What’s cool about Belgium
- People are hardcore—if the sun is shining, you’ll see folks sitting outside of cafes enjoying beer/coffee throughout the year. Gotta soak up that vitamin D!
- Decent French wine is affordable
- In Ghent there’s a flower market that goes on every Sunday throughout the winter. Also vendors there sell not only coffee but champagne and oysters!
- Trappist beer (there are only 7 Trappist breweries in the world and 6 are in Belgium).
- Trappist cheese. We just had the pleasure of buying some by the kilo–directly from monks at the Westmalle Abbey!
- If you order a beer, it comes in its own specific glass–for optimum enjoyment of its complex flavors. Even little cafes (pubs) have a huge variety of beer glasses.
- All the Kerstmarkts (Christmas markets) and holiday festivities. It’s cool and dreary weather here in the winter but you’ll feel better about it after drinking some warme wijn!
- All bills are paid electronically from your bank account, no more writing checks! Unfortunately for us, all the bills we receive are in Dutch, so it’s been taking a while to figure them out. Again, thank goodness for Google translate!
- When you buy a coffee you often get a little piece of chocolate or a gingersnap-type cookie–speculoos–with it. And sometimes with a beer you get peanuts or cheese.
- There’s lots of fresh produce available, both at regular supermarkets and smaller mom and pop places. Also, there are year-round, open air markets where they sell produce, meat, dairy and more.
- Public transportation. It’s pretty easy to get around Belgium by train. Ghent has trams and buses.
- They go beyond recycling. You can get food waste picked up from your front door!
- So many corner bakeries with delicious bread and more!
- Frieten (frites, fries)! You can buy them at little stands all over the place. Typically they are served with mayo but some places have lots of different toppings. Our favorite has been that samurai sauce–spicy and creamy.
- You don’t have to pay tax or (usually) much of a tip at a restaurant
- Real Belgian waffles! They are soooo much better than what we have had in the U.S. And there are lots of little waffle stands around that sell them for pretty cheap, especially in Brussels.
- The chocolate!
- All the canals and beautiful, old buildings
- The beer! Even the cheapest stuff is so much better than typical American beer.
- All the bikers and bike routes and lanes! I’m still getting used to cars yielding to me.
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I’m so beyond jealous and now I’m hungry too!
By: Lauren on October 6, 2009
at 2:34 am