Belgium Escapades with J: October 2013 - Ghent

Belgium has plenty of cool old cities. And I love old cities. And I love Belgians. So of course I went. Of course with J.

Belgium Escapades with J: October 2013 - Antwerp

"I love you" - Under a bridge next to Antwerp Berchem train station

 Jarne lives in Antwerp, with his twin brother. The headquarters of Jarne’s company, Twinski, is based in A-town.  Twinski creates websites, apps, and other cool digital stuff :3

So I paid Jarne a visit and he showed me around his turf :P

Belgium Escapades with J: October 2013 - 2nd trip to Brussels

Parc du Cinquantenaire

For my second trip to Brussels, I didn’t ride a train. I carpooled with Aurelie, a Belgian lady who was headed to Brussels after her weekly visit to her French boyfriend. I use covoiturage.fr to find carpool opportunities—some cost only 5 euros, which is a third of the price compared to TGV.

Belgium Escapades with J: October 2013 - 1st trip to Brussels

The famous pissing boy of Belgium, Manneken Pis

What I wanted to see the most in Brussels (besides Jarne :P) was Manneken Pis. I think it's a good representation of how I see Belgians--they're naughty, sometimes they're annoying, but in the end, very loveable. The story of this statue is interesting, because there are many. The most prevalent legend behind the boy is that a long time ago there were two troops battling, and the duke of one of the troops was a 2 year old boy. The troops put the young duke in a basket and hung it in a tree for encouragement.  From the tree, the duke peed on the enemies which led them to lose the battle :P

Bruges: 14 to 15 September, 2013

In Bruges

Belgium! The land of chocolates and fries and beer!

Going to Belgium from Lille is cheaper than going to Paris, so why not?! In fact, I can drive to the Belgian border from Roubaix in 15 minutes! I went to Bruges for the weekend with my fellow Lasallian exchange students. I don’t get to see them a lot, because they live in Lille (in a really nice apartment).