Sure, we could have spent our Houston, Texas weekend seeing the well-regarded Menil Collection artworks or the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, but no….

I want my artistic experiences to have a tad more funk, so instead we went to the ArtCar Museum, aka “Garage Mahal.”

Houston is a huge city that’s full of surprises, especially for those who have never been to Texas and have, shall we say, less than accurate opinions about what the state is like.

There is a lively arts community here, with a particular interest in contemporary and folk art.

Every year since 1988 (normally in April or May) Houston’s Art Car Parade draws hundreds of vehicular entrants and thousands of cheering spectators, but visitors can view a few of the more amazing cars year-round at this small Museum.

From the Museum Web site:

“The Museum has its conceptual origins in the 1984 Collision Show at the Lawndale Art Center which saw the unveiling of Larry Fuente’s Mad Cad….the Museum showroom celebrates the spirit of this post-modern age of car-culture, in which individuals have remolded the factory-model sameness of their automobiles to the specifications of their own idiosyncratic images and visions.”

The intricacy of the artwork, the imaginative use of every bit of available automotive real estate, a friendly, knowledgeable staff and the great price to get in (free!) makes for an unbeatable combination.

We got a little turned around finding it (going past the well-regarded Star Pizza in the process, if you’re looking for a place to eat nearby) but once you’re on the right street, you can’t miss the bizarro, Mad Max-ish metallic Museum exterior.

I found a slide show of 18 amazing autos and another site with photos of almost every car in the 2008 parade.

For those who want to learn more about this art form, look at the comprehensive and enthusiastic Art Car Central blog.

(ArtCar Museum 140 Heights Blvd. Houston, TX 77007 (713) 861 - 5526. Admission is free, open Wednesday - Sunday, 11am - 6pm. Post title partial credit to the Beatles’ “Drive My Car.”)

I haven’t had a chance to do a linkpost in awhile, but wanted to write up a quick one for this week….

Airport Layover Contest  –  What would you recommend for the best use of a few hours of airport layover?  Conde Nast Traveler’s Perrin Post says to send in your best ideas by 31 July for their Airport Layover Contest.  The submissions are in the comments; some good stuff already.

The venerable Delta Queen riverboat may not be plying the Mississippi River much longer….

Heading to Australia? Here are 15 ways to play in Perth.

Lone travel to Latin America, or how I beat my fears to a pulp, on BlogHer.

Mena, Egypt is my kind of town.

Tickets for the October 2008 Angola Prison Rodeo in Louisiana went on sale today (yes, the same prison that had a reputation for bloody inmate assaults in the 1960s. Today they run a world-renowned rodeo and you can subscribe to the inmate newspaper.)

Cool places to go in Lawrence, Kansas.

Calling all urbanites….five best quirky city tours.

Finally, we’ve been in several blog carnivals lately, so let me give a shout-out to them, and remind everyone that Wendy at Escape from New York is hosting the next Carnival of Cities:

Bahrain Rising was featured on the Less Than A Shoestring carnival covering South America, Africa and the Middle East.  It also includes a Rick Steves people-to-people diplomacy visit to Iran,  and a Swedish writer’s impressions from hitchhiking in Africa.

Virginia’s unique Barter Theatre was featured on the Less Than A Shoestring carnival covering the Americas (North America, Central America and the Caribbean)  along with the Traveling Mamas telling us where to eat a great fast food lunch in Hawaii.

The Carnival of Travelers on the Fly Away Cafe blog - the Photo Edition - had mostly photo posts, including ours from North Carolina’s Mast General Store and a lovely one from a cemetery in Omotesando in Tokyo.

It happens every other year, and for 2008 the timing is right….

August 14-17, 2008 is this year’s celebration of gorgeous, colorful flowers.

They are mostly begonias, laid out in a carpet-like pattern on the magnificent Grand Place in Brussels.

It would be difficult to find a more dramatic, elegant backdrop anywhere in Europe.

It’s free to walk around and admire the carpet, or for three Euro, you can climb up to a balcony on the first floor of the Town Hall, to see the intricate pattern from above.

If you have a choice, see it on one of the first days, while the colors are at their brightest.

Related posts:

• Sure, Belgian chocolate, but which one?

Welcome to this edition of the Carnival of Cities; it was supposed to be posted as usual on Wednesday (18 June) but I was “overtaken by events” preparing to teach a new workshop yesterday, here in Austin (Learn Five Web 2.0 Tools in One Day.)

Let’s just say that the workshop went very well, but five tools is probably a few too many to cram into one teaching event. :)

At any rate, let’s pause and take a quick world tour in one blog post:

** Cities in the Americas **

Lodi, California, USA JHSEsq tells a great story about an everyday hero saving a life on the train tracks in Life in Lodi: The Village Has a Real, Live Hero posted at Colloquium.

Atlanta, Georgia, USA Claudine recommends the Canine Cocktail Hour at Hotel Indigo posted at her blog theatlantatraveler.com, saying, “We love our pets in Atlanta!”

Seattle, Washington, USA Pam Mandel presents Seattle’s Wing Luke Asian Museum posted at Nerd’s Eye View, saying, “Seattle has a new museum that addresses the Asian and Pacific Islander cultures that call our city home. The museum isn’t quite ready for prime time, but the building is a stunner and the museum promises to be a real gem when they have all their exhibits installed. It’s worth a preview.”

Caminos de Los Indios, Venezuela APH gives some background on Socialist Cities at the Market Urbanism blog, saying, “Development of Caminos de Los Indios, the first of five “Socialist Cities” has begun south of Caracas. In his 2007 inaugural speech, Hugo Chavez said, ‘We need to [develop] a system of cities based on federations, federal regions. We need to build communal cities, Socialist Cities.’”

San Francisco, California, USA CatSynth presents In the shadow of the bridge posted at catsynth.com mp3 kitty cat synthesizer music, saying, “Images and thoughts from our neighborhood in San Francisco.”

Moab, Utah, USA Ms. Smarty Pants gives us some highlights from Moab, Utah posted at Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All, saying, “Moab is a smaller town, but it is the main hub of southeast Utah.”

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Ethan lists all sorts of things to do, plus a neat little photo stream, in Vancouver: So Much to Do, So Little Time posted at Never Clever Whatsoever.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica Amy @ The Q Family presents Carnival Cruise - Day 6 - Ocho Rios posted at The Q Family Adventure, saying, “Our quick visit to Ocho Rios shows that there is more to see in Jamaica than we can do in one day.”

New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA John presents the Most Common Birds in Middlesex County posted at his comprehensive A DC Birding Blog.

Seattle, Washington, USA Mary Jo Manzanares says to get off of the couch and Let’s Get Ready to Scramble! Writing at her blog The Seattle Traveler, she says, “Explore the streets of Seattle and get a little exercise with this urban orienteering competition.”

Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, USA Kara Williams presents Good, Big Eats at Kahuna Kabobs in Lahaina, Maui posted at Traveling Mamas.

** Cities in Asia **

Nagoya, Japan Silicon Valley Blogger presents Making Money Through Day Trading: The Secret Lives of Stay-At-Home Mommy Speculators posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “This details the story of a day-trading Japanese suburban housewife in Nagoya, Japan.”

Beijing, China I had a wonderful two-part Family Travel blog guest post by Laura Bond Williams about taking young children to Beijing. Part One covers the logistics of long-haul travel from Texas to China with little ones, and Part Two has details of her family’s time in Beijing.

Tokyo, Japan Wendy presents Teenage Tokyo: Hangry and Angry posted at Escape From New York, saying, “They look like the revenge of Hello Kitty. Their names are Hangry and Angry and they have scars, eye patches and stitches.”

Xuan Wei, China Junjie has some nice photos of Xuan Wei posted at Junjie’s China blog.

** Cities in Europe **

Perugia, Italy Karen Bryan presents Review of Holiday Inn Perugia - great value for money and scenic pool posted at Europe A La Carte Blog, saying, “A value for money hotel close to the beautiful Umbrian town of Perugia in Italy.”

Nuuk, Greenland Katrina Cain asks What is the Biggest City in the World? and I’m going with her square kilometers definition. She writes at What is the Biggest….

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Cities. If you’d like to host the July 2 or July 9 edition, drop me an email at sheila “at” sheilascarborough “dot” com. Thanks!

Pam over at Nerd’s Eye View is hosting next week’s 25 June edition, so submit your (one, non-spammy) blog post to the next edition by 12 noon US Pacific time on Tuesday, 24 June, using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of cities, blog carnival.

Belgium is famous for great beer, mussels and Belgian chocolate (amongst many other delights) but which chocolate is the best?

Never mind the rather recent obsession over dark chocolate….I’m not really a connoisseur, apparently, since I prefer milk chocolate.

I’m not crazy enough to make any definitive brand declarations — as visitors stroll through Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp or Bruges, there are plenty of choices.

Goodness knows, you shouldn’t miss the chance for a chocolate tour, demonstration or tasting.

Godiva and Leonidas are easy to find across most of Europe; I’d rather try something lesser-known.

Neuhaus, Pierre Marcolini, Moeder Babelutte, Wittamer and Manon have their aficionados, and their shop displays are gorgeously imaginative, but for a less-expensive box “to go,” I like Guylian, particularly their sea shell-shaped milk chocolates.

Imagine my delight as I found a box last week at Central Market here in Austin. Obviously, the chocolates that are shipped for export won’t be as fresh as those purchased next to a Bruges canal, but I don’t care; I was just delighted to find one of my favorite Belgian indulgences only a few miles from my house.

Aren’t you proud of me? I didn’t eat any until I had time to take a photo for this post. :)