A Few Thoughts On Belgium

From broken umbrellas in pouring rain to creepy roommates who stare at you in the middle of the night, Murphy’s Law (anything that can go wrong will go wrong) was definitely at play during our Belgium trip. Luckily for us, we were good humored enough to laugh about it the entire way. Good company is sarcastic company.

Our 2.5 day trip was mostly through the Flanders region (an area under Dutch influence). We used Brussels as a base camp and from there went to Antwerp, Brugge, and Ghent. It was a jam-packed trip filled with a lot of ups and downs, to say the least.

On Brussels

I’m going to be completely honest, I didn’t like Brussels. On suggestion from friends, we didn’t spend a lot of time in that city, so take my commentary with a grain of salt. I was only there for about half a day.

When we first got into Brussels, it weirdly reminded me of New Jersey, and not the nicer parts of it either. I’m talking about the neighborhoods where you don’t want to walk alone. It felt dirty, and there was nobody on the streets until we hit the touristy area. Then, there were way too many people. I mean crowds, especially around Manneken Pis, a fountain with a statue of a peeing little boy that is one of the most famous monuments in Brussels. What makes the statue famous is less the quirkiness of it and more the varying legends surrounding its origin. Some say he was a gift from a tourist who lost his son and was reunited thanks to the help of the citydwellers. Others say he was a spy who put out a bomb by peeing on it. The city always dresses up the statue, so it’s a cute little monument that’s constantly changing.

The main square, Grand-Place, unfortunately, was a mess of construction when we went. There was also a wedding in the town hall, so we couldn’t go inside. The square was cute. The buildings were decorated with gold and for whatever reason glowed green at night.

After our visit to Grand-Place, we went to the Atomium. It’s a bit of a ways out of the main city center, but the subway wasn’t too hard to figure out and had a similar structure to the New York City subway, so if you’re familiar with that, you’re good to go.

Another ‘unfortunately’ for our trip: the Atomium closed right when we go there, so we didn’t get to go inside. It was neat to look at, and we took a walk through the surrounding park. There’s a duck pond and a nice walkway lined with birch trees. It was pouring rain (thank you Murphy’s law), so our walk was a bit wet.

The food and drink of Brussels was a different story. I must suggest that if you’re getting waffles, you shouldn’t get any toppings. These waffles are nothing like the ‘Belgian’ waffles you can get in the US. These are much, much better. So sweet and fluffy. I got strawberries and chocolate the first time and got plain every time after that, because I realized how much better it was without all the extras.

Just as Belgian waffles are sweet, Belgian beer is strong. I shared a beer flight with some friends right by Grand-Place. If you like your beer hoppy and bitter, Delirium is for you. My friends and I really liked La Trappe and Tripel Karmeliet, which have milder flavors. We also tried a chocolate beer, which was just plain weird (it’s pictured over the “Brugge Tripel” label).

My favorite spot in Brussels ended up being a bar. Delirium Café takes up an entire alleyway with different themed rooms lining either side. I really liked the garden room, but we couldn’t find a seat there. The tequila room was much less crowded and had a nice selection of mixed drinks, which is good news for those who don’t like beer. For those who do like beers, this place is amazing. There are over 2000 different beers to choose from. Aside from the drinks, there’s great music that follows the theme of each room, over-the-top decor, and just an all-around great vibe. Delirium Café is definitely the place to spend your nights in Brussels, and it improved my opinion of Brussels as a whole.

On Antwerp

If you can avoid doing Antwerp on a Sunday, I highly suggest it. That, paired with the fact that it was the off-season, meant that the majority of the places that we tried to see were closed or under construction.

After accidentally walking through the red light district of Brussels on our way to the train station, I had a sigh of relief when we arrived in Antwerp. Even the train station was nicer than Brussels. The city was cleaner, the architecture was beautiful. The majority of our Antwerp trip involved walking around and enjoying the scenery.

One of the things we did do was find a modern art museum. It took up several rooms tucked away off of the street. One room was in an old church, another in a basement, another the top floor of a house. It was quite unique. A major plus was that this whole museum was free. On exhibition was an artist who did really weird self-portraits and another artist who did abstract paintings of the circus. I rather enjoyed it. 

We next meandered over to Sint-Pauluskerk. It wasn’t exactly something we were looking for, but saw it from the street and wandered in. The church is free to visit and absolutely beautiful. The walls are white and airy, the ceilings are high, there’s intricate artwork by Rubens (a popular Flemish artist) decorating the walls, an inner courtyard with a very unique structure, and some interesting exhibits to wander into along the edges. I found a room with the church’s silver collection on display. Another of my friends found a room filled with wooden carvings.

We continued to wander to the main port of Antwerp where it began to rain. We ran into the nearest building, which just so happened to be the Rijn-en Binnenvaart Museum. The exhibits were closed by the time we got there, but you’re allowed to go up to the top of the museum through a series of elevators for free. The top two floors were closed, probably because they were roof decks and it was a very windy and rainy day. We instead went to the eighth floor and sat there for a while to enjoy the panoramic view of the city and to warm up before bracing ourselves to venture out again.

Despite the weather and everything being closed, Antwerp was a pretty nice city.

On Brugge

Our luck turned around when we went to Brugge. It is a cute little town with tons of cafes and boutique stores. It was a peaceful place, and a good break from the city.

We did a walking tour and then a boat tour of the city. I don’t think I learned anything new from the boat tour, since I could barely understand what the driver was saying. I enjoyed taking pictures from the boat, though.

The walking tour was a lot more informative. We did the Myths and Legends tour, which was free and met right in the middle of Grote Markt. Some highlights of what I learned were about Lover’s Bridge and the swans of the city. 

Lover’s Bridge is a highly photographed bridge. You’ll see tons of tourists taking their Instagram photos on there because of how picturesque it is. There was a time, though, when the bridge collapsed and the city wanted to rebuild it quickly despite not having enough materials. That is, until their set their eyes on the cemetery next door and well… the cemetery is gone now. I wanted to laugh when I saw so many people posing on this “Lover’s Bridge,” because what they really were posing on were gravestones. I guess history is important in that it’s good to know where you’re standing.

The swans come from another rather gruesome story. Brugge fell under the rule of Maximilian of Austria, but the people of Brugge didn’t like him, since he raised the taxes. As a result, they locked him in a tower and made him watch as they beheaded his friend, Langhals. Maximilian obliged to their wishes, and ran back to Austria. Not long after, he came back with an army. He won, of course, and required, among other things, that the people of Brugge keep swans in memory of his friend, Langhals, for the rest of eternity. Even today, the city keeps up the tradition.

On Ghent

Ghent is a place I wish I could’ve spent more time in. We arrived in the late afternoon/evening, so a lot of the monuments were closed by the time we got there. Luckily (I know, it’s the first time I’ve been able to use that word), a free walking tour of the city started right when we got there. 

Ghent had a similar feel to Edinburgh. It’s a university city with lots to do for students, but also a place with a lot of history. The tour guide began the tour by asking how in the world we’d even heard of Ghent. It’s a less-touristy spot, but considering how much was there, I was surprised to learn this. There’s even a medieval castle with a supposedly very entertaining audio tour.

As the tour went on, it was easy to see how Ghent was in the running for being a UNESCO world heritage site. They’ve kept the history alive, while still trying to make up for the demons of the past. The square where all the executions took place has been turned into a square of life where lanterns light up every time a baby is born in the city. There’s an alley that became a graffiti project for artists to test out their skills. They even have their own Manneken Pis. The most popular legend for the origin for this statue is about a count’s illegitimate son who was brought to the city, got caught peeing in front of a parade, and was turned to stone as punishment.

After Ghent, we spent the night in the airport to catch an early-morning flight, which was less than comfortable. I think we were all glad to finally get home and sleep in our own beds (honestly, just any bed would be a luxury at that point).

As a final note, some of these photos were taken by my friend, Kristin Chingburanakit. She has a Youtube channel to keep track of her own travels that you can check out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7xTv4Gg–JzuHzcaqo9hpQ