Leavelivelove - Belgium is worth a travel, even without fries or beer

Belgium, it's a whole novel, or a comic book... It's a country to discover with a true love because to appreciate it, you have to explore it with your heart more than with your eyes

Belgium does not make the headlines on travel websites. Which is, on reflection, very unfair. This small country has fine sandy beaches, cities with sophisticated Renaissance architecture, romantic canals, medieval cities and very tasty culinary specialties that everybody love!

Goedig ! Bondjou-bondjou, Hello Belgium!

Belgium does not make you dream by its gastronomy and it is unfair

Apart from fries, of which the Belgians are very proud, we eat in Belgium tasty Flemish carbonnades (a kind of beef stew with beer), chicory gratin (gegratineerde witloof – endive gratin), mussel-fries, a Waterzooï (chicken soup) and an excellent blood sausage.

As for sweets, Belgium is just as generous: caramel waffles, brown sugar tarts, croustillons (small round fritters), lacquemant (wafer in syrup) or speculoos (spice biscuits). One of the most surprising (and satisfying) cakes will undoubtedly be the rice pie! Sugar is often vergeoise, the fine flower of sugar, but here it is called brown sugar (cassonnade).

In Belgium, be careful how you talk!

Belgium is 30,600 km² for three official languages: German in the East, French in Wallonia (Walloon) and Dutch in Flanders (Flemish).

Language can be a delicate subject because it is linked to political choices. You have to be flexible and and not be surprised if one of your interlocutors does not understand French or dutch.

Belgium is a famous beer producer. It is quite normal to find them in pubs all over the world. But what else? Chocolate, Belgian, of course!

Just 20 km from the centre of Brussels, you can visit the Côte d’Or factory and learn a lot about this sweetness. Leonidas and other talented Belgian chocolate makers offer beautiful pralines, truffles, caraques or candied peels to be enjoyed with a hot drink when it’s raining outside.

The shape of Belgium cities is a big mix. It is sometimes surprising!

The Belgian architecture is disconcerting, you have to learn to appreciate it.

Renaissance buildings sometimes stand next to 1970 buildings or futuristic constructions of concrete and glass. However, Belgian cities have beautiful buildings and squares. Bruges, the little Venice of the North, Namur or Antwerp are very beautiful ones. And in these towns and cities, culture is also to be discovered. Art museums, comic book museum, history museum or the delicious chocolate museum of Antwerp.

Belgium is not a country you are blue (in love with in belgian) at first sight. It is slowly being discovered, through encounters, history, traditions and Belgian festivals. Once you understand the culture, you see the cities with a very different look.

And the Belgians, are they nice and friendly?

Belgians are very welcoming. They are often spontaneous, sometimes eccentric, open and uninhibited.

They have a rather cheerful temperament and it’s a posture that gives you to think about. The Belgian climate is not clement, dark, cold, rainy, it is often ugly weather. One would expect to come across closed inhabitants, wrapped up in their coats, difficult to approach. But nay! Belgians are very warm and a great sense of humour.

When the sun and heat are lacking outside, you have to have it in your heart and in your head!

Dag Belgium, bedankt, tot straks, see you

Next travel: let's discover Holland!

Mills, tulips and cheese, guess where I’m travelling to?

Amsterdam, the North Sea, tulip fields and bicycles, this is the postcard of Holland! Besides cheese and hooves, Holland is a travel destination that is worth its weight in diamonds and raw herring.