TOURS

Optional Field Trip - Friday, 13 April

The last day of the conference we will provide a field trip. The National Botanical Garden has a very nice bamboo collection. In 1995 and 2001, two European Bamboo Society meetings were organized here in the National Botanical Garden. A World Bamboo Congress in Belgium also gives the unique opportunity to visit the company of Jan Oprins - Oprins Plant NV. This enterprise produces over one million bamboos every year. Finally, Jos van der Palen, a true bamboo expert and collector, has an exceptional garden. This garden is the result of years of intensive selection and dedication.

To participate in the Field Trip, the delegates will have to subscribe and pay a fixed price that will depend on the number of participants.


National Botanic Garden of Belgium - Meise

http://www.br.fgov.be
The National Botanic Garden of Belgium has an enormous number of tropical plants growing in the Plant Palace, the largest greenhouse in Belgium, a treasure to explore as you stroll through the historic 92 hectare park. The gardens are a center of excellence for research on tropical and European botany, conducted in one of the largest herbaria in the world. Furthermore, the garden contributes towards plant conservation, aiming to protect as many plants as possible in their natural environments. This is done in partnership with many other national and international botanic gardens and conservation organizations.


Oprins Plant NV

http://www.oprins.com
Oprins is the world's leading producer of temperate and tropical bamboos for ornamental purposes as well as for commercial plantations and forestry projects. Oprins began collecting bamboos over 30 years ago. Initially bamboos were considered as collector's items; later Oprins establised its own collection by exchanging plants with other collectors, as well as collecting bamboos abroad in places like China, India, Japan, south-east Asia, and America. Micropropagation or tissue culture is the most efficient method of mass-producing elite plants with homogeneous qualities. For a high-scale professional bamboo plantation development, elite plants from tissue culture are sourced for optimum results. Aside from bamboo, Oprins Plant is dedicated to the production of ornamental trees and shrubs, including hydrangeas, ilex, taxus, sarcococca, and other specialty plants such as agapanthus. The company's main strength is its highly specialized and large scale production system which applies innovative technologies.


Garden of Jos van der Palen

http://www.kimmei.com
Jos van der Palen of Kimmei Nursery in Holland, a plant collector and one of horticulture's foremost bamboo pioneers, is responsible for introducing many new and useful species. His love for bamboo is reflected in his beautiful and very diverse garden, overflowing with ornamental grasses, exotics like bananas and palms, and extensive bamboo collection.



Optional City Tours

We will organize city trips to nearby Ghent, Bruges, and Brussels. These beautiful medieval cities are within a one hour drive of Antwerp. To participate in these optional tours, the delegates will have to subscribe and pay a fixed price. A minimum of 16 people will have to subscribe per tour. These tours are organised by Mister Bob Beelen, FBAA Certified Int'l Tourguide.


Ghent & Bruges: The Living Past of Flanders - Tuesday, 10 April

Trip Ghent - Bruges €65 (No lunch included)

See detailed program: Ghent - Bruges.
See video impression: Ghent
See video impression: Bruges

About 1300, the question was: "which is the biggest town in Europe: Paris or Ghent?" Ghent is not only a beautiful historic city, it's also a very influential art and design centre. Come and see Van Eyck's 'Mystic Lamb', or take the steps of Henry van de Velde, the visionary leader of the Bauhaus group, who was born here.

Ghent is a historic city, yet at the same time a contemporary one. The modern daily life of the city's active inhabitants plays itself out against a gorgeous historical backdrop. In Ghent, they live, work and enjoy life over and over again each day. A couple enjoys the peace of an authentic beguinage. Parents and children stroll through the traffic-free streets of the city centre. A tourist snaps a photo of the three towers, as so many have before, but just a little differently. A businessman with an iPhone walks along the distinctive Graslei, crosses the Lys and enters his stylish four-star hotel hiding behind a medieval facade. Dozens of pavement cafes invite you to discover Ghent's specialities. The sun is reflected in the many waterways. The city is alive and bids you welcome.


Bruges, the 'Venice of the North' is about seven centuries of architecture, reaching from the Romanesque era, over the Gothic style under the Dukes of Burgundy, the renaissance, baroque to neo classical. The old town centre (more than 2,000 buildings) was classified Unesco world heritage. Take the canal boat tour and see Bruges from medieval perspective.

Taste a hand made chocolate in one of the 55 chocolate shops. Or, if you like beer, select one of the 600 kinds of regional beer that Belgium is known for.


Brussels: The Capital of Europe - Wednesday, 11 April

Trip Brussels €65 (No lunch included)

See detailed program.
See video impression: Brussels

Brussels is the bilingual capital of Belgium. This means that both French and Dutch are the official languages of the city. Street names and traffic signs are always in these two languages. Furthermore, it is a cosmopolitan city where many different cultures live together and where different languages can be heard on each street. This liveliness and international flair is, of course, intimately related to its role as a crossroads for all of Europe. As the European capital the city is home to the European Commission and to the Council of ministers of the European Union (EU).

Brussels is more than a 1000 years old and has plenty of beautiful and interesting places:

  • The craftsmanship of the buildings on the 'Grand Place' will overwhelm you.
  • Walk through the first shopping mall ever built in Europe.
  • Go back to the early days of technology development near the Atomium.
  • Find out why the 'Manneken Pis' is such an important symbol.
  • Meet René Magritte and Victor Horta and much more.


Cosmopolitan Antwerp - Thursday, 12 April

Trip Antwerp €65 (No lunch included)

See detailed program.
See video impression: Antwerp

Contrary to what you might think, Antwerp is the largest city of Belgium. It's also very cosmopolitan: Antwerp is the n° 2 port of Europe. About 85% of the rough diamonds worldwide are traded via Antwerp. Former students of the Antwerp fashion academy now have flag stores in Paris, Milan and Antwerp, of course. There is no place you can feel Rubens any closer than here. Discover MAS, the new museum on the Scheldt, that is a landmark for the city.

Enjoy the atmosphere on one (or more) of the 2,800 terraces. In short, let Antwerp seduce you.