Hello, I am back in Belgium! This time round, I am travelling with my buddy Woojin! I am really lucky to have met this awesome guy in Hanyang and that we kept in contact afterwards:)
Brussels
An interesting fact is that Belgium is separated into 3 regions mainly due to differences in language – French and Dutch speakers. The regions are Flanders in the north (Dutch), Wallonia in the south (French) and Brussels in the centre (Bilingual) – Brussels Facts
A good thing about hostel is that you get to meet Travellers (especially students) from other parts of the world and it is easy to connect to them and ask them about their perspectives and interests. During our night, we met 2 Spanish girls studying in Dublin and they were sharing about Spanish stuffs, and yea literally we were having a ‘tapas’ talk hahaha! Also met this Californian guy who is having an exchange in Paris! His life is admirable! Being 25 and married, he is also both an American🇺🇸 and Mexican🇲🇽. He signed on in Special Force (OMG) and was assigned to Afghanistan to support the US troops there (DOTS anyone?). The most interesting part of the convo was that he wanted to vote for Trump not because he hates Clinton; he did raise some very new perspectives from the military side. He said that Donald Trump would be able to collaborate with Russia to stop the war in Middle East, while Clinton will remain status quo and continue fighting what her husband has left behind there. While not everyone may agree with that but it’s his stance and it’s good to hear an educated answer from a Native American:)
Going back to the travels, we kind of followed quite similarly to what Xinyi and I had two weeks ago, so I won’t harp on them. Something cool to highlight was Grand Place in night is probably the only reason you should stay in Brussels for a night haha. Just look at all the purple glows!
Oh and please don’t scrimp on your waffles and fries, thinking other parts of Belgium will be cheaper cause they are not the capital. Brussels food and souvenirs are actually the cheapest. I guess it’s like Berlin, but not as ridiculously cheap.
Ghent
Moving on to Ghent(Gent), I will say that this is my favourite town in Belgium! While we arrived to be welcomed by a skies of grey clouds and gloomy atmosphere, we were greeted with a Dutch-ish town that is very very different from Brussels. So while Brussels failed to impress much, Ghent blew us away:) A cool thing about Belgium as mentioned in my previous post, is that it was under different ruling before it became independent. Thus, it is split into a few region – Capital Brussels, the northern Flemish (Dutch dialect) speaking Flemish, the southern French speaking Walloon and German speaking Wallonia.
Fun Fact: Ghent has always been know as a city of rebels.
Along river Leie, every point on the bridge is picturesque. We spot a hostel just located beside St Michael’s Bridge and there is no curtains. So…. tourists on the bridge can just look in and see the guests naked but the guests can sleep with the stunning view all day. Whether this is worth it, I leave it to you to decide hahaha.
We stayed at an airbnb room 5 mins away. The owner, José, is very kind to help us with the arrangement of check in even though he was not around physically. Would recommend his place – do ask me if you are keen, I paid about 60 Sgd for one night(for 2 people), with breakfast included.
Really thank you to the magic you have shown us, Ghent!
Bruges
On the third day, we went over to Bruges. Also known as “Little Venice of the North”, Bruges has canals, bridges and houses built around the river. However, it also takes up the touristy aspect of Venice, with overpriced food and souvenirs flooding the market square. Tip! Do not buy from stores around there. They are for tourists who came unprepared!
Bruges Facts: Like the country, the city is known for its liberal values and it’s mandatory for every citizen to vote. Not only has it recognised the institution of same-sex marriage since 2003, but it’s also legal to possess up to five grams of cannabis. (Beers and Beans)
Regardless of the erratic weather, we still enjoyed our time in Belgium! Travelling with Woojin was really comfortable! Woojin is very organised and he had a self-prepared information sheet for each town we were going to. They were in Korean though but I am very thankful to Woojin for recommending these places to visit and for willing to make compromises here and there:) I posted on Instagram saying that I learnt a lot from this guy, so he asked me what exactly did I learn? Haha, other than speaking simple german phrases like schön, I have also discovered that Woojin is really disciplined. He has been pen-writing a travel diary everyday since the start of his exchange, and well, it has been three months and he is still going strong. I am ashamed to say that I cannot keep a diary cause it will just disappear halfway haha! Woojin’s love for his girlfriend is remarkable as well! Wherever Woojin goes, he will look for souvenirs to buy for his girlfriend and also take a photo of his polaroid (with the famous landscape as the background). He said that he wanted to compile a video for his girlfriend, Sooooooo sweetttttttt! Hahaha, but before you guys can ask when is it my turn, I did a video for Xinyi already. Just couldn’t upload on Facebook due to copyright issues with the song *groans*
Luxembourg
Fact: It has the highest GDP per capita in the world and its GDP is almost three times the average GPD of EU. (Interestingfunfacts.com)
Finally, after 8 hours of bus ride, I have reached Luxembourg 🇱🇺 This small country is landlocked by Belgium, France and Germany but it has the world’s second highest GDP per capita (second to only Qatar) Thus as expected, the cost of living would be quite high! A cup of hot chocolate could easily cost €4.50. Thank goodness for carrefour now haha!
Visited the city today but omg it was freezing! The weather report told me that it is cloudy buy they did not say it would drizzle! The rain froze my hands and phone died within 3 hours despite full charge😪
Nonetheless, this small city of Luxembourg is still beautiful in ts own way! Similar to Ronda, Luxemborug is built on gorges and there is an upper level and the Grund level, making it pretty unique. The city is very organised and uses yellow bricks as its theme. The only downside is that there are too much constructions ongoing. Overall, i feel that this place can be quite underwhelming and I would advice to come. Only if it is a stopover city.(The only thing that I found memorable was this sunset)
Ah, I know i have been travelling a lot and yes I do skip a bit of school to travel. However, I did fulfill my obligation as a student by catching up on webcasts, notes and assignments! I have finished my part for the project due in two weeks! If there is something exchange taught Xinyi and myself, it would to be time efficient!
CinqeMinte 