Belgium

Country lanes, winding alleys and churches galore. Belgium is crowded and cosmopolitan, and my home town of Leuven reeks of the Stella Artois factory. Ah Belgian beer…

It has been a while since my last travel post. I have settled into the job routine and can’t bring myself to write. Compared to the fjords in Norway (which as the pain of the cost fades from memory) or the heights of New York, Belgium is Hobbiton before the whole exciting Black Riders/Dark Lord of Death thing. Belgium is very comfortable. I have set up my life here just like it was back in New Zealand, sans friends and family. After a month of organising myself, moving flats, buying as many ‘classic’ literature books as I could read, I decided that I had to get out of Leuven and start travelling around. I am on holiday – aren’t I?

Other than Leuven where I work (the home of Stella Artois) and Brussels, I have been to three different parts of Belgium so far: a mountain bike tour in Wallonia, Boondoggle’s annual drunkenfest in Antwerp, and a sight seeing whirlwind of Gent and Bruge to the west.

Graseli

Wallonia is the name of the French speaking part of Belgium. Compared to Flanders it is empty of people at three million to Flander’s six. Travelling on the train in Flanders I often can’t tell whether I am in a city or not – parts of Christchurch are less dense than the middle of the countryside here. Not surprisingly the best mountain bike terrain is in “sparsely” populated Wallonia. Riding through the ancient country side was a breath of fresh beer free air. Bucolic would be an apt word, our trails wound over fields of wheat, down gravel side-lanes between farm houses, and through small villages, campsites and pine-forests. Wilderness this was not, only when we were surrounded by trees could we not always see a building in at least one direction. The ride was a lot of fun – and in true web developer fashion it has been blogged by Igor here. Life doesn’t count unless it’s reconstituted online.

Boondoggle Drunkenfest Boondoggle’s annual drunkenfest as I like to call it was a drunkenfest. Every year the company organises a crazy adventure to a secret location where the staff proceed to eat and drink themselves retarded to some novelty theme. This year we went to Antwerp and spent the weekend not sleeping on a large boat in the middle of the city dressed up like The Love Boat. A good time was had by all, unless they couldn’t resurrect themselves from bed after the first nights debauchery. The friday was spent lounging on the banks of a river eating seafood and playing games. Perfect, except the river was so polluted we couldn’t swim in it.

Lastly was my visit to Gent and Bruge. Whilst I cannot vouch for Antwerp as I only saw the inside of The Love Boat, Gent is now my second favourite Belgian city (after Brussels which I still cannot figure out). It is smaller than both Brussels and Antwerp and has a lively atmosphere along with the obligatory historical buildings. Gent is positively bustling compared to Bruge which is an open air museum, and in my opinion not worth the visit unless you have a box ticking addiction.

The Church of St. Nicholas

In true fashion I always have my two cents of complaining singing praise about the places I have been. This time however is a little different. I have now been away from New Zealand for six months, and my commentary was (at least on a sub-conscous level) always in comparison to home. I was like the child that thinks time goes slow because the number of years they have experienced are so few. Every country I visited was bright and shiny and new and not New Zealand. Either the shine of the same old Western Democratic countries as travel destinations is wearing off, or I am starting to forget what New Zealand is like to compare things to. Sure I can revel in the collective unconscious waves of hurt emanating after our premature evaculation from the world cup, but as I never liked rugby I don’t share the cultural pain. More people here console me on the English losing, of course thinking because I speak English I am English. Whatever its cause, this travelling induced NZ amnesia makes ranting and/or raving about Belgium difficult…

Paul McCarthy art at SMAK Belgium has a lot of people in it and stuff happens here on a par with the goings on in New York or London. The public transport system is fantastic, it costs only NZ$80 return on the train to Amsterdam, which means it is easy to travel to where ever said goings on are happening. Nowhere in Belgium is more than two hours drive away from Leuven. The people who work at Boondoggle don’t live in Leuven, rather they all commute from everywhere else.

GentBecause so many people live in such a small area it is like any major metropolitan city, one can live however one so pleases. This does mean that even in the middle of the non-existent countryside house prices are spastic, I recommend having lots of children as there is a strong social welfare system here and you get paid for having them. The amount increases exponentially the more children you have, apparently Belgium isn’t crowded enough. The dole here (so I am told) is around NZ$500 a week, and of course health and education are free. The people themselves are friendly, if somewhat meek. Historically insensitive people might say that is due to them being invaded so many times throughout history although this then doesn’t explain New Zealander’s meek reputation. I think it is because we are compared with Americans and Aussies, the meekest people on Earth. Note to self: single causes and stereotypes never got anyone except a stand-up comedian or a politician anywhere. In my writing I go for the cheap laughs.

On an important final note, not to self: there hasn’t been a government in Belgium since June. Apparently this is causing tensions between the dutch speaking Flandereses (as Homer Simpson might call them) and the french speaking Wallonians. There is a slight Northern Ireland name calling thing going on where one side, the Flandereses call the other side, the Wallonians, lazy dole bludgers and more likely to commit criminal offenses. I haven’t heard the other side yet as I have only had the brief mountain biking foray to the ‘dark side’. Whilst no one here seriously believes Belgium will splinter, it is not without irony that the country which contains the capital of Europe can’t sort out its own internal differences.

Size comparisons of New Zealand and Belgium

(Well what do you know, I brought myself to write!)

Comments

  1. Grant

    Great stuff. Of course the headlines in the Press the other day was that the South Island had reached a population of 1 million. Gosh, where do they all live and how will we fit more in! Perhaps New Zealanders are so meek because they have trouble finding someone to talk to.

    77:194 20:36, Oct 25 2007

  2. Lauren

    Like the mud action shots on that Igor’s site. Aren’t they all tall! Must be why you feel like a Hobbit ;)

    77:195 5:47, Oct 26 2007

  3. Margret

    Well done You needed to “do” Belgium while you are still there.

    77:196 22:25, Oct 26 2007

  4. Duncan

    This website is great so many pictures. Well it sounds like you are having a great time!! Make sure you keep on updating the world with your exploits. I still can’t believe you have gone to Southampton and didn’t see me 

    77:199 5:58, Oct 30 2007

  5. mummybot

    Are you in Southampton? I thought you were in Bristol? Either way, last time I was in England was a flying visit, although I should be moving to London in a few months. Will be in touch, now that you are on Facebook :)

    77:200 6:28, Oct 30 2007

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