So I just got back from my beer pilgrimage to Belgium, 8 days and 7 nights. It was wonderful in many respects, particularly the beer part. At the moment I want to cover some of my non-beer observations.
I visited Brussels, then drove through the Pajottenland (lambic region) to Brugge and finally one day in Antwerpen. Was supposed to visit Ghent but we were just to tired and loved Brugge to much to leave. There are some very stark differences between these places.
Brussels seems to be what we normally consider a capital city. The weekdays are packed with traffic and suits. On the weekend the whole thing just shuts down. I am a bit biased because I stayed in the European Quarters, the area where the NATO, European Union, and such things are placed. However, I got this impression from the whole city. While there is obviously a large tourist faction of the city its contained within a very small area. The rest is like walking through an empty old city. So basically, what I mean to say is Brussels is a large business city that happens to get tourists.
On the other hand, Brugge is a small city that gets all its business from tourists. I got the impression that Brugge is there for tourists only (and I do not mean to at all take away from the rich history and people of Brugge). It is understandably so, I read something close to 100,000 thousand people live in Brugge while the city sees over 2 million tourists a year, a tradition that started a long time ago when the Brits would come over all the time. This is still evident, I am pretty sure I saw more Brits than natives. These differences are most evident when entering any bar, restaurant, or store. In Brussels, everyone would always assume you speak French and engage you in that tongue. In Brugge, you are always engaged in either 2 languages at once or just straight English. I was amazed and of course being an American this made me feel much more comfortable. The city is built to maintain the "old" feel, almost akin to Disney Land, and of course as any tourist I really loved it. And while Belgium has its share of antiquity it does not seem like its forced upon the people. In Brussels there is a hustle and bustle of everyday life, in Brugge its just for a hustle to do all the touristy stuff.
Now the most dazzling places I saw were on my drives through the lambic region. To see this beautiful green fields with cows everywhere, I mean everywhere, while you are drive down a road that barely fits your car. Driving through these little, clean, beautiful full of farmer workers and townspeople, I could see myself living there. Just opening up a little bar, open 5 random hours during the week, that I could see for myself, something I did not want from either Brugge or Brussels.
Antwerpen, well, it felt like a smaller version of Brussels, like LA to NYC, one might say.
