The Road So Far: Belgium

The third country in my 3-month journey across Europe was lovely little Belgium. I got there by taking a train through the Chunnel, which was actually surprisingly easy – it sounds way fancier than it actually is.

I started in the capital of Brussels, home of the EU and Delicious Fried Things (I’m pretty sure that’s the technical term for it). Brussels has a beautiful main center, with large, imposing buildings on either side. I was in Brussels before about 5 years ago, and that was the majority of what I remembered about it – I remembered it being a boring place redeemed only by their amazing beer, fries, waffles, and chocolate. 

  

  This time around, I wanted to do Brussels justice, and I was definitely pleasantly surprised. This place is really only boring if you don’t try to see the cool places all around (yet another reason to always take advantage of free walking tours). Learning the extremely complicated history of the place was really interesting, and made a lot of things make sense. The church is reminiscent of Notre Dame and really pretty inside, definitely not a sight to be overlooked or dismissed. And Delirium is a bar complex famous for having over 3000 different kinds of Belgian beer. There is so much more to the place than others think, but it doesn’t feel like a big capital city; it has the cool atmosphere of a chill town, a place where people just live instead of trying to impress tourists all the time.

Belgium is also known for its beautiful small towns outside the capital, and I got to visit two. The first I visited was Bruges, a place famous for its beauty and charm, having even gotten its own movie. Its reputation is definitely well-earned, because I was also sucked into the simple charm of the place. Part of the charm is its canals and old buildings: it really is the image of a stereotypical medieval European town. We went to a small bar hidden away from one of the main streets called De Garre, where the house beer of the same name is 11% alcohol, and then had perfect Belgian waffles fresh off the food truck. We also crossed over the Death Bridge, a bridge made from the old tombstones of the cemetery, and had an overall good time.

  
I also went to the small town of Ghent with a friend I met in Bruges, which was just as charming but without the amount of tourists (or crazed Brits there for a football match). Belgium was such a nice place, and a change from Scotland. It was smaller, chiller, and just a good place to wander and witness history. While Belgium can have a dodgy past, it also isn’t afraid to acknowledge its shortcomings; a quality I have found a good amount of in Europe, and one I find refreshing as an American. 

It was a great leg to my journey, although I may have consumed more carbohydrates than is normally recommended. Great atmosphere, great food, great country.