Food links:
Prologue:
Belgium was
the first new European country I visited after moving to Netherlands in March
this year, and since then ended up visiting this fabulous country of Beer,
Chocolates and Fries, three times already;
Brussels –
Day Trip with Geet – April 14
Antwerp –
Day Trip with Geet, Mom, Jeethu and Soha – August 13
Bruges –
Weekend Trip with Geet and her parents – September 23, 24
Main:
Let’s
change the template and go with highlights of each city this time:
Brussels:
Starting with the capital only because it’s the biggest and most visited of the Belgium cities, although in my view, if you have a choice to visit just one city, it should be Bruges. But more about this fabulous place a little later.
At Brussels, the first place to visit is the St Micheals church right outside the train station. Quite a serene place to walk around. From here you could walk to the Grand Place or Grote Markt where there is a bustling square surrounded by spectacular buildings.
Squares like this are quite ubiquitous around the big cities of Europe, but few as impressive. One wonders how this place might have looked back in the 10th century when it first came up.
Walking further, you reach one of the most visited statues of the world; Manekin Piss. History states that the King promised to sculpt a statue in the exact form his missing son would be found in, and since he was found taking a leak, the sculpture took this form that now symbolizes Brussels and even Belgium as a whole, given the number of magnets and other souvenirs replicating this statue.
The biggest surprise of all is the tiny size of this world famous statue, that you could almost miss in the middle of a crowded square. But it is still worth seeing, at least for the famous Belgium waffles and cream that you find in droves right around this statue. Some stores have long queues, but you could honestly buy one from anywhere as they are all warm, fresh and delicious.
One thing to keep in mind about this spot is that a search for the Tintin museum on Google leads to a wall painting of Tintin right near the Mannekin Piss. However, it’s just a wall and not the actual Herge museum which is situated on the outskirts of Brussels and requires a fair commitment on time to visit.
Another place that’s a little far but still worth visiting is Mini-World. We went here with Geet’s parents as this place has apparently been featured in many Telugu movies, and it was quite entertaining to see the mini versions of so many famous building we know. My personal favourite was the Sacre Cour. Never realized the building was that huge and impressive until I saw the mini version of it.
Antwerp:
The 2nd big city of Belgium following Brussels, and home to diamond manufacturers around the world. The plethora of diamond stores is quite overwhelming from the moment you step out of the train station. However, shopping from here is quite foolhardy as we walked into one store, asked for the price, and just while walking out, the lady dropped the original price by 50%!
So you can just imagine what margins and what authenticity these high value items may be. Its best to purchase from a place you already know, or visit one of these stores with someone who knows these areas well.
As a city though, Antwerp is very similar to Brussels. There’s again a huge square that attracts most of the crowd, and the interesting thing here is that there is always some activity or the other. The first time we visited, there was a Gay Parade and the square was transformed into an open air auditorium with drag queens performing on stage. The second time, there was an entire obstacle course set up with Belaey bike trials happening around them.
So culturally, Antwerp seems to have more of the action.
There are some other nice places to walk around as well; a view of the river, a palace that looks straight out of the fairy tale books and tiny cobble street lanes where you would suddenly spot a horse ridden carriage transporting you centuries back like the images you see in flashback scenes of Hollywood movies.
Bruges:
In typical last but not least style, this is Bruges, pronounced “Bruugghe” by the Dutch and “Bruush” by the English.
Some important things to keep in mind here. The accommodation in Bruges town is fairly limited, and if you don’t find anything here, it seems tempting to stay in the nearby town of Ghent or closer to the beach in the Middelkerk area. Both are terrible ideas!
Ghent is
just another town and Middelkerk accommodations are not exactly beach facing.
So there isn’t much to see in these places, and you are left driving all the
way to Bruges, which is a reasonable distance away, giving you limited time and
energy to even check that place out properly.So yes, trying to book early, or spending more to find a place right within Bruges is quite essential.
And once
here, simply just walk around the old town surrounded by beautiful castles and
canals, and just that is blissful.
