When people think of Belgium they have either no idea of its existence, they might think it’s the capital of Brussels, the more informed person might think of Brugge, Belgian chocolate and waffles. But does this country really exist? No one knows…
No that is not true. It does exist. Just take my word for it.
This tiny country (it really is tiny: you can cross the country in less than four hours by car) is a bit of a weird one. There are three official languages on it’s 30.528 km²: French, Dutch and German. There are 7 parliaments and governments each governing areas that are overlapping. The entire political system is so complicated that I think no one really understands it, even the people that are part of one of these governments. In 2010-2011 a federal government failed to form for 541 days. The general public did not really care that much.
Belgium’s biggest tourist attraction is a little statue, about 50 cm tall, of a peeing child called ‘Manneke Pis’ which translate to ‘Peeing little Man’. Not many people know that there are other related statues to be found in Brussels, a peeing little girl called ‘ Janneke Pis’ and a peeing dog called ‘Zinneke pis’. They are beautiful.
The Belgian waffle thing is a bit weird because I know a lot of Belgian people and they don’t seem to eat that many waffles. Americans seem to eat way more of them, for breakfast, with chicken,… strange. There are two types of Belgian waffles: the ones from Brussels and the ones from Liege.
Holy cow, looking up pictures of waffles I just realized there so many more kinds of Belgian waffles… Well, I’ll let you discover what all the different kinds of ‘ galetten’ look like for yourself. (google is your friend)
The pride of Belgium is the beer. There are over 1400 different original kinds of Belgian beer and in many bars you can find a fine selection of them. Every beer has its own specific glass and drinking a beer in the wrong glass is almost sacrilegious. The bar culture that lives in Belgium is one unlike anywhere else. People love to go to a bar or café and enjoy a beer, not to get drunk but because it is a pleasurable experience. I don’t really know how to explain it, I just have not experienced it the same way in other places. You will have to come and experience it for yourself.
The wonderful thing about Belgium is that you can get beer everywhere: in supermarkets, fast food restaurants, vending machines, you name it.
The national dish also has something to do with beer. It is called ‘ stoofvlees’ and basically is a beef stew in brown beer sauce.
My favourite place in Belgium is Antwerp. Just because it is the place I know best, I lived there all my life. Don’t get your panties all twisted up over it. (Yes, I am looking at you, people from Gent.)
Antwerp is a small city in the north of Belgium. It lies next to the bend of ‘De Schelde’ which is the river. The port is the second biggest of Europe.
The city center is packed with historical buildings like the Cathedral of Our Lady, the Town Hall and so, so many more. But all of this you can find on the Wikipedia page or some other.
Let me tell you some inside information about Antwerp. First of all, if you go there, get yourself a bike. There are little red city bikes you can pick up and drop off in a lot of places. Get one of those for a day or borrow one from a friend. Antwerp is so small that everything is reachable by bike. It is also by far the fastest way to get around and the cheapest. Burn calories, not dinosaurs, right? Also, finding a parking space in and around Antwerp is a horrible mistake, the entire endeavour is just a mistake.
Secondly, pray to which ever entity you worship for dry weather. Or get one of those plastic bag-like festival ponchos. Usually, when you are prepared for rain it won’t rain.
Once you get your bike, cycle to the MAS-museum (on Nieuwpoortkaai). The museum is nice but the real reason you are here is to take all the escalators up (it’s free!) until you reach the roof. From up there you have a brilliant view over the entire city.
When you are gazed out, get back down and pass by the Central station on Koningin Astridplein. It is quite a magnificent building. I have been there many, many times but I am still in awe every time I’m there.
Now all this cycling , evading tram tracks and looking around has probably made you very thirsty. Luckily there is no shortage of bars, cafees, coffee shops, taverns and other kinds of watering holes. Not many water fountains to be found though. I would suggest you put your nicely formed buttocks (woow cycling) in one of the wooden chairs of one of the many beer bars: Paters Vaetje, Billies Bier Kafetaria, Het Bierhuyske, De Kulminator, Gollum, Bier Central,… This is just a selection of the bars that are available. Let the bartender recommend you something. Don’t be hesitant to order a beer before noon, it’s your holiday, people do it all the time. (Some bars might not be open yet though.) Don’t get overexcited, the beers are strong and there is more cycling to be done. (Or not… I am not your mother.)
Up next is a little trip to the other side of the river. Find the pedestrian tunnel at Sint-Jansvliet, there are no bridges over De Schelde. There is an elevator for cyclists but the wooden escalators are definitely worth a look as well. The tunnel brings you to the left riverbank. There you can find an overflow basin, ‘het Galgenweel’. Its a place with some nature. Nice to take a little break or something. If you are a motivated cycler, you can go back to the right riverbank through the other pedestrian tunnel a little more to the south and make a big loop.
Antwerp should be visited in summer (I might be biased against cold weather). In this time of year there are many extra things organised: summer bars, outdoor movie nights, theater and performances, concerts,… Things are happening and people are out and about. Fun places to go are the Zomerfabriek, Bar Paniek, the open air theater Rivierenhof, Bar Left, Bocadero, the Next Level and so many more. You can find a list of the summer bars on zomerbars.be/antwerpen/. There are big and small festivals in the neighbourhood summer round. Tomorrow Land is only a few kilometers away and when the wind is right you can here the base of this festivals on the entire south side of the city. There is Jazz Middelheim, ParkFeesten, Linkerwoofer, SummerFestival. There are food truck festivals, student festivals and every district has its own local street festival.
Just come over and experience it all for yourselves, it’s worth it.
One last tip: don’t come to Antwerp on a Monday, half the city is closed on Mondays. The people of Antwerp don’t like Mondays.
And when you are done in Antwerp all the other great cities of Belgium (and some of France, The Netherlands and Germany) are just a short car or train ride away.
Ps: I promise to put in some more picture…