International Meteor Conference 2005

Belgium is a low lying country on the North Sea coast in Western Europe. It's part of the European Union and the Schengen agreement and adopted the Euro as currency. With the majority of West European capitals within 1,000 km of Brussels, the seat of both the European Union and NATO, Belgium sits at the crossroads of Western Europe. Its immediate neighbours are France to the southwest, Luxembourg to the south east, Germany to the east and the Netherlands to the north. Belgium has three official languages: French, Dutch, and German. English is also widely spoken.

Belgium is famous for chocolate and beer. Belgium also is famous for its rich cultural heritage including its capital Brussels with its famous architecture, palaces, its pubs, old shopping malls and its lifestyle. But there are some more places worth a visit. The second largest city is Antwerp (located to the north of Brussels), a famous harbour town well known for diamond trade. In Ghent, Brugge and other Flemish towns one can see old Flemish trading towns. Belgium has a coastline (North Sea, province West Flanders) and some "mountainous" (not exceeding 700 meters though...) areas like the Ardennes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium: Wikipedia page on Belgium
http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Belgium: Wikitravel page on Belgium
http://www.visitantwerpen.be
http://www.visitflanders.be
http://www.visitbelgium.com
http://www.trabel.com: Belgian travel network
http://www.belgiumtheplaceto.be: Walloon tourist information

Temperature: around 15-20 degrees Celsius (60-70 degrees Fahrenheit) in September
Electricity: 230 V, 50 Hz, two pin plugs
Currency: Euro, 1 EUR buys 1.24 USD (rate September 2004)

Possibility to visit Paris (1:25 hour by train from Brussels South station (Thalys-service)) and London (2:40 hour by train from Brussels South station (Eurostar service)). In both cases, reservation is necessary.