The Belgian Experience

We’ve all heard of Belgium before but no one really seems to be ‘dying’ to go there and I personally have not bothered to even find out what’s in there, until the news came. My friend’s colleague and buddy, whom I met and hang out with before, will be getting married in Belgium and since everyone invited will be speaking French he took pity on him and decided to have me as a plus one, if at least for him to have someone to talk to. Hahaha. Well, that was good enough for me! So henceforth I started planning the Belgian odyssey.

Belgium actually has very rich culture and fine sceneries. While the country’s name is associated with beers and waffles and chocolates (and fries actually, though the French took credit), there are also a lot of castles and belfries here. The wedding was going to be in Ghent, a small quaint town that I have never heard of before in my life. The only two places in Belgium I know about are Bruges, which I fell in love with after watching that Collin Farrell movie, and of course Brussels. So those 3 made up for our Belgian destinations for this trip.

Here’s my take on the three cities in Belgium that we visited: bear with me, it’ll be a long post!

Ghent

The very word that came to my mind upon arrival to this lovely little place: medieval. It was as if we were shipped back in time and I suddenly had armor on. And this little town has about everything - a castle, belfry, cathedral, a few small churches, city hall, river bank, museums - all within walking distance. We rented a bike from the hotel and roamed around town. It was such a delightful afternoon!

Gravensteen castle

remarkable square

just outside our hotel

In the evening we went to a meet-and-greet with the groom’s Belgian in-laws and the bride’s dad brought us to this very cozy bar – which used to be a jail-house! There is a small area upstairs that only fits 7 people which apparently was where the prisoners used to have their last meal. Creepy! After which, we went to another bar to have a taste of Belgian pride “genever”. This bar has hundreds of flavors! We had like 5 shots of them, they’re pretty good! We met a couple of locals too and they gave us great laughs. This is always one of the things I like about travelling – meeting people and having great moments with them. We’re probably never gonna see each other again, but it’s a reminder that wherever you go in the world, we’re all connected! It just takes being sociable and well, if alcohol helps, some of that too.

ghent at night

the old jailhouse

the genever place

emil making local friends

we are singaporeans

The bride’s family heritage is that they always hold their weddings in this particular cathedral in ghent, for over a century now. Isn’t that fabulous? Definitely a family tradition worth upholding. The wedding was short and solemn. And then we were taken by the bus to the wedding reception venue – a small castle. So dreamy! 

the legendary cathedral

Kasteel van Saffelaere

The afternoon rain was outshined by the sparkles from the glasses as bottles after bottles of champagne arrived. You can’t tell how much you’ve had as they keep refilling your glass until you’re just.. happy J we met a lot of people at the wedding and had a great time partying with everyone. I can say that it was well worth travelling to the other side of the world for! After a few hours of dancing, perhaps around 2am, we were served those delicious Belgian fries with mayo in a paper cone. This and few more glasses of bubbly got us going for another two hours ;)

Bruges

The day after the wedding we woke up late as expected, already anticipating to be a bit dehydrated and less energetic and just able to do a half day trip to Bruges. We took a train ride from Ghent to Bruges and it was just a good half hour ride away. Our hangover quickly disappeared when we arrived to our destination – those gorgeous canals! The movie In Bruges was shot during winter, but I must say the canals are even prettier during summer!  

train was delayed for 30 minutes :(

signature bruges shot

As I mentioned, I only had knowledge of Bruges since I watched this movie a few years ago. It was about a couple of gunmen who work as partners, and they were given some time off so one of them decided they should go to Bruges. While the other one was rather indifferent, the other was very much at awe with it. The movie was shot during winter so there’s snow and it’s a little bit melancholic, yet very romantic. 

The same romantic vibe was still there, but with the sunshine! No wonder Bruges is more touristy, but that also meant we didn’t have that much luxury of space there. We had to walk with the crowd, making it a bit slow and somewhat buzzing with all the chattering, and it doesn’t help too much when you only have half a day to spend in a beautiful city. It was after some time that we realized why it’s a tad too crowded that day – the famous vijfjaarlijkse Praalstoet van de Gouden Boom (The Pageant of the Golden Tree) parade – which happens only every five years – was happening that day! I swear I must be born with a four leaf-clover stuck in my toes :D

After we had our fill of the wonderful medieval parade, we finally met up with our friends and spent the afternoon just walking and taking photos of everything pretty and then settling at the stairs of some building at the Markt while having beer. We wanted to still do the canal tour as we were told that it’s definitely a must-do. However it was a bit late then, around 6pm maybe, and all the operators were already off by that time. So if you’re going to Bruges, make sure to take that boat tours before 5pm if you don’t want to miss it!

The half day tour in Bruges was absolutely not enough, we didn’t have a chance to sit in one of those restaurants and gobble on mussels to wash them down with beer. We also did not get to see Bruges in yellow light! I’ve seen very pretty photos of the town in the evening, something to keep in mind if I get lucky enough and get a chance to go back someday. 

Brussels

It was a Monday and our fourth and final day in Belgium. We were taking it easy for this trip, not really rushing in the morning so it was probably mid-morning when we left for Belgium. We arrived there perhaps around noon, and were greeted with the smell of warm and sweet waffles, reminding us that we are idiots for not making that the first order of business when we arrived in Ghent (Belgian waffles were actually invented in Ghent in 1839!) and so it was high time we had that in our tummy. We sat in a café, with Laurence – who is eternally white – basking in the sun and me and Emil made a big mistake of doing the same, only to feel our faces burning shortly after (which was a prelude to a funny observation later on when we got to Prague). 

sweet, sexy thing

after a happy meal we headed to no other than the grand place. spent a good few minutes there just admiring the view, taking pictures and trying to perfect our jump shot. having already been to two wonderful cities in belgium, we weren't exactly blown away when we got to the grand place. that's the problem when your eyes become too spoiled. nonetheless, the grand place was grand and indeed a must-see in brussels.

after the nth time

when we realized there was no way we could perfect our jump shot and we're feeling beat about it, we decided to visit the next most famous - and a bit overrated - landmark in brussels: the manneken pis. it is a little boy pissing in a fountain. it was said to be built in 1618 and had been stolen a few times.

the pissing boy in costume

we walked around some more on the way to the cathedral. coming back, we ran into this! i didn't know the smurfs are belgians! Les Schtroumpfs was created in 1958 by belgian cartoonist named peyo. did you know that there are 101 of  them, and only one female smurf named smurfette! this was at the MOOF (museum of original figures) and a smurfs store was opened just a few months ago.

smurfin' smurfin'

after a lot of walking through cathedrals and galeries, it was three thirsty! we settled for drinks at a la mort subite (the sudden death) - a very famous 19th century pub. the story is that when it was opened in 1910, employees go there for a mid day drink and play a game called 421 (no idea what it was) and before heading back to work, they play just one more game and whoever lost is called mort subite or the sudden death. 

"the sudden death"

we decided to try all the three most famous brews and i must say, they were all good. they are famous for a reason :)

i had the raspberry, emil the pils, and laurence the cherry. sweet!

the interior - unchanged since 1927

we spent the remaining hours there just chattering and people watching, recollecting the good times we had in belgium. the four days we had there were short but sweet, and most people would think this was not enough. perhaps if we had more time, we could have tried the famous mussels and more beers (there are hundreds in the market!) and did more people watching while popping dark chocolates into our mouths and giggle in delight. but nevertheless, i was thankful for having a chance to visit this fabulous country that has so much beauty to offer and yet folks are nice and humble. belgium, you're definitely another favorite.