One of the reasons is of course that Belgium boasts of not only being bilingual but effectively trilingual. Everyone speaks Flemish, French and English. They effortlessly switch between all three and are polite enough to speak in what appears to be the most accessible language for you. This is something the French forgot about when taking lessons in politeness. Interestingly the French don't have a word for the quality of being 'rude'. I think because if they did, it would be confused with the word 'French'. But I exaggerate, we have met some wonderful people here and it would be unfair to speak of rudeness as their central quality. Unless you are trying to get on or off a metro, eat or drink in a cafe, bar or restaurant, or ask for a music synchronisation licence. Otherwise, you're fine.
Anyway, I digress. Mel had a work conference in Brussels and the prospect of getting a free night in a hotel was enough to send us off on a four day holiday. We decided to visit Bruges, rightfully called the Venice of the North. It is beautiful although jam packed with tourists. It has cute little restaurants, a canal, and its own brewery. Our first impression may not have been the best - we did fear we had entered a post apocalyptic world where live wires threatened our every step (I prefer to think of Mel smiling in this photo as a sign of her eternal optimism rather than my own exaggeration of the overwhelming fear of death).
On exit, however, we realised everything was all OK and in fact, local drug dealers were doing a great trade. I don't read Flemish but clearly this sign says that the Drug Mules are selling their worst drugs for 2€50. Clearly, one musn't miss out on the bargains. I swear I saw Nicole Ritchie and Kate Moss in one of those shops.
Bruges is home to its own brewery where we came across some wonderful beer. Our tour guide had a dry sense of humour. Someone who laughs at the thought of dying in a vat of beer from the alcohol fumes. Hilarious.
Then, we went to visit the Museum of Chocolate. Indeed. The history of chocolate laid out in full fact. My favourite part was these fact boards that tried to refute terrible untruths that chocolate might be bad for you. Clearly the evil health devils had it in for the innocent little chocolate bar. As far as cavities were concerned, chocolate was apparently a winner, but, as for weight, no matter how you look at it, they couldn't quite get around the truth. You might need to zoom to read.
Then, of course, everything under the sun in chocolate! Yes, chocolate can kill you. And wee all over your carpet.
Bruges is also home to the Duracell Bunny. If you were ever wondering where he had gone, we found him moonlighting in a bric-a-brac market in Bruges. That cheeky bunny. He just keeps going and going and going!
Here are a few photos along the canals.
In Antwerp, I think we didn't take many photos. Not because it wasn't pretty. But mainly because it wasn't as pretty. Here is the one impressive square. It is where the town hall is. Antwerp is apparently the diamond capital of the world. You can walk down a few streets where the only shops are diamond merchants. I discovered that walking this street can be quite expensive.
In Brussels, we had the red room in our bed and breakfast. It was very sporty. My highlight was visiting the Tintin Cartoon museum which was also sporting a 50 year anniversary special on the smurfs.
I am guessing the Flemish do very well in Scrabble. None of their words seem to be any shorter than 10 letters long. Anyone tempted to take up Flemish, you should practice tongue twisters first.
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