Questions answered
Anything that is not covered here, just write to Karel and ask! He will answer as soon as possible.
Three things. Karel is Belgian, and a country sounds different when it is told by someone who's part of it. Groups are eight people at most, so it's a conversation rather than a broadcast. And the tours are built on small stories rather than the facts you could have looked up yourself.
Because eight people can stand in a doorway together and hear the same sentence. Up to eight, you can ask a question the moment you think of it instead of saving it for the end, and Karel can change direction if something catches your interest. Above that number, a tour becomes less personal a more fabricated.
People who'd rather understand a place than photograph it. Guests staying in Brussels or Flanders with an interest in history, culture, architecture or beer, at any level of prior knowledge, you don't need to arrive informed, only curious. They also suit residents and expats who've lived here for years without ever having the city explained.
Yes, and many guests do. Tell Karel what you'd like to understand by the end of the day, roughly how long you have and how much walking you fancy, and he'll come back with a proposal you can change as you like. There's no set menu.
No. Tours run in English or Dutch, whichever you prefer. Karel handles the rest, the tickets, the table, the ordering and the conversation with the brewer.
Then the theme wasn't the point. The themed tours are simply starting suggestions; a custom tour begins with a question instead of a subject. Write to Karel with whatever you're curious about, however unusual, and he'll tell you honestly whether he's the right guide for it.
The Brussels walk climbs from the lower town to the upper town over two hours, with stops throughout, steady rather than strenuous, though it's not flat. Longer tours combine walking with driving. Tell Karel about knees, prams, wheelchairs or anything else that affects the day, and the route will be planned around it. Cobbles are the real adversary in this country, not distance.
Then you go off-schedule. That's rather the advantage of eight people and one guide. If something catches your eye and you'd like ten more minutes with it, you can have them.