A month and a half ago my friends-volunteers and I had an adventure of visiting Belgium. Three days, three cities, a bunch of experiences and emotions, sometimes really controversial ones. So to those interested in this country or in my trips further is a short story about it and probably some tips. I'd like to start with a really important piece of advice: so, when you are planning to fly/go/sail somewhere - NEVER let the cheap tickets be the reason of your choice. There we were, a big group of people longing to spend time abroad together; we found plane tickets to Brussels - 8 euros one way, were amused by such a price, quickly discussed the opportunity and booked the flight. We were happy to save about 20-30 euro each. Only later, after the search for the hostel, local transport tickets and googling nice caffees have we realised our mistake - Belgium is really expensive. Sometimes terribly expensive. We even had a thought to say "bye" to tickets' money and stay at home, as three days in Belgium would have cost us a half of a month salary... Still, in the long run we boarded the plane and went to explore the capital of EU. Brussels. A visit in dark colours.The city we went to first was Brussels. The city I have no desire to come back to is Brussels. The city of contrasts, sadness and fear is Brussels. Being so important for EU this city is not a good example of prosperous, tolerant european city. Of cource, there are many nice places to see, and in the pictures I've uploaded you can see it. We tried to have fun as much as possible. But... here we saw much grey, many things that made us shudder with dread. In the airport the soldiers are armed completely, they are holding chatter-guns, their fingers tight on triggers... In the streets, even the central ones are hundreds of poor people, hungry beggars, suffering homeless sleeping in carton boxes right in the street. There is much rubbish on the ground... The city is as if devided into districts of different cultures and nations... I always considered myself a tolerant open-minded person, I still do, but the things we've experienced in Brussels moved me and scared me... Our hostel was in a turkish district. And it means that everything there is authentic for this culture. Names of shops and caffees are written in authentic language, noone speaks English, or French or German... We happened to appear in the Morrocan district, and when a group of us - 6 out of 8 fair-haired, blue-eyed youngsters went in a caffee to buy a snack, we felt as if being posed on exibition. The exibition the audiece doesn't seem to like... Result: everyone of us said - Thank's Brussels but we won't meet again. To cheer a story up here are some pics of nice places of the city (yes, there are some, even a lot of them there). Ostende. A place that inspires.Ostende wasn't a dreamed-about destination, it was just a coastal city nearest to our way. We went thetre and experienced happiness, got inspiration, got rid of bad thoughts. Why? Because the North Sea is just perfect! It was Ostende where I first saw an extremely big seagull and a coffee-automat where one of the options is soup))) Brugge. A city where "Love is in the air".Small Brugge makes you want to stay there forever. It amazes with its romantic atmosphere, ancient buildings ( can you imagine Swarowski shop in a house built in 1650, yes, it's possible), artistic doors and windows, numerous channels... Brugge is a place that makes you happy. It's a place I'm already dreaming to come back once more. It's a place really worth visiting.
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AuthorNina. A teacher of English from Ukraine experiencing new life in Germany. Archives
Октябрь 2016
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