Weekend Getaway in Belgium

Atomium

A week before Christmas holiday, on December12th – 13th 2015, I made a short escape to Belgium with Fara and Mba Anis. They were also Erasmus UGM awardees living in Barcelona. It was a risky idea because Brussels was still in an unstable situation due to Paris terror attack on November 13th. The terror suspect was indicated hiding in the city and the country seemed to reinforce the security. There were apparently several days that the citizens were asked to stay at home. However, according to Mba Lufi and Azka who lived there, the condition was getting better and it was safe to visit the city.

So, here I make a list of achievements I got during the trip!

The first solo trip outside of Italy by plane

(Read the post about my very first solo trip: Buon viaggio!: Sono a Milano)

I booked my first ever Ryanair flight. It’s a well-known low-cost airline for budget travelers across Europe. I spent EUR 33 for return trips Verona Airport – Brussels Zaventem. From Trento to Verona Airport I took the regional train (EUR 7.70) and airport shuttle bus (EUR 6). Luckily, I found a cheap ride with Blablacar for the return trip to Trento from the airport for only EUR 5.

Sleeping in airport

My flight to Brussels on December 11^th was a night flight and supposed to arrive at 22.35. It was too late and dangerous to take a train to the city, so both Azka and Mba Lufi suggested to me that it would be better if I spent a night in the airport. What on my mind was: I’m a girl, have to sleep in foreign public place, alone. I could actually book an airport hotel room for a huge amount of money, but no way I wanted to spend that much money. It’s out of my budget. So, I browsed about how safe it was to sleep in an airport, particularly in Brussels Airport, and found this useful website: http://www.sleepinginairports.net/. After considering the guide from that website, reviews from other travelers, and reviews from other traveling forums, such as TripAdvisor, I decided to accept the suggestion.

I regretted that I ignored Azka’s advice not to leave the arrival hall because there was a comfortable couch and I could actually sleep there. She was right. There were a lot of empty benches and I saw the couch too but I kept walking to the arrival gate because I thought there would be a kind of immigration stuff I should pass through. Remember that it was my first Europe trip by plane, so I didn’t know that the flight regulation in Schengen area was just like the domestic one. Once I left the arrival gate, most of the benches weren’t empty and I was in a panic to think that I couldn’t find a place to sleep. Then I went to the upper floor which seemed to have less human beings and found a closed fast-food restaurant which left their tables and chairs outside. So, I arranged 4 chairs as my bed and use my backpack as the pillow.

I tried hard to sleep despite the anxiety. There were two men in military uniform that kept walking around and I was afraid that they would prohibit me to sleep there. But they were just patrolling. There were also some guys chatting on another table not far from me and I was afraid that they would plan something bad to me. But they were just chatting until quite late and then left. Then I remembered the security officers would walk there at least once in an hour so I could feel safe during my sleep. Then I was able to have conscious sleep for around 4 hours. I won’t recommend anyone (especially girls) to do what I did unless you’re alone or experienced. Or reckless like me.

Belgian public transportation

Geographically, Belgium is not very big. The comfortable way to move from a city to another is by train. There is a discount ticket for people under 26 y.o. called GO PASS 1 that you can use to go to any destination in Belgium for EUR 6.20 now for a single trip (source: Belgian Rail). It costed me EUR 6 in 2015. However, if you go to or from Brussels Airport via railway, certain tickets will be charged with Diabolo fee for EUR 5.25 (was EUR 5.09 in 2015).

I bought a standard ticket from the airport to Antwerp Central for EUR 11.20 after considering that it would cost me almost the same if I bought GO PASS 1 + Diabolo. Well, to be honest, I bought it because I didn’t know how to buy GO PASS and just said to the man in the counter that I wanted a ticket to Antwerp hahaha. But for other tickets, which were Antwerp – Brugge, and Brugge – Brussels, I used ticket machine instead so I was able to buy it.

When strolling around Brussels, I used bus or tram. I purchased the ticket on ticket machine. A single journey ticket costed me EUR 2.10 and 1-day ticket costed EUR 7.50. Both tickets can be used for any transportation in the city. Just make sure you get the ticket whose zone covering all your destinations. If you go to the Airport using a bus, you won’t be charged Diabolo fee. So it’s actually cheaper to go by bus.

Walking around Antwerp for hours

I left the airport for Antwerp very early in the morning and arrived at the Flemish city around 8 AM. In December, it looked just like 5 AM. I came with a single map that I downloaded from Google and printed. On my train to the city, I managed to decide the route that I was going to pass in order to see as much as I could in such a little time. I didn’t expect I would walk around the city for 3 hours non-stop and could have seen almost everything! Here are some of my favorite pics captured by my phone camera :)

Inside Antwerp Central Station

Typical December vibe in Europe. Christmas is coming!

View of the street at 8 AM in December

Just somewhere near Scheldt River

Het Steen Castle

Grote Markt

Christmas market at the Grote Markt

A poem?

A Belgian comic, Jommeke, by Jef Nys

Antwerp Central Station from outside. I'm not promoting Flixbus by the way.

Visiting fairytale town

Around 12 PM, I left for Brugge. That's my meeting point with the Barcelonian girls. I didn't know anything about the city at first. But I ended up falling in love with its beauty. I would say Brugge is a small town that resembles a fairyland. It's cute and unique and a must-visit kinda place in Europe if you're not a big city person like me. Since it was rather cloudy and my phone camera wasn't really good at taking pictures with a few lighting, I can only present you a few pictures.

Comic Museum

My second day in Belgium was dedicated to exploring the capital, Brussels. Since I had no special tendency in any place, I trusted my traveling partners to decide where we were supposed to go. So, we started our day by visiting Comic Museum.

I love comics and cartoons. Even though I don't read Belgian comics, I know some famous ones, like Tintin and The Smurfs. In this museum, there are some exhibitions of work by Belgian comics artist. It's nice to know the history of how comics art grows in Belgium.

Atomium

This is the famous landmark of Brussels, a monument that has a form of an atom. I think this building is very cool because it somehow resembles science. And I love science! The location is a bit out of the city center. We got on a tram for around 30 mins to come there. The weather wasn't really friendly but I was still happy to be there.

with my travel partners

The capital of Europe

We got back to the city center to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere in Brussels. Brussels on Sunday was rather packed. People visited the Christmas market or just simply spent their weekend out of their house. Thankfully, the supermarket was open so we could grab some sandwich for lunch.

We visited the Grand Place (Grote Markt), a huge square in the center of the city. That's where the town hall is. There was also a huge Chrismas tree standing.

After visiting the Grand Palace we walked to Manneken Pis. This is a statue of a naked peeing boy. I think it is just an overrated tourist attraction. It's one of the well-known symbols of Brussels yet I didn't find it special. We got disappointed after seeing the statue was just less than a meter tall, protected by a tall fence. Even its replicas in front of some waffle stores are bigger. But I heard that the statue would wear a costume during certain celebrations. If you can come during this time, perhaps it will be more interesting.

Belgian food experience

Dear chocolate and waffle, can I marry you?

Knowing the difference between Flemish and Wallon

Before I came to Belgium, I once thought that Belgium had a strong Dutch culture. Then I figured out that people in Brussels actually speak French. So I declined my first thought and started to think that the whole Belgium speaks French. But I came to visit cities (Antwerp and Brugge) where every signs and instruction I saw were in Dutch, and no French text was found. What??

While in Belgium, I stayed with a friend of mine, whose friend is Flemish Belgian. In our conversation, she talked a lot about how Flemish and Wallon people hadn't been getting along well. Flemish is the Dutch speaking region in Belgium and Wallon is the French speaking region. Meanwhile, in Brussels both languages are equally used, as you can see both appear in some signs or information boards. I didn't really understand how the dispute started, but apparently, politics makes the situation never goes better.

Actually, I found the problem a bit silly. Belgium is a small country, compared to Indonesia. Indonesia obviously has more diverse culture and ethnic. But I don't see the variety becomes the cause of a big ethnic issue in which an ethnic claims to be much better than the rest. But if politics play a role here, I have no comment. I just hate politics.

Unchecked

There are two famous places in Brussels that I didn't manage to visit: Royal Palace and European Parliamant bulding. On my next visit, maybe?