I lived in Belgium for three years but left recently. I am planning to write about all the things I will miss/am missing about Belgium. As yet they aren't springing to mind, apart from the wonderful art nouveau architecture, but of course Budapest also is pretty good on the architecture front.
In the meantime, I have to say that one thing I am really not missing about Belgium is the regular experience in any cafe, restaurant or public place of having to go through the men's urinals to get to the women's loos. I don't know how anyone else feels, but for me the excitement of seeing Belgian men pee wore off very quickly.
Based on my brief visit years ago, I would start the attractions with beer, fries, mussels, and waterzooi. I don't remember any women cutting through the gents', but maybe I was preoccupied.
ReplyDeleteThe beer is alarmingly strong and often weirdly adulterated with cherries and other strange things; one can quite quickly tire of mussels; ditto frites, although they are good. There are many lovely things about Belgium but I genuinely have never been exposed to quite so many urinals. It is just an odd quirk of the place.
Delete...so you were excited at the outset?
ReplyDeleteYou bet - it is the classic lesson of western society since the 60s; the more you are permitted, the less you are keen (known in parenting circles as negative psychology - or is that th opposite eg "You are absolutely forbidden to learn Latin"?)
ReplyDeleteThe thrill of seeing Belgian men peeing; if only I could recapture those heady early days.