Belgium’s seriously sweet tooth

• Tom Hall
• Lonely Planet Author

Most European countries offer the cultural thrill of unusual ways to expand your waistline, but Belgium elevates this often unexpected part of a continental jaunt into an art form. Temptation reaches out and grabs you at every turn. Avoided the crisply-fried potato treats from that fritteur van, served smothered in mayonnasise? Then you deserve a rich, dark Trappist beer or twelve. And should the vast vats of moules (mussels) not make it to your dinner plate then there’s the national dish, waterzooi to be eaten with thick hunks of bread. But chief among Belgian delights is chocolate.

This underrated nation has taken the idea of scoffing a sweet treat and elevated it to an artform.

Here’s where it began. In 1912, Jean Neuhaus had the bright idea of filling delectable chocolate shells with sweet, fondant fillings to create the praline. His wife came up with a decorative box, the ballotin. This invention proved popular. From his shop in Brussels chocolate emporiums spread across Belgium and gained the country an international reputation. Neuhaus has become an internationally famed chocolate brand.

The standard of chocolate served throughout the country is nothing less than thrilling. Chocolateries sell light, dark or white chocolate with every conceivable variation in between. Individual pieces are wrapped, coated or patterned individually and beautifully. As well as the ubiquitous pralines you’ll find sculptures and artistic creations all made solely using the chocolatiers skill. In one shop in Ostend I was unable to resist leaving with a chocolate whale. On cracking it open praline fish spilled out from his belly. If that wasn’t a moment of perfect happiness then I don’t know what is.

As you might expect, there are huge gulfs in quality, variety and cost of chocolate. National chains like Corné Port Royal and Neuhaus offer good quality at reasonable prices, but for the real fun look out for boutique chocolatiers like Planete Chocolat in Brussels and Del Rey in Antwerp. Here you’ll find delectable and individually crafted chocs which make the perfect gift – if you can get them home. No visit to Belgium is complete without a cruise around Bruges. And here is a temple to the cocoa bean, Choco-Story. Yes, a museum dedicated to the world’s finest sweet treat. If you’re not planning on leaving the capital, be a smart shopper and aim for the shops and cafes of Place du Grand Sablon rather than around the Grand Place. Chocolate and prices will be better.

The experience of buying some gives some insight into the level of reverence chocolate is held in. You may be gazing dreamily from outside but the real fun starts when you walk through the door.The atmosphere in any half-decent chocolaterie is one of reverence and dedication. Pralines wait in cool, quiet conditions for you to choose, and the mood in the queue tends to be one of gentle anticipation. The choice can be agonising, but don’t worry: staff are used to such dilemmas and are knowledgeable. Some sampling is permitted if you’re serious about buying. Once you’ve had your selection picked they’ll be lovingly wrapped and presented, and the at-times eye-watering price, determined by weight (the chocolate, not yours) is revealed. Then you’re out the door, wallet lighter but heart fluttering, eyes scanning the horizon for a secluded spot to sit and get stuck into your purchases.

Football World Cup 2010 Groups & Teams

Group stage

Group A	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Mexico	0	1	0	0	1
South Africa	0	1	0	0	1
France	0	1	0	0	1
Uruguay	0	1	0	0	1

Group B	W	D	L	GD	PTS
South Korea	1	0	0	2	3
Argentina	1	0	0	1	3
Nigeria	0	0	1	-1	0
Greece	0	0	1	-2	0

Group C	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Slovenia	1	0	0	1	3
England	0	1	0	0	1
USA	0	1	0	0	1
Algeria	0	0	1	-1	0

Group D	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Ghana	1	0	0	1	3
Australia	0	0	0	0	0
Germany	0	0	0	0	0
Serbia	0	0	1	-1	0

Group E	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Cameroon	0	0	0	0	0
Denmark	0	0	0	0	0
Japan	0	0	0	0	0
Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0

Group F	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Italy	0	0	0	0	0
New Zealand	0	0	0	0	0
Paraguay	0	0	0	0	0
Slovakia	0	0	0	0	0

Group G	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Brazil	0	0	0	0	0
Ivory Coast	0	0	0	0	0
North Korea	0	0	0	0	0
Portugal	0	0	0	0	0

Group H	W	D	L	GD	PTS
Chile	0	0	0	0	0
Honduras	0	0	0	0	0
Spain	0	0	0	0	0
Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0

Knock-out stage

Last 16

KO 1

Winner A v Runner-up B

KO 2

Winner C v Runner-up D

KO 3

Winner D v Runner-up C

KO 4

Winner B v Runner-up A

KO 5

Winner E v Runner-up F

KO 6

Winner G v Runner-up H

KO 7

Winner F v Runner-up E

KO 8

Winner H v Runner-up G

Quarter-finals

QF 1

Winner KO 5 v Winner KO 6

QF 2

Winner KO 1 v Winner KO 2

QF 3

Winner KO 3 v Winner KO 4

QF 4

Winner KO 7 v Winner KO 8

Semi-finals

SF 1

Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 2

SF 2

Winner QF 3 v Winner QF 4

Third-place play-off

Runner-up SF 1 v Runner-up SF 2

World Cup final

Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2

World Cup 2010 Teams

• Algeria
• Argentina
• Australia
• Brazil
• Cameroon
• Chile
• Denmark
• England
• France
• Germany
• Ghana
• Greece
• Honduras
• Italy
• Ivory Coast
• Japan
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• North Korea
• Paraguay
• Portugal
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Spain
• Switzerland
• USA
• Uruguay

Gyan penalty clinches Ghana win

(CNN) -- A late penalty by Asamoah Gyan handed Ghana a deserved 1-0 victory against Serbia in their Group D match played in Pretoria.

The Rennes striker emphatically converted from the spot past Vladimir Stojkovic in the 84th minute to the obvious delight of the partisan crowd.

The victory is the first by an African team at this year's World Cup.

Ghana were awarded their penalty after Serbia substitute Zdravko Kuzmanovic needlessly hand-balled a cross which looked to be drifting harmlessly out of the Serbian penalty area.

Amid delirious celebrations of the African supporters in the Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Serbia struggled to find an equalizer and it was Ghana, the four-time African champions, who should have made it 2-0 before the final whistle.

Baghdad blast, gunfire kill 15

(CNN) -- At least 15 people were killed and 45 others wounded in a bombing and gunfire near Iraq's central bank in the capital on Sunday, according to the Interior Ministry.

After the initial blast, clashes broke out between security forces and armed men trying to rob the bank, the official said.

There were conflicting reports about what the blast was, which hit at around 3 p.m. (8 a.m. ET). One Interior Ministry official said at least three roadside bombs exploded outside the bank, while another official said it was a suicide bomber. The spokesman for the Baghdad military command, Maj. Gen. Qassi, al-Moussawi, told state television that it was one roadside bomb.

The casualties figures offered by the Interior Ministry only include civilians and security forces.

The power generator for the bank caught fire and the burning fuel caused a large black plume of smoke seen over the capital, the first Interior Ministry official said.The bank is located in central Baghdad's Rasheed street.

The bombing comes amid political uncertainty, a day before Iraq's parliament is set to convene for it's first session three months after national elections.

Ex-BBC reporter Vugar Khalilov held in Kyrgyzstan

Vugar Khalilov's supporters say he is being denied medical treatment

A British public relations executive who once worked for ousted Kyrgyzstan president Kurmanbek Bakiyev has been arrested and detained in Bishkek.

Former BBC reporter Vugar Khalilov, who moved there in 2009, has been accused of money laundering - which he denies.

The new government has been accused of ignoring Mr Khalilov's human rights and keeping him in solitary confinement since his arrest on 12 April.

Mr Khalilov's supporters have said the charges are politically motivated.

He moved from London to Kyrgyzstan, where he was the head of public relations company Flexi Communications.

Two-month detention

The 41-year-old was held by members of the national security service shortly after meeting David Moran, the UK ambassador to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Prosecutors confirmed his detention on Friday and spokesman Ulan Dykambayev said: "On April 12, the Prosecutor Generals' Office sanctioned the arrest of Vugar Khalilov on charges of legalising and laundering funds obtained in a criminal manner."

He told the AFP news agency that Mr Khalilov will be held for two months while an investigation takes place.

Kurmanbek Bakiyev maintains he is still leader of Kyrgyzstan

Supporters have set up a site on the social networking site Facebook.

Mr Khalilov's lawyer Artyom Ivanov has now met his client following representations in court, according to Mr Khalilov's brother Azer.

He also said his relative was a successful businessman who the new administration had used as a "scapegoat".

He said: "In a country where the president and his allies control most of the economy, it was inevitable that some of his business would be in contact with people close to President Bakiyev."

Health fears

Azer Khalilov said his brother had written 15 letters to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband, but that these letters had not been received by the British consul in Bishkek.

He has since written another letter appealing to Mr Brown, Azer said.

He also added that Azerbaijan-born Mr Khalilov's family had urged him to leave the country during the recent protests - he refused, saying he had no reason to be scared and had done nothing wrong.

The detainee's brother urged the Foreign Office to ensure Mr Khalilov's legal rights were upheld and said the family feared his spinal hernia would get worse because of detention conditions.

"We don't want him to be given practically a life sentence of catching an illness during his confinement even if he is found innocent, which we are confident he will be," he said.

The Foreign Office said it was aware of the arrest and would monitor the case.

A spokeswoman said: "Consular officials have visited the individual in detention and are providing consular assistance."

Overthrown

The charges are believed to relate to a loan that Mr Khalilov took out to start his public relations company.

Mr Bakiyev was overthrown in mass protests on 7 April. More than 80 people were killed when anti-government protests in Bishkek, and other towns turned violent.

Kyrgyzstan's interim leaders said Mr Bakiyev's administration ordered troops to open fire on protesters.

They have said he should stand trial over the unrest in which 85 people died.

Mr Bakiyev maintains he is still president.

Tens of thousands flee ethnic violence in Kyrgyzstan

A third day of fighting in the south of the country has claimed nearly 100 lives, officials say.

Witnesses speak of Kyrgyz men shooting ethnic Uzbeks and setting property alight; a BBC correspondent in the city of Osh has heard heavy gunfire.

On Saturday the interim government gave security forces shoot-to-kill powers.

Kyrgyzstan's interim government has urged Russia to send in troops to help quell the violence, but Moscow says it has no plans to intervene.

A battalion of paratroops would be sent to protect Russian facilities in the country, Interfax news agency reported, quoting a security source.

Both Russia and the United States have military bases in the north of the country.
'Shoot-outs'

Kyrgyzstan's interim government extended a state of emergency to cover the entire southern Jalalabad region, as ethnic clashes spread there from neighbouring Osh.

One resident in Jalalabad said fighting was going on throughout the city.

"At the current moment, there are shoot-outs going on in the streets," he told the AFP news agency by telephone.

"There is a veil of smoke covering the whole city," another resident told AFP. He said buildings on fire included a shopping centre.

Without international assistance there are fears the interim authorities will struggle to contain the conflict, the BBC's Rayhan Demytrie in Osh reports.

She says buildings are ablaze in Osh - television pictures show street after street of burnt-out buildings and black smoke billowing in the air.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was ousted in April and now lives in Belarus, has denied accusations from the government that he is involved in the unrest in order to derail a 27 June constitutional referendum and elections scheduled for October.

Mr Bakiyev had strong support in southern Kyrgyzstan.

'We need food'

The south of Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet Central Asian state of 5.5 million people, is home to an ethnic Uzbek minority of almost one million.

KYRGYZ-UZBEK TENSIONS

Continue reading the main story

• Kyrgyz make up nearly 70% of the population, Uzbeks account for about 15% and are concentrated in the Ferghana Valley in the south
• Osh, the country's second city, is home to a large ethnic Uzbek community
• There has been tension in the south between the two ethnic groups over land and housing
• In 1990, hundreds were killed in Osh in clashes between Kyrgyz and ethnic Uzbeks

Eyewitness: 'We're hiding' In pictures: Violence in Kyrgyzstan

The violence has prompted tens of thousands of people to head for the nearby border with Uzbekistan.

Uzbek emergency officials said at least 30,000 people had crossed the border from Kyrgyzstan. One official told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency that 75,000 had entered Uzbekistan.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had received similar reports.

Ethnic Uzbek eyewitnesses told our correspondent at a border crossing with Uzbekistan that gangs of armed Kyrgyz had been marauding through neighbourhoods, killing residents and burning homes.

One woman pleaded for help: "We need food, we need water, I have got two sons and they are little and I need water and food to survive."

There have also been reports of Kyrgyz casualties.

One Kyrgyz family the BBC spoke to by telephone said an Uzbek boy armed with a gun shot dead three Kyrgyz men who were approaching them.

Pakistan says one of its citizens, a student, has been killed in Osh and it is investigating reports that 15 others have been taken hostage.

More than 1,000 people have been wounded in the violence, the authorities say. Some reports say the casualty figures could be much higher.

It is not clear what sparked the latest unrest.

According to local reports, fighting broke out between rival gangs and developed into gun battles late on Thursday.

In recent weeks, several incidents had prompted fears of inter-ethnic violence between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz.

The clashes are the worst ethnic violence to hit southern Kyrgyzstan since 1990, when several hundred people were killed. Kyrgyzstan was then part of the Soviet Union, which sent in troops to quell the unrest.