In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Tuesday Travel Blogging – Belgium

Jill

Belgium is one of the most under-rated countries in Western Europe. I’ve been twice now — both times sort of by accident — and I’ve never failed to be fully impressed. Brussels is a surprisingly dynamic city, with great food (the mussels in Brussels are famous for a reason), fantastic cultural and political life, and, in my humble opinion, the most beautiful main square this half of the continent. I went to Belgium for the first time in 2003, on a detour on the way to Amsterdam; I returned this fall, on a detour during a road trip through Western Germany. This time around, I hit up Brussels, Bruges and Gent, all of which were lovely. Brussels:



Brussels, originally uploaded by JillNic83.

Bruges:



Bruges, originally uploaded by JillNic83.

More below the fold, and the full set here.



Shellfish in Brussels, originally uploaded by JillNic83.



Bruges, originally uploaded by JillNic83.



Bruges, originally uploaded by JillNic83.



Bruges, originally uploaded by JillNic83.



Gent, originally uploaded by JillNic83.



Gent, originally uploaded by JillNic83.

More pictures here.

28 thoughts on Tuesday Travel Blogging – Belgium

  2. I feel the same way about Belgium. Have been twice – and want to go back again and again. Anyone tell you the joke about the statues in Brussels’ Grande Place talking among each other while trying to figure out who got one of them pregnant?

  4. Yeah, Belgium represent! *has family from there/some descendants from there*

    Now visit Luxembourg and you’ll have my undying respect. ^_~

  5. I loved Belgium. The Rough Guide had the funniest comment about Brugges. Something to the effect of “In the 16th century, the harbor silted up and trade withered. The city survived WWII unscathed to become the ideal tourist destination.” 🙂

  6. Goddessladymother, I love Belgium. If you can, don’t miss the Art Deco houses in Antwerp. Delightful.

    And the food! Oh, the food!

  9. I would love to visit Belgium again. I made a quick stop in Brussels on my way to Amsterdam in 2000 and it made such a wonderful, relaxing city filled the most kind and welcoming people I’ve ever met.

  10. So cool! Belgium is high on my list of dream travel places. Have you seen the places with all the famous cartoon characters on the walls?

  11. Fantastic pictures. I lovelovelove Brussels, too! There used to be an excellent Arabic restaurant in one of the little side passageways around the Groote Plaat. For dessert, nothing beats Leonidas chocolates (NOTHING!). And for a snack, heh, I’d always go into one of the little sandwich places and get a sandwich with “Americain,” whatever that is …

  12. Everybody in Belgium is super friendly and will go out of their way to help a tourist. The Flemish all speak English. Perhaps the best country on the continent to strike up a conversation with the locals. In Brugge I recommend having a beer or several at ‘t Brugs Beertje — there are times when only locals are in there.

  13. Yay Belgium! Yay us! I’m going to second the recommendation to visit Antwerp — Bruges is lovely, but it’s very much a tourist city, whereas Antwerp is young and more student-filled.

  14. I love Belgium. I’ve been to Brussels and Bruges three times; the last time we ended up spending five days in Bruges, just soaking up the atmosphere–and the beer. Plus there’s a chocoloate shop every twenty yards or so, and the Belgian waffles…

  15. It’s nice to see so many positive remarks about Belgium! I grew up there and my parents live there so I go over quite a lot. I am very attached to it.

    Very good photos.

  16. I crave being able to go to Belgium again. It’s on top of my list when I can afford it. And while I love my birth city of Nantes where I currently live, I’ve sometimes considered moving to Brussels.

    Bruxelles, ma belle, je te rejoins bientôt
    Aussitôt que Paris m’ait trahi
    Et je sens que son amour aigri, depuis
    Elle me soupçonne d’être avec toi, le soir
    Je reconnais, c’est vrai
    Tous les soirs, dans ma tête
    C’est la fête des anciens combattants
    D’une guerre qui est toujours à faire

    Dick Annegarn, Bruxelles

  17. I don’t know if this has changed yet – I should find out – but wasn’t there some sort of major political crisis going on in Belgium with respect to forming a government? I’d heard, furthermore, that this crisis was rooted in part in divisions between the Flemish and the Walloons.

  18. Speaking of things Belgian, the only place in the United States where you can play the Belgian game of feather bowling in its traditional form is at the Cadieux Cafe in Detroit. The Cadieux Cafe is located in a neighborhood in which many Belgians (mostly Flemish) came to live from the 1880s to around 1910 or so.

  19. I don’t know if this has changed yet – I should find out – but wasn’t there some sort of major political crisis going on in Belgium with respect to forming a government? I’d heard, furthermore, that this crisis was rooted in part in divisions between the Flemish and the Walloons.

    Yes, there is an ongoing problem. I would not go so far as to use the word “crisis, ” (even though I’m sure I stupidly did in the past myself.) What Bosnia is going through right now is a crisis. What’s likely going to happen in Kosovo is c-word territory. Belgium? Not so much. Just Walloons and Flemish being….Walloons and Flemish.

    The Foreign Policy blog Passport has some great posts about what’s going on. My fave is one about right-wingers who are salivating at the idea of Belgium’s undoing because this would shatter the hippie dream of workable multi-national states. The post is titled something like “Will Iraq Succeed Where Belgium Has Failed?”

  23. The right wing (flemish) kooks are making trouble. They started being anti-Congolese (black) and anti-Muslim, and now they’re bitching about having to support the depressed industrial part of Belgium (think of the impact of deindustrialization on such US rust belt cities as Detroit and Cleveland). The French part, Wallonia, used to be the economic (as well as gastronomic) powerhouse of Belgium. Brussels is the Francophone capital surrounded by Dutch (Flemish) speakers.

    Speaking English is cool because it is neutral.

  24. OK, this will probably sound dumb, but what’s the secret, what’s the appeal? : ) If you go somewhere to sleep with someone or to get some work done, scenery can be a plus. But otherwise it always struck me as several hours’ worth of travel for several seconds’ worth of, ‘yeah, looks kinda nice, now what?’. Hardly seems worth the trouble?
    (So I appreciate the pictures, of course, same looks kinda nice, but without the hassle and the cold. But that’s just another thing; usually, the pictures are much better than the real thing anyway — you can leave out the un-fun bits, making the place look much better than it is. 🙂

  25. Azundris: Sightseeing is part of travel, but it doesn’t have to be the whole of travel. I like to immerse myself in a different culture, if only for a little while. Most of all, I enjoy talking to local people and getting an idea of how they live. Then you are no longer restricted to the tourist perspective. Tourism, per se, is not that much fun after a while. You turn clean clothes into dirty ones, eat, sleep, and shop. The 100th cathedral is not as fascinating as the first.

  26. Hector, I agree with all of that. Immersing yourself into the culture for a few months (like Jill does in Hamburg and piny does in Spain) I understand. (Also a day of travel for a few months of stay is a much better hassle-to-fun ratio. 🙂 It’s the drive-by that puzzles me, for the reason you gave.

  28. If I ever find the sack to leave my country, I think Belgium, the Netherlands, and maybe Sweden will be on my list of places to visit. In my heart, I’m not a very touristy person — too fond of my familiar places. Those shellfish look delicious though.

Comments are currently closed.