{"id":538,"date":"2012-04-16T15:46:13","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T15:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/blog\/?p=538"},"modified":"2012-04-16T15:46:13","modified_gmt":"2012-04-16T15:46:13","slug":"my-benelux-urious-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/index.php\/2012\/04\/16\/my-benelux-urious-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"My Benelux-urious Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-539\" title=\"DSCN7348x\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/hotel-lobbyists.com\/hl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/DSCN7348x-300x212.jpg\" \/>Last October, while attending IMEX, one of the industry\u2019s most mammoth meetings events in Las Vegas, I encountered perhaps the luckiest 72hr streaks of my life.\u00a0 In a span of two meetings\u2019 days and one evening prior, I sat down at a Roulette table and placed a single bet on and around my lucky number 10, and watched it come up 10 on the first spin;\u00a0 I placed a single bet at Lagasse Stadium for my New York Giants to win the Super Bowl with 35:1 odds at the time \u2013 they won the Super Bowl in February; and I dropped my business card into a drawing at a reception being held jointly by Destination DC and Visit Brussels.<\/p>\n<p>Last week I returned from my trip to Belgium.<!--more-->This was an amazing trip which I won, yes won, courtesy of the fine professionals at Visit Brussels, the convention and visitor\u2019s bureau to the capital of the EU, Brussels, Belgium.\u00a0 They held their reception jointly with the capital of the US and how ironic it might have been were I to have won the grand prize trip to DC \u2013 where I lived at the time.\u00a0 Oh, but I didn\u2019t.\u00a0 I saw them draw the card and from a full twenty feet away could see the colors and logo I needed to see.\u00a0 Brett Sterenson with Hotel Lobbyists was the lucky winner of two round trip tickets to Brussels, a two night weekend stay at The Hotel Brussels, and transfers to and from the airport.\u00a0 I was on the phone to Jaime ten minutes later.\u00a0 When are we going?<\/p>\n<p>Given this once in a lifetime opportunity, how could we pass up the opportunity to see the whole Benelux Triangle \u2013 that is the triangle comprised of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.\u00a0 It\u2019s a part of the world I\u2019d always wanted to see, but truthfully, it would have been a while before it found itself at the top of my travel list, save for Amsterdam which I imagine I\u2019d have targeted soon.<\/p>\n<p>And so during Easter break, Jaime and I spent two nights in Brussels, a night in Luxembourg, three nights in Amsterdam and then back to Brussels for our return.\u00a0 But we did more than that.\u00a0 Having seen Spain by train the summer before, I thought it auspicious to rent a car and try to see this area of the globe by road.\u00a0 We\u2019d get to see so much more this time and witness the real countryside.\u00a0 So our journey allowed us to see the medieval cities of Bruges and Ghent in Belgium.\u00a0 We stayed at a vineyard in Remich, a small town in southeastern Luxembourg bordering Germany.\u00a0 And we drove the Bollenstreek, the magnificent bulb fields in Lisse, Holland \u2013 outside of Amsterdam.<\/p>\n<p>Belgian waffles, Belgian chocolate, Dutch pancakes, and hot chocolate in Luxembourg were all part of our Beneluxurious diet on this trip.\u00a0 Going in April meant for chillier weather but it also probably made for smaller crowds and easier navigation.\u00a0 I invite you to see our pictures and I whole heartedly recommend a visit to this part of the world soon!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last October, while attending IMEX, one of the industry\u2019s most mammoth meetings events in Las Vegas, I encountered perhaps the luckiest 72hr streaks of my life.\u00a0 In a span of two meetings\u2019 days and one evening prior, I sat down at a Roulette table and placed a single bet on and around my lucky number [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - 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