Quote:
Originally Posted by SecondChances
Can I come too if I promise not to whine?
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If you promise to feed the pets.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SecondChances
Wide-O, out of curiosity, how far are you from Brussels? That is a place I always wanted to see. Is it all that?
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I live about 35 km/22 miles out of Brussels. Don't forget, Belgium is so small, the longest drive you can possibly take from the North Sea coast to the Germany/Luxembourg border is about 270km/167miles.
If you are into architecture, Brussels is indeed a fabulous city to visit. There is so much history there. Museums a plenty as well, as is good food. I've lived there for 7 years as a student and I loved it. It's a very international place given that it's the seat of the EU and most European institutions. Yet it's a lot smaller than you would imagine if you are from the US. They have about 1.2 million inhabitants, which would make it a tiny city in the US.
There is a unique Facebook group - I don't even think you have to be a member - about the history of Brussels, with old pictures, paintings, maps... you can spend hours just browsing through them. Link is:
Bruxelles autrefois, Bruxelles disparu - Home | Facebook
Before that I lived in Mechelen (18km/11miles from Brussels), which used to be the capital of Europe in the Middle Ages. Again, if you are into history and old buildings, a fascinating place to wander around.
After the UK, the first ever railroad built on the mainland was between Brussels & Mechelen.
Also, given that just about every other country in the world has invaded Belgium
there's a lot of military history too. A visit to Flanders Fields, and all those mass cemeteries is sure to make you see your own life into perspective...
And from Brussels, it takes you 1h50min* by (high speed) train to get to Amsterdam, 1h22min to London and 1h50mins to Paris, so it's quite a good base camp if you want to see a few European cities.
* when all tracks are finished, these times will even drop to about 1 hour in the near future...