Hello fellow Redditors, I'll be sharing photos from doing a full trip through Belgium and the Netherlands, covering pretty much all large cities and some hidden jewels.The program:>15th Maastricht>16th Liege + Dinant>17thBrussels>18th Mons + Tournai >19th Gent>20th Antwerpen>21th Rotterdam + Den Haag>22th Amsterdam>23thUtrecht >24th HertogenboschWeird order, idk, but that's how logistics work out best for us. I'll be sharing a few photos every day. If you have recommendations, just drop them, these countries are so dense and well-connected you can go anywhere any day, really.>waaaaa waaaa why should I care about european jewels im here to read about thai street prostitutes Just ignore the thread then. The rest can subscribe, like, upvote, give me Reddit gold and comment.
>>2711112Looking forward to it
As long as you don't post them in the /nederdraad/ as well, Karl-Heinz
>>2711124Of course not, I won't take owls to Athens.Unless I see a really really nasty ghetto, then its /int/ tradition to post it and pretend its your whole country now.
>>2711112I wanted to do something similar last winter but it turned out a concert was on for a several days in Maastricht and any hotel within range (about half my plan) was a few hundred euros a night so I fucked off to Paris instead
>>2711112 Man the architecture in Belgium is top tier. Check out leuven as well.
>>2711130Yeah, Dutch hotel prices are eye-watering. I tried to stay in Belgium as long as possible, using it as basis do see Dutch border towns.
>>2711112Stay out of my city OP.
1 day for Amsterdam is definitely not enough. I've gone there 10 times so far and I still can't get enough.
>>2711231What’s so special about. I get the pretty canals, but1. every dutchoid city has them and 2. you don’t need a year to see them all
Not exactly related, but my nightly stop on my trip towards the Low Lands is Frankfurt. The skyscrapers look way more impressive on ground level than they do on panorama. There are also some bit of old architecture left, which give a glimpse of what marvel the city probably was before WW2. While the main streets were lively, side streets were sometimes seedy as fuck. Probably prepares me for Brussels, which can supposedly even get dangerous.
>>2711771Post the liege pics
>>2712176Yeah, I just arrived today. On my way to Liege, I drove through Wallonia. Belgium has this reputation of being a flatland with no nature, so imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw lush green hills and broad rivers. Nothing special to someone widely travelled, but way better than most of continental Northern Europe. Wallonian villages were a weird mixture of pastoral beauty and genuine ruins of industry. It’s the Belgian rust belt, after all. Sorry for using a googled image, but it’s better than whatever I could shoot through the hazy windows of a moving train.
>>2712184>Sorry for using a googled image, but it’s better than whatever I could shoot through the hazy windows of a moving train.Wait, was the image I made myself. Here’s the googled one to illustrate my point lol. That’s what you see from the train window.
So Liege, it’s the #3 city, the biggest in Wallonia (there’s also Charleroi, but … lemme just ignore that). It doesn’t have the great reputation amongst Belgians themselves and few tourists pay attention to it. Statistics say it’s actually even more seedy than Brussels. Ah well. The train station is brand new, designed by a Spanish architect. It feels expensive and stylish, but is it beautiful? Idk. However, it’s a great gateway to the city, as it lies on an elevation.
your photos suck
>>2712191Anon, you took a pic from the wrong angle. Liège station is great. Underrated city overall imo. I like to go there every once in a while.
>>2712202YOU suck
>>2711112The Cathedral in Antwerp is a nice visit, it's a nice cathedral with a few Rubens' paintings.If you like Flemish masters, check out the newly renovated KSMKA likely the best museum in the region.What kind of food do you like?
Netherlands motor trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rAYxaRwMEs
>>2712210Netherlands suck
So yeah, I had to pause for a few day because I wanted to focus on the trip. I still do. I have a lot of photos and thoughts I’ll gradually share. So, Belgium … there’re this stereotype it feels like northern France and the Netherlands mashed together. And, yeah, that’s exactly what it is in most parts, but there’s some uniqueness to it. I mostly spent the first half of the trip in Wallonia, namely Liège, Mons and Tournai. Then I visited Brussels for a day (already was there once). It’s a gorgeous country in terms of architecture. I think every single „bigger“ city with the exception of Charleroi is worth a visit.
The biggest city of Wallonia is Liège - it’s still not very big at merely 200k. Most of Wallonia is countryside. While not nearly as rough as the dreaded Charleroi, Liège is definitely „first world poor“. Think Marseilles or Naples, that kind of vibe. Even in the old town, you feel some sense of disrepair and slight unease. It has the same issues as the worse bits of France: a large and only partially integrated black population, a failed business model. Many beggars and homeless. Garbage disposal is … garbage. Nonetheless, life here continues. The train station area saw large and recent improvements. There are still nice shops and restaurants opening around it and in the old town. It’s French influence is very much felt in this fact. The old town is much bigger than Google images suggest, but lacks coherence and maintenance to be as beautiful as it could be.
There’s some soul-achingly beautiful streets here around Place Saint Lambert. The beauty of the architecture in general is very gothic: dark red, grey and black dominate. It fits the cloudy weather of Belgium. Its a very disjointed old town - actually large, but you cannot walk many streets without stumbling upon disrepair and straight ugliness as well. The atmosphere is relaxed, but also kind of seedy at the same time. Liège locals love their city, tourists do not. You can definitely understand both.
i liked the van gogh museum and the rjiks in amsterdamMr Meat in the jewish quarter is greatsee red light districtHAVE FUN !
>>2713723it's the Mosan architecture (from "meuse"), you can find it also in sister city of MaastrichtYes Liège is gothic central, I feel that eastern Belgium to Cologne is very gothic in vibeunfortunately a lot of Liège architecture has been destroyed, not much by war than by modernity
If you have the time for it try and visit Diest, it's a nice little city and it has the most monuments per square meter out of any Flemish city. It's close to Leuven so if you plan on visiting Leuven the detour might be worth it.
>>2713973I'll post some more pics
>>2713975
>>2713976
>>2713977There's also a cool citadel you can visit and old city walls overgrown with nature which makes for a nice little hike.
>>2713723I am a tourist that actually loves Liège. Same architecture as Maastricht. But noone of the tourists.
To complete my portrayal of Liège: it is, in many places, a poor and seedy feeling city. That just gotta be said. The promenade is and leads into the very disheveled and poor, yet large and prominent neighborhood of Longdoz. It’s one of the worst I’ve strolled into in Western Europe. The high rise neighborhoods in Liège are overall really to be avoided as a tourist, but they explain why Wallonia has this reputation. And issues aren’t limited to skin color here - there are really poor looking Belgians amongst the mostly immigrant folks here as well. Urbanism played a huge part here. This could’ve been a gorgeous promenade, of which there are many in Benelux countries. Instead it’s this suffocatingly ugly wound in the middle of the city.
>>2713985Believe it or not, I actually took the short trip from Liège to Maastricht. And despite liege feeling like 2x poorer and 30 years behind in urban development, I’ve returned to Liege (where my hotel was) way sooner than expected. Turns out SOVL is a real thing, Liège just had more of it. And dining options were way better obviously, French vs Dutch cuisine isn’t even a comparison. But as a place to live and raise a family, you’d ought to be a lunatic to pick Liège over Maastricht, that I admit.
Nice pics anon. I will be flying into Amsterdam for a two week trip starting mid October. Any advice for an itinerary? Dont have much of a plan, but I would like to ride IC rail into Belgium and possibly NE France if I have time to see the WW1 and WW2 sites. I figured I would rather fly into Amsterdam than Frankfurt this time as it seems like a more convenient location and the flight was cheaper. I am an Ameriburger who is willing to walk, but would prefer not to rent a car. Obviously not looking to stay in the Netherlands for the entire trip.
>>2714241Not OP but checking out the WW1 sites probably requires you to rent a car. I did a ww1 trip this January by car. I caught most of the Flanders WW1 spots. I based myself out of Yper. Next spring me and a buddy will go to Verdun. You could go by train to Yper. From Amsterdam that would take you about 4 hours. But most of the sites that are near Yper aren't accessible with public transport and they're not really walking distances either. You could just spent a day in Yper I guess. But i don't think Yper alone is worth it. Dunno anything about WW2 sites. But if you go by car to Yper Dunkerque is about an hours drive away.
>>2714285Thanks for the tip anon. Maybe this trip I will stick with Arnhem, Nijmegen Bridge and the Market Garden WW2 sites. I also would like to see Verdun some day
>>271422870's urbanism killed the city + very bad maintenanceit looks like the city got no money and just doesn't evolve
>>2714430The revitalization efforts for the area around the main station provide a glimmer of hope for the city. But I have to note: during my 4 or so days so far in Flanders, not a single beggar harassed me. In the three days in Wallonia, there were six - I’ve counted.
>>2714562The new tram tooyou didn't see it?
>>2714241>WW1 and WW2 sites.WW2 you have Bastogne in the Ardennes, which is easy enough to reach by public transport. There's a few labour/transit camps around (Westerbork in NL and Breendonk plus Kazerne Dossin in BE but the first two aren't easy to reach by public transport). Raverszijde has a cool open air Atlantikwall museum and can be reached by public transport, even though you'll have to go to France for more imposing sites, and I don't know if these are accessible by public transport.WW1 sites you could visit Diksmuide, easy to reach, you've got the IJzertoren there's plus a few small sites including some partially restored trenches named Dodenhoek.Truth be told, you'll find many small sites and memorials all over the place. Some would be easy to reach by bike if you're happy to rent an (e)bike for a day, as both countries have decent cycling infrastructure.
>>2714565Oh, I did. Wallonia really invests a lot in infrastructure (relative to other, more neglected things) and it’s very visible. Man, there’s something about liege. While I visited multiple cities considered far more beautiful - and probably really more beautiful indeed - there’s something about it that stuck inside the back of my head. Haube im making things up.
But yeah, we still gotta move on. In continued discovering Wallonia. I’ve decided to purposefully ignore Charleroi: the seediness I saw in Liege really was sufficient, any more and the place wouldn’t have been enjoyable to see anymore. So I’ve came and went to a cute Walloon town named Mons. Not very known within Wallonia, basically unheard of outside of it. Very small, compact, with a feel similar to British towns in how most of it consisted of red brick rowhouses. In much state and far safer feeling than Liege. The town core is small but pretty. The photograph accurately reflects the weather - it’s still Northern Europe, after all. The combination of gothic architecture with subdued colours and grey skies created a sad mood found in Picardy or Scotland otherwise. But the highlights of the city still waited for me further ahead.
>>2714566Thank you for the advice, anon.
>>2712202Your photos are great OP
>>2714241>>2714285>>2714309In the Netherlands you do not need to rent a car. You can just take the train and rent bikes (electric ones if you want to ride quick and easy). Most if not all of the WW1 sites should be reachable by bike.
>>2714802I am Dutch. And there are no WW1 sites in the Netherlands. I was talking about Yper which is in Belgium. >>2714309If you could rent a bike in Yper it would actually make a lot of sites accessible. Not everything though.
>>2714607>Man, there’s something about liege. While I visited multiple cities considered far more beautiful - and probably really more beautiful indeed - there’s something about it that stuck inside the back of my head. Haube im making things up.because liège is real, it's a really lived in city, and you can feel that it's old, not always in a good way, but it's old and historical, it's real... most other cities in Belgium seem more superficial. You can feel that if you dig you'll find Carolingian era shit
Seeing some of these posts makes me if I should just pass straight through Belgium without stopping? Apparently Brussels is a dump, and even the train station is dangerous. Is it so bad that I shouldn't even transfer trains there and do that in Ghent or Bruges instead? I'm the anon flying into Amsterdam mid October and taking the train after that south to France.
>>2715612It's massively overblown. I spent seven years commuting to Brussels on a daily basis plus would take trains late at night for concerts etc, and had exactly zero incidents.Not saying chances of problems occurring are zero as they are effectively higher than in the rest of the country but it's not nearly as bad as /trv/ makes it out to be. Sure, some areas are a bit rough, but most people here have never been there despite still posting nonsense, and the vast majority of those who have been there have barely scratched the surface before booking it out of there because they got scared when they saw muslims.
>>2715612the areas around gare-midi and gare north are pure shitholes. not necessarily dangerous, but shit, the usual package of beggars, drunks, arab youths, filth ...the train stations themselves are always busy and therefore safe
>>2714608... so keep in mind, Mons is a tiny town of 100k, not even all Belgians heard about it. Nonetheless, its cathedral is one of the grandest in the country. It is located behind the initial old town, you have to climb a small hill to see it. Some gothic defence towers from medieval times frame the hill.The views from up there ... I'll just leave them here. Notice hills in the background, barely visible on photographs but very present to the eye.(1/3)
>>2715846(2/3)Find me a more SOVLful small town panorama. I dare you.
>>2715847(3/3)I've had to hurry to the train to Tournai after taking these, but these turned out to be some of my favourite photographs from the whole journey.Perhaps these illustrate why Walloons, despite being a small and not very affluent part of Western Europe, still have an immense amount of local patriotism?
Hey man, cool photos, cool stories! I'd love to hear the rest.I just booked a trip with my sister, we'll fly for a weekend in November for Ghent and Brussels. Three nights, two days. Probably not enough to fit Bruges in. Perhaps we should replace Brussels with Bruges, since Brussels is easier to reach later? Or maybe we should leave Bruges for later in some lovelier weather?
>>2716248just skip brussels and head straight to Brugesit's not worth it
>>2716248Mind you, i have never been to Belgium, but isnt Brussels notorious for being a really ugly city?
>>2716461In what parallel universe is it ugly? It’s like tiny Paris with sprinkles of Amsterdam It just has safety issues
>>2716471Mweh safety issues in areas where as a tourist you'll never come. Stay in the city center and you'll be totally fine. >>2716461The old city areas of Brussels are really worth it. And if you're into modern architecture the European district is decent. The problem with Brussels besides being chopped up into 19 different municipality's. Is that they have no zoningplans. Everybody just built whatever they liked or had the money for. As a result you have a lot of modern and older buildings mixed in in between. Most of the time this doesn't work for me at all. Milan has the same problem. But to reiterate, Brussels old city squares are really worth it.
>>2716461Don’t skip Brussels dude. Just avoid train stations Midi and South, they’re the main sheetholes
>>2717330>>2716925>>2716471Alright, we decided we'll go see Brussels then, it seems like a place with more things to see and some to surprise us rather than Bruges
>>2715848Maybe Wallonia should hire a better PR, because it's sad that the region is more (in)famous for Charleroi than for the much prettier and unknown cities that surround it
>>2717875You're completely right, however1. the locals dont really seem like they want much tourism (typical French) and2. Charleroi is still the largest city and, sadly, fairly representative to what happened to a number of urban areas
The most beautiful and final Wallonian city I've visited has been Tournai, with a population of 60k. As second-oldest town in all of Belgium, has great touristic value which is largely untapped.It's a beautiful town, there's no need to explain why. It has all the classic ingredients of one - a broad river with a neat promenade (observe and learn, Liège! >>2714228), a church that is very large for the city, a historical main square, pretty little streets leading from and to it - everything you could wish for.
Not mine, but a better picture of the Notre Dame de Tournai and general cityscape.
The main square. My photograph doesnt do it justice. No photograph does - only a panorama could - as it is a 360 degree architecture landscape where you see something beautiful from every side at once.
We sat on this promenade, drinking a beer (a local Duvel Blonde, of course). It's excellently maintained, with multiple lifting bridges, staircases, bike lanes and public pedestrian zones. This was the sole promenade in Wallonia we saw that seemed truly grand and a vision of what every town in the region could be, if it had the money. A seemingly flawless tiny little piece of Europe with five gothic bell towers and French-styled narrow houses.
>>2718201O.K. so it has all the ingredients, you saybut I'm missing one element: its populationhow "diverse" is its population, for example?how many young people are there?
>>2718335Well, the Benelux countries are some of the most „diversified“ in the world, idk what you want to hear. Speaking about Wallonia in particular, Liège has so many Blacks and Arabs that white Belgians were just another group inhabiting it at this point. The smaller towns of Mons and especially Tournai felt far more European in regards to population, but they’re still a presence. If you’re from /pol/, you’ll hate these countries. In contrast to the country I came from, Germany, the population seems far more youthful overall. Public spaces are much more dominated by 30-something’s having fun, rather than the boomer crowd I am used to at home. School classes everywhere as well. The demographic pyramids reflect that very well. Belgium and the Netherlands are some of the youngest Western countries.
>me waiting for OP to post more pics and remarks
>>2711112>posts picture of Bruges >Isn't going to Bruges What is wrong with you? Also Brussels is a nigger-infested shit hole I hope you get robbed for being a redditor
Next stop after Mons: Lille, France.Why a Northern French town, if this is a Benelux travel? Well, look at a map: Tournai in Belgium might as well be one of the many Northern suburbs of Lille. In fact, they share lots of history: Lille was part of the same lands which later became Wallonia ("Burgundian Netherlands") and was only separated after it once Napoleon captured it. Crossing the border from Wallonia to France, you notice two things:1. There's far more high-rise apartments. Belgium is a very flat country.2. Buildings are way more colourful and pompous. Its France, after all.
There's no way not to be impressed by the grand and lively old town of Lille. Nowadays it's more on the economic periphery, having some of the lower salaries of the large French cities. But during the early industrial era, Lille was extremely affluent and the old town reflects that.There are shops here running since monarchic times, selling artisanal chocolates, baked goods, macarons and other delicacies, perfecting their craft for hundreds of years. They're without peer in presentation and aura in all of Europe. Just France being France.
>>2719016lille is great. Very underrated city.
>>2718200>1. the locals dont really seem like they want much tourism (typical French) andwhy?
>>2719558I don’t know, dude. But I’ve got the strong impression Wallonian people are really self-contained and want to, pardon the pun, wallow in their regional culture and life. Really nothing there was aimed at tourism and they seldom receive it. Even through cities like Tournai have huge milking potential and even Liege could, if polished.
One last note about Liege: I’ve praised the city, and for good reason, but there’s another side of it. Like most other cities in France, it is surrounded by rather poor banlieues from multiple sides. There, the inhabitants are far less white, wealthy and cultured than the posh French in old town Lille. I’ve knew this phenomenon from Paris and wasn’t really surprised by it, but the contrast I’ve witnessed was bigger in France than in any other country. Even Belgium lacks a divide this stark, in my opinion.
But I don’t really want to end my Lille on a sour note. Overall, it is a gorgeous town displaying everything admirable about urban France. Most cities wish they had a fraction of the charisma, sophistication, architecture and appeal. But the next city still managed to eclipse Lille.
>>2719696>Really nothing there was aimed at tourism and they seldom receive it.i think it should turn to tourismi remember when Ghent had those big chunky ugly pavements like they have in Wallonia and those walkable plazas were fucking Parkings in the 70'sFlanders completely turned to tourism while Wallonia not
>>2719697Most big cities have thrash neighbourhoods. Those are the only places poor migrants can afford. It's a little bit of a self fulfilling prophecy really. I was in Liège this Saturday. I just really enjoy it. It never feels too crowded.
>>2719936nah, it's soulless. Bruges is a nice town. But Tourism killed it. The best combination is to visit a nice town where the locals aren't kicked out of their own city. The only locals still living in Bruges work in Tourism. The only way to do that is not to promote your city too hard or to make it really really expensive.Besides Walloon gets plenty of tourism. But that's mainly from outdoorsy folk. Little town of Durbuy I visited a month ago was chuck full with tourists who wanted hike, cycle, climb or any other outdoor activity you can think off. >>2719699Lille is quite a bit larger than Liege. But yes, Lille incredibly Sovl. Tourism is picking up though, so I wonder for how long it will be. All the cool little dining places I had to book multiple days in advance. That was a first for me. Usually I can call in the morning to get a spot. Not in Lille.
>>2719016I did Lille when I want to France and had a day left over (after deciding we didn't want the hassle of a Paris daytrip). Caught me completely off guard how nice the city isBeautiful city, huge city centre, very low numbers of homeless and scammers and it's not jam packed with tourists. Going in Christmas where there's loads of stuff going on and scattered markets and funfairs everywhere is also neat. It's really weird how this city gets so little attention as a holiday destination, especially given it has a Eurostar station.
>>2720321I heard a joke once that the two best Belgian cities were Maastricht and Lille. Well, none of them are in Belgium, but since they are not in Belgium, they didn't go through the political/cultural polarization of Belgian politics, so Lille managed to have very strong Walloon and Flemish influences, and Maastricht have strong Walloon and Dutch influences in a way that no "Belgian" city has. Each culture rejected the other in Belgium, so it's either very Flemish or very Walloon, or neither (Brussels).
I'm the anon from earlier flying into Amsterdam in a couple weeks. I would like to eventually work my way towards Luxembourg and Metz using Intercity rail. Which route is best? The straight shot seems to be Amsterdam to Bruxelles Midi then Luxembourg, but I am strongly considering going the Amsterdam-Maastricht-Liege-Luxembourg route. In this direction, I will probably only spend a night in one if the cities, and it definitely will not be Brussels. How is Maastricht? I don't believe OP has posted any pics from there yet?
>>2715846>... so keep in mind, Mons is a tiny town of 100k, not even all Belgians heard about it.Mons has a bad reputation in Wallonia because the former mayor Elio Di Rupo diverted most of the Walloon budget for his tiny city, especially the train station which is one of the biggest waste of money ever.
>>2720489It's called being incredibly based. Other Wallons shouldn't complain. They spent plenty on the new Liege station and new metroline as it is. >>2720332Lille's old town looks very Flemish/Dutch (Hollands/important distinction). And actually looks a lot like Brussels old town. Everything around the city center is Paris Hausman architecture. Which I incidentally also very much like. Maastricht has the same architectural style that Wallonia has. All the cities near the Meuse have the same Namur style architecture. As for the politics. As a tourist you won't notice that shit at all. So don't let that influence your decision. >>2720488Maastricht is very nice. It's a student/tourist town. Certainly worth it for a day. It has a nice historical centre. Just avoid the obvious tourist traps like the Vrijthof and the big shopping street called the Grote Staat. Liège and Maastricht are quite similar in terms of architecture. Wouldn't necessarily advise you to visit both. Liège is the much bigger city with some sovl hotspots. It's also more decrepit. Maastricht is much cleaner, but also a lot more touristy. It's kind of what you prefer.
Fake country
>me, still waiting for OP to post more pics and stories
The next city on the list, Brussels, doesn't have the best reputation. And I was there already. Nonetheless, I was excited to see it again. I didn't get a proper picture of the city first time, remembering it as a confusing and disjointed-feeling mishmash weird of posh, bureaucratic and desolate areas.While a stereotypical and predictable kind of beauty, the marketplace/Grote Markt in Brussels is arguably the grandest of its kind and stunning. The picture doesnt do it justice, as the detailing on the facades is insane and the stretches 360 degrees.
Sounds like fun!
Where's the greenery? Like, anywhere?
bump
>>2722529Generally well-hidden if at all present. The south of the country still has a decent amount of nature left and the same goes for the province of Limburg, with some amount of forests even stretching westward as far as Antwerp. The rest of the country mostly consists of built-up areas, linear settlement and farmland with some scattered bits of nature.For reference, while 22% of Belgium is forest, this plummets down to ~10% Flanders, which makes it one of the most deforested temperate areas on the planet, scoring worse than countries with notoriously poor records such as the UK and Ireland. It's more or less on par with Namibia and Mongolia, which are home to massive deserts. Go figure.
To most people, Brussels has either a bad reputation, or none at all. The old down does not deserve any negative reputation, at all. It is a mixture of Dutch and French architecture, of Den Haag and Paris and, as such, there's very very little not to like here. A unique and refreshing even mixture you'll only see here. From the Grote Markt lead a multitude of charming small streets, forming a net in an irregular pattern. Not a single one of them resembles the others. International tourists, businessmen from every corner of the Earth. Brussels can be awful, but it's also beautiful and very much worth a visit.But that's a tiny part of a big city.
>>2723562Walloon has very lush green landscapes
>>2715844>pure shitholesPure shithole doesn't even cover half of it. The train ride from the airport to Gare Centrale was reminiscent of driving through Gary, Indiana but with somehow worse post-modernist architecture. Even in central brussels where I'm currently staying, there's graffiti and broken windows everwhere. Even in Chimpago proper you see a lot more homeless in the main downtown area, sure, but at least it doesn't look like the people haven't given up on maintaining and cleaning the goddamn place. The beer is world class and the food is much cheaper though, even if the traditional belgian dishes are shit compared to L'Express right off of Grand Place.>>2723562Waterloo has some very picturesque farmland if you want to make the trip to Butte du Lion, even if it is touristy.
>>2726011>Pure shithole doesn't even cover half of it.i dont get what you mean by that
The old town of Brussels, while gorgeous, feels disconnected from the rest of the city. You can tell that locals do not really visit places such as the Galerie Saint Hubert - which may or may not have been the first luxury mall in the world. The architecture is red, black, white and mostly just beautiful. Brussels is definitely underrated from a pure photogenic standpoint: it is a worthy European capital, despite its seediness.
What is the definitive part of a city, the one to look at if you want to «truly know it»? Brussels has a wonderful town core and various smaller residential areas with this grandiose 19th century appeal. At the same time, it can feel very seedy and poor, dirty, unkempt, full of people who shouldn’t really belong there - only a few steps away from the old town. So, that’s said; I decided to take a deep dive into Schaerbeek, which is considered one of the worst parts of Brussels.
This looks like a nice, wholesome thread made and commented in by men of culture. Anyway, what's the availability like for research chemicals in the Netherlands?
So this is Schaerbeek, one of the muslim ghettoes of Brussels.Yes, this 19th century residential neighbourhood with fancy rowhouses is a Muslim ghetto. In terms of architecture, it is gorgeous. The atmosphere is very peaceful, at least close to the town hall of Schaerbeek (each area of Brussels is its own municipality with administrative structures - that's what Belgians pay so many taxes for).You have hipsters on rollers, students, trams, everything you imagine to be part of a nice European residential neighborhood. Except all of the shops sell halal stuff, everyone is Moroccan and the school children wear burkas. I entered a local eatery and had dinner, zero aggression or irritation. The experience of Schaerbeek was very pleasant, surprisingly so. Would I want to live here? Probabably not. Is it a bad place to live for the locals? Definitely not.
Muslim ghetto Schaerbeek 2/2
>>2711112This nigga been in the same 2 cities in Belgium for a month lmao
>>2729853When you say "locals" do you mean the African conquerors?
>>2729875there are no local locals in brussels lol. with exception of wealthy outskirts, it all immigrants. not all African, but all noxn-belgian.
We finished our impressions of Brussels in the old town, which, as we discovered, has an area that’s not only reminiscent of Paris, but even a straight copy, up to the cafe designs. Brussels is also a great dining city. My main gripe with Brussels was its a dirty city. The Muslim ghetto of Schaerbeek I’ve shown was one of the cleanest parts of town. Saint Gilles, while also full of beautiful historical architecture, was far worse. Just like in Walloon, garbage disposal isn’t the best, which bags just standing around in the open in the narrow streets.
>>2729869Oh no, I’m long home, just spreading my memories over several weeks. I irrationally love the Low Countriee, especially Belgium and Luxembourg. >>2729875Yup.
>>2730950>>2730951do you mind rotating your pics b4 uploading them, OP?
>>2731080dindu dat on purpose
Brussels is shitholey yes, but it really does have its moments
>>2730950>The Muslim ghetto of Schaerbeek I’ve shown was one of the cleanest parts of town.Anon, Schaerbeek is split in 2 with one part being the infamous shithole and the other part being "gentrified"If you want to see the worst of Brussel but don't want to get mugged the place to visit is MolenbeekT. I live in Brussels
>>2731751What about anderlecht?
>>2731881Funny enough that's pretty much were i liveAnderlecht is fine, it's "poor" aka full of foreigners but not a ghetto or anythingIt's what's left if you remove everything both bad and good about Brussel, really good public transport though
>>2731955You think the Brussels demonization is overblown? If even living in anderlecht isn’t that bad
My final photo from Paris and one of my overall favorites from the trip. Oh, did I say Paris? No, this is Brussels. The area around Dansaert and Pentagon is as close to a Paris LARP as a non-French city ever got. It’s full of gastronomy and partygoers. Locals, in brief, so it’s missing the somewhat stuffy and formal vibe central Paris has. So, what are your thoughts about Brussels? I have many. It’s a complicated, confusing, sometimes deeply depressing, sometimes joyful city that’s actually more like a connection of loosely connected micro cities. I didn’t visit elite residential quarters Elsene/Ixelles or the European Quarter this time, but I believe they’re amongst the less interesting anyways.
So Brussels is a mixed city of good and bad. The next one is paradise.
good shit anon but it doesnt feel like you followed to the letter your itinerary >>2711112, you're a dangerous man
it do be like that doe
Gonig to Ghent Belgium in December on business what do I do
>>2734136Appreciate what’s perhaps the best city in Europe no exaggeration
