http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17439 club news, restaurants, etc. And of course, pick up this expat magazine when you are in town. Most foreign
related hangouts stock it and it is free. Also available free of charge is Time Out Beijing.

My favourite place to visit for alternative music is D22 in the university district. If you want to sample the rock bands of the city, it is one of the best places to visit.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/17439 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16873
The huge café area plays host to multiple activities from quiet union meetings to cinema and concerts. Most of the latter are free. The French and Flemish press are available.

Sit down at any of the tables and you can be left alone or join in on the conversations. Nearly everyone talks English. The bar is good and very cheap and the food is wholesome. Homemade soup and bread for 2.60 euros which is great and pasta for about 8. Mostly fair trade and not bad for veggies.

For the stay over there my favourite in an ex-convent called Geertje Henckens on Zwartezusterstraat in the centre of town. There are only two bedrooms so book. A breakfast to die for and the second day it gets better.

If it is full try Faja Lobi in Tarbotstraat, a little further from the centre but with a lovely garden and (if possible) an even better welcome from the gay couple that run the place. Both are about 60 euros for a couple.

Then take a wander. Everything is within 30mins walk but take one of the river tours if you haven't done any research. The Cathedral is a must.

For light refreshment I recommend The Pink Flamingo in Onderstraat as possibly the most kitsch bar in the world. I go at least twice a year with my wife to Ghent and we are never disappointed.

The thing about the chip shop is true - it is the best.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16873 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16814 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16814 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16231 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/16231 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14124 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14124 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14120
Live bands and street bars on every corner; disco parties on boats; everyone dressed in orange and wanting to be your best friend for the day – the Dutch from Beatrix on down certainly know how to have fun.

You can be in Amsterdam in 6 hours from London via Eurostar and Thalys. And the beer glasses have a €1 deposit on them to make sure they’re recycled. How green is that? Get drunk and no carbon footprint!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14120 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13656
The historic centre contains "Belgium's longest beer counter", and the "Oude Markt" (Old Market), where nearly 40 cafés await you.

Rather handily, the only other outlets on the square are two pharmacies.

Just round the corner is the Great Market, or "Grote Markt" - scene of one of Belgium's finest buildings, its 600-year-old town hall with hundreds of statues adorning its façade.

Turning right we come to Muntstraat, a cosier and much less commercial restaurant street than the Rue des Bouchers in Brussels and further up, Hogeschoolplein (College Square), where you can sit and eat salads which look like mini-gardens at De Werf restaurant and guest house.

In Naamsestraat, De Clijne Taefel restaurant offers the finest grilled food in 450-year-old decor.

400m further on, you come to the Great Beguinage (Groot Begijnhof), a Unesco World Heritage site, where an order of nuns lived in a self-contained village. It is now maintained by the University of Leuven, along with most of the other major buildings in the town.

Another very nice building to look at is the University Library in Ladeuzeplein. It was gutted during the war, but lovingly restored with help from other colleges and universities which pledged money for its reconstitution. All the names of those establishments which helped renovate it are grafted onto the pillars and walls of the building.

If you come on Saturday afternoon, the bell ringer performs a concert from St Pieters church in the Grote Markt, audible throughout the centre.

There are many festivals and events all year round, but here are a few:

Easter Folk Dance festival
www.paasfeestenleuven.be

Summer concerts:
www.beleuvenissen.be

High summer gastro-event:
hapjetapje.leuveninscene.be/

City centre rock event:
www.marktrock.be

Short Film Festival:
www.kortfilmfestival.be/index_engels.html

There is also a Christmas market in December and a yearly autumn market on the first Monday after the first Sunday in September. There are plenty of places to stay, and much to do in the surrounding region:
Tervuren, Brussels and Antwerp are very close by.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13656 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13455
Eno creates limited edition products: t-shirts, hoodies, long sleeves, bags, shoes.

Also very much worth visiting are their two monthly in store events called enoise with chinese and foreign bands performing in a relaxed atmosphere. ]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13455 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3350 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/3350 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2692 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2692 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2555 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2555 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2529 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/2529 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1727 Chowhound.com (www.chowhound.com), and read the New York postings (there are separate threads for Manhattan and the Outer Boroughs, which include Brooklyn). It's a fantastic way to get real
opinions and find out about cool, small, cheap places as well as the
well-known glamour spots.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1727 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1463 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1463 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1409
It's not the "club 18-30"-ish guide that it seems from the title. I'd recommend at least having a look at it in a bookshop - many of the places in it were things which Cariocas recommended to me anyway.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1409 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1368 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1368 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1307 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1307 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1112 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1112 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/836 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/836 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/835 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/835