company slogan,) when people who come in keep eyeing your seating area like they wish you'd gulp your coffee down and move on.  It's a tricky thing in the space they have though, as it's a long room with the stairwell leading down to the restrooms, meaning the entire space gets traffic flow moving through.  There are only one or two seating spaces a little more sheltered from this, and they are obviously the preferred places.

This brings us to our other concern, and 4th surprise: While our experience with the service was otherwise positive we must ask... who maintains the restrooms?

There are things we do expect in any public restroom, certainly.  Not everyone wipes up after the mess they make... but we came at the very start of the day, which left us wondering not only who maintains the restroom, but how often are they maintained?  Like it or not, restauranteurs of Liège, restrooms are part of the customer experience too!  Who is responsible for placing the roll of toilet-paper on the dirty floor, rather than in the toilet-roll-dispenser?  Even if the dispenser was broken (it didn't seem to be,) we'd expect a solution that keeps the toilet roll off the floor.  We were a little taken aback by this.

While we definitely advise you to pay them a visit if you find yourself in Liège craving a decent cappuccino or specialty coffee... we'll also warn you that using the facilities might not be as comfortable as the rest of the experience!

Located at: 20 Rue pont d'Avroy.

Open: Mon-Fri 8am-6pm, Sat & Sun 10am-6pm

La Rentrée

It is that time here in Belgium, known as "La Rentrée".  The time we all buckle down and return from our lazy vacation mentalities.

And so here we are, Tchantches and I, sorting through the potential material gathered over the months of Summer adventures.  You didn't think we'd abandoned ship, did you?  No, no.  Just vacationing and enjoying the odd day of sunshine here or there when it occurred, that's all.

With any luck, by next summer those visiting this site will have many more ideas on where to eat, what to do and see, not to mention the scoop on many more of the annual celebrations that occur in the area.  And there you have it.  Your roving reporters have returned.

Breakfast at Hema... One serious bargain!

Can I tell you something?  Tchantches and I are guilty of snobbery.

We have often walked by this sign, just outside of Hema, (a quirky and democratically priced store of Dutch origin,) located in the Galleries St. Lambert.

Between 9am (when they open) and 10am, the breakfast pictured above is 1 Euro in the Hema café.

We chuckled to ourselves, saying it must be a marvelous job in food photography, to show something that looked that good when the reality was probably something rather different.  We giggled because normally even just a coffee by itself (let alone a freshly ground rainforest-alliance-certified one) will run you between 1.50 and 2 euro here in Liège.  We asked ourselves if the whole breakfast might not be incredibly tiny in size...

The other day we found ourselves in the Place St. Lambert, and it was before 10am.  As we were in the right place at the right time, (and empty-bellied to boot,) we finally allowed our curiosity to overcome our snobbery.  In we went, walking to the bistro-buffet/café situated in the rear of the store.  We had to know: How good could a complete breakfast for just 1 measly euro be?

Pretty darn good, actually.  See for yourself just below here how the real thing measures up to the advertising.

Seriously.  I gave the cashier just one Euro and walked away with this.

Croissant: One pretty standard croissant for size, taste and texture.  Baguette: between a quarter and a fifth of a baguette size, which is normal.  The bacon in the sandwich is a proper full sized slice.  The omelette was fluffy and somewhere between 1 and 2 eggs worth (we both agree it's closer to 2.)  The coffee was good, though not the best that can be had in Liège, and the added blessing here for both of our sleepy heads was that it wasn't a small coffee.  I was delighted to actually receive more than what is pictured on the sign outside the store, because everyone could take a speculoos cookie to go along with their coffee at no additional charge that day.

Jams (strawberry and apricot) were the choices available for fruit-spreads and we spotted a rarer option in these parts, (peanut butter,) in an adjacent basket.  The strawberry jam wasn't fabulous, so next time I believe I'll be reaching for the peanut butter, and Tchantches will likely test-drive the apricot.  In any case, the croissant and sandwich were good enough that I had no real use for my packet of jam, but the option is always nice.

Language is not really an issue here, as the café functions in a buffet format: you take a tray, plate and utensils, and select your croissant and omelette sandwich yourself from the buffet-cases and baskets.  Just beware that if you want to take advantage of this deal, you need to take it exactly as it is. Tchantches added a chocolate croissant to his tray, and paid €1.25 extra for it.

You can bet with an unbeatable deal like this that we'll be going back when next the stars align and we find ourselves hungry and near the Place St. Lambert before 10am.

EDIT ***We have since been back to Hema, though this time it was much closer to 10.  I tried the peanut butter, and it was disappointingly off the mark as most peanut butters in Belgium seem to be.  The apricot jam is better than the strawberry according to Tchantches, but it's not great either, so there you have it.  On the second visit, there were no cookies by the register to go with the coffee, and our sandwiches were a little less fresh.  We figure this was because it was almost 10am when we showed up, and perhaps they'd been sitting in the buffet for almost an hour at that point.  Lessons learned?  If you want the very best of this deal, we'd say try to be there closer to their opening at 9.

The Hema in the Galleries St. Lambert is open from Monday - Saturday, 9am to 6:30pm.