Am I the only non Belgian to enjoy Belgium? Decent cities like Brügge, Ghent, Antwerpen, Leuven and Brussels.
Trappist Beer, Kriek, Moules frites.
Excellent comics like Spirou, Tintin and Thorgal. And as a Norwegian I can relate to a football team full of stars that don't win shit. (Norway can never even qualify dor anything)
It shows that I have only ever been in Flandern, but guess there are stuff in Vallonia to.
The made up spelling might be the Norwegian, or me fucking up as I also speak/read English and german. Flemish boggles the mind for me since I can read it with context, but it's incomprehensible when spoken.
I don't think there much else. Some viking history perhaps. Over 400 years under Danish tyranny followed by 80 years by Swedish rule sort of made sure nothing happened from 1200 to 1900
I've been to Bruges and it is always going to be one of my favourite places on Earth, and I've literally only been once and for a few days at best.
Be careful with the lambic beer, is a warning I was given and one I give to everyone whilst there (since I visited back when I was able to drink alcohol). It's too damn tasty, and very easy to be rather drunk before you even know it.
No, there really isn't anything to do in Wallonia. Flanders is where it's at. Wallonia is good for camping, because they have the Ardennes, but that's shared with France and Luxembourg.
I had to go to Charleroi a few times and it's just the dirties, old, rust belt, industrial town I've ever seen. The Antwerpen harbour was a breeze in comparison. Even the Wallon, Flemmish border in Brussels is very noticeable.
If you're still not convinced, than I guess driving from France into Dinant was kind of nice. Also the river in Leige has a certain appeal to it at night.
I disagree, hard. Wallonia has the ardennes which is more than a camping spot. A family trip there for a week is sweet. Waking up in the hills, only seeing trees and hear water and birds is heaven. Sit by the pool if its hot 👌
Then there is night sky photography, hiking paths, monuments, caves, ...
The best possible proof that Belgium is not just a place set up by The Netherlands and France as a network of gas stations to travel between those countries is that the roads in Belgium are visibly worse than in The Netherlands or France (really: you can tell exactly were the border is when driving into and out of Belgium by the change in the condition of the road).
The problem for the Belgium friend is that he's not keen on admitting that if Belgium wasn't a real nation but rather a Franco-Dutch partnership, it would be better run.
Not only that, the colors also suddenly change. Drive into Belgium and the sky and grass and everything suddenly turns dark grey. Arrive in Luxemburg, and its like crossing from hell into heaven. Everything suddenly is shiny, the grass is painfully bright light green, the sky is hyper blue...
You use that term rather lightly. Idk, if I think "historically" my mind goes further back than 120 years. At least to the Spanish Habsburgs' occupation, maybe even Burgundian era, Lotharingia, the Franks or the Belgae tribes.
It is technically history, but that's like saying: "Historically, I nourish myself with broccoli pizza" just because I had some yesterday.
Fries are really not that unique and super basic same with waffles and chocolate doesn't even grow there so just like Switzerland its stolen culture. I do agree on the Belgium beer part rich diverse flavors by multiple smaller artisinal brewers, thats culture.
You guys just need to get a good civil war rolling, stoke those Flemish-Wallonian tensions, arm a couple of separatist movements, maybe genocide a village or two, just ask the Balkans - fastest way to put you on the map as a real country.