It's in Belgium

A couple of weeks ago I travelled to Belgium for a long weekend. Now, Belgium is quite a small country so it’s amazing the amount of stuff you can do in four days. In terms of prices, things are quite expensive (for Portuguese standards); staying over at a friend’s ensured the trip remained within budged.

Food is pretty good in Belgium, with the ever-present exception of coffee. Still, Belgian waffles and chocolate certainly help overcome that. Especially when you put them together. There’s also beer for every taste, so it’s (almost) impossible not to enjoy one.

It’s hard to judge the weather from a four days sample, but I hear it’s quite awful. Can’t really complain though, since it never rained during my stay (though it snowed quite a lot). Nevertheless, the sun does not seem to shine the same way it does in Portugal. Yep, you should definitely come here.

In what regards Belgian people, I’m afraid I didn’t find them very friendly. Helpful, certainly, but not really friendly. Could have been just a stream of bad luck though.

Despite not having a government for quite some time, things appear to run pretty smooth in Belgium. Of course when you come from Portugal every other place seems to display military-like organization. I recall using this software tool for train travels planning, available at their public transports’ (which are quite cheap by the way) website. I loved it so much that I made some nice comments about it to my Belgian friends. Of course 15 minutes after that I was boarding the wrong train, which ultimately led to my arrival in Brussels two hours after schedule and forced me to take a cab. Irony’s a bitch. I first thought I’d messed up somehow (I really didn’t want to blame that neat software tool), but I happened to meet some nice Czech women (psychologists attending some international conference, though they seemed more interested in partying) who had made exactly the same mistake. Guess I should thank the most nice and helpful (and gorgeous) ticket lady, for sorting everything out and letting me ride back to Leuven when the train was not supposed to be carrying passengers anymore.

Having given my overall impression on  Belgium, I’ll now write a few lines about each city/town that I’ve visited, in chronological order.

Antwerp. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Antwerp, since opinions seemed to diverge a lot. Now I can testify that it’s definitely worth seeing. The city pulses with movement and has this very modern appeal, while retaining some old beautiful buildings and its famous Cathedral of Our Lady. The city park (Stradspark), is also very pretty as is the square featuring the city hall and the statue of Brabo, founder of Antwerp. The area near the harbour is a must, and no tourist should pass by the MAS museum without going in. 1€ is all it takes to get access to eleven floors dedicated to an equal number of different and interesting themes, as well as a panoramic view over the city. Not far from it there’s a memorial to the deceased in both World Wars. Right next to it the sharp eyed reader will find a lovers’ heart (kinda like a lovers’ bridge, but instead of a bridged you have a heart). Most unfortunately,  I didn’t have time to visit the castle, also along the coast line. You’ll also find an amazingly high number of gay couples (mostly men) in Antwerp. Which, if you take into account that Antwerpian women are quite beautiful, should make it some kind of paradise for straight single men: odds are the city’s full of gorgeous and lonely women!

Leuven. I’d never heard great things about Leuven, so I only went there in order to visit a handful of friends.  True enough, the city lacks touristic attractions at level with the others’. Still, Leuven has this distinct and particular appeal. Perhaps because it’s mostly a students’ town, one really does feel “right” in there. The bars area is pretty nice, and it features the longest (combined) balcony in Europe. Though I did not have time to go there since it’s in the outskirts, the area around the faculty of biological engineering seemed quite nice. Bikes (and people riding them) all over the place also help establish that cozy feeling of belonging.

Bruges (It’s in Belgium). Just a few days before departing to Belgium I saw this movie, “In Bruges”,

since I’d heard it portrayed the city rather well. I must say it’s a pretty good movie, so I’d definitely recommend it whether you’re planning on actually going there or not. It’s funny that, while the entire movie seems to be a tribute to the city, the main character utterly hates it. In fact, when seriously wounded and in risk of dying, his thoughts are “Fuck man, maybe that’s what hell is… the entire rest of eternity spent in fucking Bruges! And I really really hoped I wouldn’t die…”. Despite the character’s thoughts, Bruges is quite the thing. Everything seems so beautiful and from another world, like time stopped in there centuries ago. It’s amazing how cars seem so out of place in there. I guess the best advice I can give to future travelers is to simply walk around and, if possible, get lost in there. Just make sure to go up the Belfry; the long, narrow (and I do mean NARROW) stairs are a lot of trouble, but the view is astonishing. We were lucky enough to be presented with this eerie mist, making it all seem some kind of fairytale. Exactly as in the movie! Animal lovers will certainly be in awe with the swans all over the water courses. It does live up to the designation “Venice of the North”, even it only features one canal. They say Bruges is really beautiful at night, but unfortunately we had to move on before sunset.

Gent. The city is quite similar to Bruges in its medieval look. In terms of interiors it may even be prettier: it features plenty of beautiful churches to see. It also had more canals than Bruges. Still, something's missing... perhaps that eerie mist that makes everything look so surreal. The castle is a real wonder, and you can climb all the way up and walk along the wals: you'll be rewarded with quite the view. It also has a Belfry, but I didn't go up that one. 

Tervuren. It's a really small town just outside Brussels. I didn't really go into the town, just the Royal Museum for Central Africa which is its main attraction. The weather didn't allow us to walk along its gardens, but the palace itself is quite pretty. Inside, you can learn a lot about Central Africa, Congo in particular. It has replicas of many of the existing wild life. It's also a great place to find different kinds of souvenirs.

Brussels. I must say I was very disappointed with something in Brussels... it's really hard to find someone who speaks (proper) English! I'd always been told that Brussels was an international city, the heart and capital of Europe, so that was definitely a turndown. Apart from that, I really liked the capital of Belgium The Grànd Place is amazing: you don't really know where to look since there are interesting buildings all around. The comic strips painted on the facades make a perfect excuse for walking all around the city; you can get a map with their positions and try to find and photograph them all. Sightseeing turns into some kind of amusing quest! It took me around six hours (I only had a short lunch break, but it was snowing heavily so that slowed me down) and still I missed some of them. The city parks are beautiful when covered with snow. The Manneken Pis, often used as a symbol of the city, was rather disappointing, even though I'd already been warned. It's funny how something can disappoint us, despite the fact that we're already expecting to be disappointed. Guess one can't truly expect to be let down... By the way, did you know there are two other pissing statues in Brussels, portrating a girls and a dog?  You can find chocolate shops all over the place; there's the big brands (Leonidas, Cote d'Or, etc... ) , of course, but I found it far more interesting to stumble into these small artisan shops and buy, say, a chocolate train. Finally, I'd definitely recomment visiting the Parlamentarium, the visitors' centre for the European Parliament. You'll need some time though: I spent around two hours in there and still half of it was left unseen.

Filipe Baptista de Morais