Hello Belgium.

The French have way too many holidays. I'm not complaining. I just wish I had enough money to make the best of them. This winter vacation (Feb 19 to March 6) I decided to head to Belgium, Luxemburg and Germany. But I was low on funds (since I'm in a relationship and I'm constantly buying stuff for the both of us) and ended up going just to Belgium. So I decided if I was going to see just one country I might as well see it entirely. So a girlfriend and I spent the whole of last week going through

• Brussels
• Antwerpen
• Bruges
• Ghent

Belgium is a great country and the people are really friendly and not to mention multilingual. Any given Belgian will forcibly speak a minimum of 4 languages! namely French, English, Dutch and Flemmish! Wow! Sadly though with the exception of Bruges, I didn't find the other cities in Belgium too appealing, I just liked them in bits and pieces. The weather definitely played a major role here. The only day the sun ever came out was when we were in Bruges. The rest of the time, the weather was horrible. I advise against visiting Belgium in February. The cold was biting, there wasn't a single day when the temperatures rose above 0°c and no amount of hot chocolate and hot wine could make you feel any better :(

 

When we first arrived in Brussels, we were greeted by protests by the Congolese Diaspora in the city. The protestors were really peaceful but one could see that the Belgian Police force didn't take any chances. I found that the beefed up security was a huge exaggeration on the part of the European authorities. The people had taken to the street to protest again the various atrocities that are currently taking place in the DR of Congo. Peace.

The St. Michel cathedral in Brussels is worth a quick visit. I loved how they had little oil lamps instead of candles here. Or were they candles which had melted? Still pretty.

My most favourite place is Brussels is the main town square or Grand Place. The square is surrounded by beautiful old buildings and even though the weather was gloomy/pathetic, there were just enough tourists and lights and noise to create a lively and welcoming atmosphere in the main square.

 

I had to touch up some of the photos, mostly add some brightness to them because there really was no sun in the city at all. I recommend just standing in the middle of the square and just be for a few minutes. You will soon find the crowds and the noises being drowned out and all you can hear are the buildings. Each one of the ornate beauties has a story to tell. You can choose to listen to the Guild houses standing magnificently in a row, or to the Gothic Town hall who witnessed the death of it's architect who noticed too late the asymmetry of his creation and hence leaped to his death! Or you can just wait there till you figure out why Joseph Conrad called this square a White Sepulchre.

 

I love the quirky restaurants they have all over Brussels. The also have tons of flea markets and you can get some great bargains on boho jewellery and stuff.

 

Sweet nothings around Brussels :)

 

The Palace was breathtaking and all the roads and quarters surrounding it have really beautiful intricate decor on walls, fountains, etc. My favourite has to be this sleepy lion who can be found on the right side of the palace walls. I think the palace is now used only for official purposes and hence is off limits to the common public. 

 

Of course no trip to Belgium is complete without succumbing to the rich and numerous types of Belgian Chocolate. After picking enough for the Chéri and his family, we made sure we bough enough for us girls too! I was curious to know why there are so many representation of a little peeing boy all over Brussels. You can find him in the form of chocolate, on t-shirts but mostly you find little statuettes of him all over town. Our host finally told us that there are many legends about "Manneken Pis" (yup that's his name). But the most famous one is actually quite funny. When a certain "foreign invader" marched into Brussels, Manneken Pis was upset and to show his patriotism, he climbed atop a tree and peed in contempt on the foreign soldiers who were marching below :D

This was the first time I was travelling with someone and it was actually quite fun. I did miss certain liberties one has while travelling alone but I was glad to have the company and the conversation while we sat in various restaurants, eateries and bistros in Brussels :)  

Finally some of the other amazing foods we tried in the city. Yes what you see in some pictures is indeed Spaghetti Bolognese and Lasagna. What can I say, you can take the Italophile out of Italy but you cannot take Italy out of the Italophile :D Do NOT miss the amazing fries at the various friteries all over the place, they're dripping with oil and calories and other unhealthy nonsense, but they are oh so amazing!