WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE BELGIANS?

I really can't imagine that "Beerbomb"of yours...does it happen in a cafe or some sort ?!please explain...

I'm glad that the Belgians don't have an obesity problem in spite of all those delicious gooodies they consume. Belgian chocolates are divine but I very much restrict my intake...my health consciousness verges on the paranoical insane. Well, I do live in a country that "invented" the deep fried Mars bar..glad to say I've never sampled one..the thought turns my sensitive stomach.

btw I'm sure I read somewhere that Belgium is known as the "Crossroads of Europe". What does that mean exactly? Has it anything to do with the linguistic divisions within the country? Other small European countries like Wales and parts of Scotland sort of pale into insignificance when it comes to a language divide such as that apparent in Belgium. So interesting...and infinitely better than any invidious religious split.

I'm not sure I'd like to be called a Walloon. This is obviously unkind but it SOUNDS like someone who should be locked up in an institution.

Well , Belgium is the country where Romance Languages meet Germanic ones.In Brussels , many languages are spoken ( It's a blend of all cultures ).And Belgium is situated most central in Europe.
=> Might be one of these ...

! : "And Belgium is situated most central in Europe".

Most central in Northwestern Europe actually.

Greg , you're right ;

I meant in the E.U not the continent ( sorry )

If you watch advertising on CNN or any form of national boosterism you will notice that every capital city paying to promote it's own glory refers to itself as "The Heart of Europe" or "The Crossroads of Europe", whether it's Prague, Berlin or Brussels. If you ask me Brussels is kind of on the margin.
Just go to Google and type in "Heart of Europe".

What's funny is that many places also claim to be "the geographical heart of Europe", including Lithuania, Poland, Trieste, Hannover, etc. I guess it all depends on how you define Europe. Apparently, the real geographical heart of the continent (not the EU) is Lodz, in Poland.

I remember when the Belgian slogan was "Castles, Castles, Castles".
Wallonie is currently "Wallonie: la chaleur de vivre!"
Here's one from Brussels "Brussels, Heart of Europe where living is an art" How banal can you get? Are all tourist slogans banal?

BrabantStad, a built up region in the Netherlands has the singularly ugly slogan "BrabantStad, Europe's Heart of small solutions".
These days it's all in English. Amsterdams new expensive marketing slogan is simply "I Amsterdam", which betrays the Dutch love of showing how clever they are in English. And it probably cost them a few million.

=>BrabantStad, a built up region in the Netherlands <=

Never heard of a city called BrabantStad could you explain?

It's not a real city, it's more of a wannabee Randstad. It's some kind of regional cooperation between cities in the Southern Netherlands such as Eindhoven, Breda, Tilburg, Den Bosch, etc. I have no idea if it's a success, but it's obvious that it hasn't penetrated very far into the public imagination.

You know what I mean, there's all kinds of these ambitious Dutch planning fiats like "Randstad", "WERV" (Wageningen-Ede-Rhenen-Veenendaal), "Europapark", "DeltaMetropool", "Energy Valley" and "MainPort". The most interesting one I think is the "Euregio Rhein-Meuse" which is a cooperation between Aachen, Maastricht, Liege and Hasselt/Genk (slogan: "Europe Concrete") Anyway, they all have really pathetic slogans.

I forgot to write: one of the worst slogans is for Middle and South Limburg. I don't know if I can translate its true lame-ness. It's "Limburg: lekker genieten!" which amounts to something like "Limburg: nice and enjoyable!" but doesn't quite bring across the "Don't-you-just-adore-Tuscany!" quality of the phrase which exists thanks to the status-oriented nature of the simple word "genieten". There was a time when the very idea of enjoying yourself with earthly pleasures was reserved soley for the benighted Catholic south.

This might explain the love/hate relationship that Holland has with it's whacky, decadent, papist southern neighbors.

I think you just mean an economical agreement between citties?But thats very normal here...
And the "randstad" is just a name for the big citties in the west its nothing of the above.

Todd,

=>It's "Limburg: lekker genieten!" which amounts to something like "Limburg: nice and enjoyable!"<=

Its not "nice and enjoyable" ,"lekker" has a different meaning here and its best to not translate it at all.Its ment to accentuat(?) the word "genieten"
Its best to translate it as "Limburg ENJOY!"

Genieten is a difficult word to explain,
-fun
-joy
-relaxation
-all the things imaginable when you enjoy yourself.

Indeed , Enjoy is the best way to put it :
( Je kan genieten van )
You can enjoy having :
-meal
-fun
-relaxation
-amusement

LOL !

we agreed again.

Wasnt it the dutch word "gessellig" or "gezellig" that was voted to the hardest foreigh word to translate in to english?!

I wouldn't know that,but I can think of a word to translate it . :)