Liege

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Liege (Luik in Dutch and Lüttich in German) is a city in the east of Belgium. It has about 200.000 inhabitants and it is the capital of the province of the same name. Nearby cities are Maastricht in the Netherlands and Aachen in Germany. Liege has its own airoport and international train station designed by Santiago Calatrava. The city is directly connected to Brussels(BE), Paris(FR), Amsterdam(NL), Barcelona(SP), Aachen(DE), Köln(DE), Marrakech(MA), Antalya(TR) and others. The official language is French. English is widely spoken by young people.

Liege was known for it’s heavy industry and cole mines in its former days. These industries made this place multi-cultural with several communities mainly composed of Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Turks and Moroccans. Liege is a city which never sleeps with a rich cultural heritage. It is the hidden treasure of fine local renaissance architecture it used to be in former days when the prince-bishops were in power.You can discover this architecture in the old quarters of the city which are ‘Terrasses des Minimes’, ‘Les coteaux’, ‘Hors-Château’, ‘Impasse des Ursulines’ and ‘Montagne Bueren’. Liege has also the biggest archeoforum in Europe.

Liege has a strong tradition of celebrations. It is called ‘The burning city’ as its people love to live it up and to spend good times. You’ll see it in the quarter called ‘Le Carre’ which means ‘The Square’. You will always find someone to discuss with and have a drink. The biggest event is August 15th which is a very popular celebration in the ‘Outre-Meuse’ quarter. Here are some events : August 15th, the Gaul Village (July), the Christmas Village (December), Rock Festival Les Ardentes (August), October Fest, La Nocturne des Coteaux (October), The City Parade electronic festival(June) and many others…

The region of Liege has also a rich tradition of gastronomy. Several of Belgium's most popular food products come from here. Some examples:

Herve cheese : a local cheese produced in the city of Herve that tastes way better than it smells. When you want to store it, put it first in a closed container and furthermore in a closed plastic bag to avoid your whole fridge fills with a terrible smell.

Liege waffle : foreigners call this usually just Belgian waffle. It's a thick waffle with lumps of sugar in it.

Peket : the local and typical alcohol, nowadays available on all colors and flavours.

Sirop de Liege : a kind of very dense jam usually made of appels and pears. Delicious on pancakes or on rye bread together with Herve cheese.

Liege Meatballs : meatballs prepared in a delicious sauce prepared with the ‘Sirop de Liege’

Chocolate : there is a local producer called Galler who produces a high quality chocolate which can be easily found in the supermarkets but the best thing is to go directly at the factory where the price is cheaper. Address : Rue C. Balthasart 30 in B-4051 Vaux-Sous-Chevremont - Tel: +32(0)4 361 07 17.

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IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

  Only in case of emergency, it means for problems like no more news from your host or physical
  troubles in Belgium, you can directly contact the Belgian ambassadors by sending a mail at this
  address: 911csbelgium@gmail.com . 
  PLEASE, indicate your username, phone number, e-mail and the city where we can contact you!!!

Meetings

http://www.couchsurfing.com/meetings.html?mid=1542

Tips

Bars: 'Le pot au lait', 'La maison du peket', 'Le Vaudree' (about 900 different beers), 'Le Tam Tam', 'Chez Bouldou', 'L'escalier' and all the bars of the 'Le Carre' quarter.

Music: 'Le Lion Rouge', 'Soundstation', 'L'escalier'

Restaurants: 'Chez Tasso', 'Le Lulay Al’Copete', 'L’Industrie', 'Cafe Lequet', 'Le Bruit qui Court' and many others...

Websites:

Trains info: http://www.b-rail.be/main/index.html

Airport: http://www.liegeairport.com

Tourist information: http://www.5plusnet.com/control.php?&topgroupname=&groupname=Liege

Archeoforum: http://www.archeoforumdeliege.be

Youth Hostel: http://www.laj.be/html/en/hostels/auberges_en.htm

ACCESS: Liege is easy to access by train from Brussels (1h), Maastricht (20min), Aachen (30min) and Köln (1h30). There is also a direct fast train to Paris (2h30) several times a day.