6160 A Diary of the Urban Gardener and Cook

With a trip planned this spring to revisit my favorite place on the planet, I thought it might be a great idea to drop in a few quick hits on why everyone should find time to visit this wonderful place.  Belgium truly is the most beautiful country in the world.  While many of the traditional European haunts have a negative caveat tied to some aspect of where they're visiting (common examples we all hear: I love Germany and London but...good grief the food...  I love Paris and Milan but... good grief they're so expensive...  I love Rome and Athens but... good grief they're so dirty...), there are no caveats to Belgium and it literally lights the soul on fire.  This writing could belabour all the winning aspects of Belgian culture - its food (imagine the very best of French food... in German quantity), its architecture (from Medieval to Art Deco to even the modern glass palaces of the European Union), etc... throughout many centuries (example:  the backwards culture of the Hapsburgs took a monumental step forward after Maximillian visited Brussels and Bruges in the 1400s and determined to model Austria after the beauty and wealth he encountered), but I would rather focus in a very minimalist sense on why I am thoroughly addicted to this tiny cultural powerhouse and let the readers' interest be piqued.

A country the size of Maryland, Belgium has over ten million people and is one of the most densely populated countries in the world.  Where situations like this generally lead to a sense of claustrophic trashiness, Belgium, by contrast, is a visual feast of meticulous parks and gardens, stunning architecture, amazing food and stylish transportation.  Literally - imagine breathtaking train stations that are hailed across the globe as architectural genius along with the slender, old world street cars that in America, we adore...  In fact, Lonely Planet as of 2010 announced that Belgium was the single most stunning country that continued to be criminally overlooked.  Which is fine by me, since I can enjoy the best of French, Dutch, and Germanic cultures at reasonable prices.  Where Paris and much of France feels like you leave wondering how many paychecks you just forfeited, Belgium is a land that leaves one stunned by the beauty but not broke...

While there, I will be of course be visiting Antwerp (Rubenshuis, the home of P.P. Rubens, has one of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen), Ghent (Gravensteen Castle, here I come...), and the chateaus of Wallonia (the gorgeous castles and verdent estates of French speaking Belgium).  However, two cities (Bruges and Brussels) are where I plan to linger most.  Often referred to as the Venice of the North, the perfectly preserved medieval town of Bruges is filled with romantic canals, pointy gilded architecture, and amazing old world cafes.  Brussels, the captial of Belgium, is openly acknowledged as the most beautiful capital in the entire European Union.  Whether lingering in the Grand Plas (the central square in Brussels with buildings dating to the 1400s, and now a UNESCO heritage site), shopping in the Galleries St. Hubert (the first enclosed shopping mall in the world dating back to the mid 1800s), enjoying wine and beer at Le Falstaff (a 19th century gilded age brasserie), dining on Mussels in white wine broth at Au View Bruxelles (one of my favorite haunts to dine in), or strolling the lonely monastery gardens and decaying abbeys that surround the city (many of monasteries are also breweries - monks have to do something between prayers...), Brussels is a literal feast for the senses.  And let's not forget the chocolate - this is chocolate lovers' paradise.

And best of all, no car needed.  Every major Belgian city is walkable and compact, with wonderful slender streetcars for those times you need to get from one side of town to the other.  Further, nearly every Belgian city is about thirty minutes or less from Brussels due to the kingdom having one of the best train networks in Europe.  And just to keep it interesting, as mentioned previous the nation is known for having visually astounding, world reknowned train stations.  Antwerp station is considered an architectural masterpiece and referred to as "Railway Cathedral" - rightfully so, both from an interior and exterior perspective. 

So that everyone can have a sense of just how jaw droppingly gorgeous Belgium is, I've uploaded some old photos into a photo gallery.  Enjoy...  because just loading the photographs I know I did...