ready for the next destination
Belgium is a tiny country in Europe compare to some other big ones like Spain, Italy, Germany, France, U.K. But despite it’s size, this place has many things to offer including waffles, chocolates, diamonds, french fries, and many more countless things. No wonder this country is known as the “Essence of Europe“. I came across these facts on Belgium here and there. Most of them I experienced after being here for a while but some other facts I collected from various different places. eNjOy …
1) A country without Government: Yep, it is scary, but Belgium had no official government for close to 2 years now. No worries, everything is working just fine. The country is being run by a caretaker government.
2)Belgian Chocolates: Belgium produces around 220,000 tonnes of chocolate every year. That means, 22 kg of chocolate is consumed per person per year or 61 grams per day on an average. The world’s biggest chocolate selling point is Brussels National Airport (aha, not any Swiss airports. What does that tell you?)
3) The diamond capital: The world’s main diamond center and second largest petrochemical center is in Belgium. Almost 90% of raw diamonds in the world are negotiated, polished, and distributed in Antwerp, Belgium.
4) 3 official languages: Belgium has 3 official languages. Majority people speak Flemish, which is a local dialect of Dutch, then French is the 2nd most popular, finally very small percent of Belgians (may be 1%) speak German. Luckily, most of the locals can speak Flemish and French very well along with English in cities like Brussels, Brugges, Gent or Antwerpen…good for the expats.
5) Education Law: Education is compulsory in Belgium upto the age of 18, which is the highest in the world.
6) Heart of Europe: Brussels is not only the capital of Belgium, but also the capital of European Union (EU) and houses the headquarter of NATO. That’s why Brussels is called the “Heart of Europe”.
7) Royal Palace of Brussels: The Royal Palace of Brussels is 50% longer than Buckingham Palace.
8) Quality of Education: A 2007 UNICEF report on child well-being in rich countries ranked Belgium as the best country for children’s education well-being.
9) Belgian Frites: Belgians should be given credit for their “French Fries“. It wasn’t France who came up with fries at the first place. Foreign soldiers in Belgium saw French speaking people eating/serving fries (“frites” is what we call here) and that’s where the “French Fries” name came from. Oh, one more thing, in Belgium fries are eaten with mayonnaise, not ketchup, which actually tastes wayyy better.
10) Belgian Waffles: There are 3 main sorts of Belgian waffles: Liege waffles, the most common ones and are eaten more like cookies, have small bites of sugar cyrtals in them. Brussels waffles, my favorite ones, are usually bigger, lighter, rectangular, and eaten with various toppings like fruits, ice cream, nutella. Galettes, haven’t tried this yet, are thinner, softer, and typically eaten for breakfast, sometimes with jam.
Along with the above facts, a Belgian – Adolphe Sax invented saxophone, the first printed newspaper was published in 1605 in Belgium, oil painting was invented here in the 15th century. One more thing I have to mention is that Belgium produces the highest number of comic books in the world (even more than Japan). Belgians are so crazy about comics books that the even have a museum dedicated to those comic lovers. One of the most famous comic hero is Tintin (remember him?), who was a Belgian…
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Belgium had me at Belgian waffles and chocolate!
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I miss fresh Belgian waffles and its smell…for chocolates, at least I can find Belgian chocolate here and there. But then again, fresh Belgian chocolate is another world. Thanks for stopping by…cheers
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So nice; lovely post:)
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Thanks for stopping by
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My consommation of chocolate is way higher than 61 grams per day….:)
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Yikes..hehehe, you need to move to Belgium or Switzerland then. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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I am Belgian ! 🙂
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Uh…you are lucky then, wish I was still in Belgium, I miss it everyday of my life.
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Hi There, Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’m an Aussie from downunder and would love to keep i ntouch xx
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Thanks for stopping by. You have a wonderful blog. Never visited that part of the world yet, hopefully one day.
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I love Belgium.!! I had the best time when i visited Brussels, Brugges, and Leuven 🙂 Great post.!!
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These are some of the great cities of Belgium, but you gotta come back to visit the Walloon (French side) of Belgium…vast natural beauty and fantastic gourmet food
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You are absolutely right.!! I do 🙂
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I LOVE BELGUIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I AM SUPPORTING U BELIUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Thanks for your visit…
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Cheers
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great site lots of cool facts for school thx
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Thanks for your kind visit, pleasure is mine
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Thanks a lot for your like! Your blog looks interesting and makes me curious- am looking forward to reading more!
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Thanks for your stopping, welcome aboard 🙂
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Thanks for the like
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Thanks for your visit….cheers
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Thanks for finding me and my blog! From your website I could tell that we shared a common interest in travel, then I discovered that you’re from Portland, one of my favorite places in the U.S. that I return to when I go home at least once a year, and that we were a teacher in Portland – I worked at a school there as well. Sometimes it’s amazing how small the world is.
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Wow, what a small world. I miss Portland so much. Thanks for visiting my blog.
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Going to Ghent soon. Any tips?
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Please check my page on Gent/Ghent on the right side under Belgium. Beautiful place, will definitely enjoy it.
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Thank you for visitng & liking my blog.
I think you have one of the most fascinating blogs I’ve ever seen.
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Thanks so much for your nice compliments and your visit…have a wonderful weekend.
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Thank you for visiting my blog today. I appreciate the time you took to stop by. May your day be filled with joy and peace.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
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Thanks for stopping by my blog…cheers
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Belgian Frites is great. Belgium also has a lot (and I mean a LOT) different local beers. Deserves a place in the list;)
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Thanks for your visit…cheer
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Most of my experience with Begium is in Bruges, which I love.
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Bruge is fascinating, but you gotta come visit Brussels… I am sure you will love it too
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Yep. I live here. Good place to live.
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Wow, goody… Wish I knew either Dutch or French fluently, but nevertheless love living here too
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I’m not too far away from Belgium and we hope to visit soon. I do love waffles 🙂
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Yes, come to Belgium for the love of waffles 🙂 it wont disappoint you
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Sweet – hope to visit your country one day
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For now, you can say its my country. But I will be gone may be next year back to my home sweet home in Portland, Oregon (USA) and will miss everything about Belgium 😦
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It IS a fun list. I think the quality of my education would have to be good if I was eating Belgian waffles every morning before school.
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Lolz, yeh those lil naughty things are so heavenly, although not the healthiest thing around 😉
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While I was in college I did 13 countries in 6 months. Belgium was my very favorite. And I do LOVE Belgian waffles !!
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Yeh, I agree, I will miss two things from Belgium when we go back to America…waffle and chocolates 😦
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On my way back to the old country this weekend for a road trip with my brother and girlfriend. One night in Bruges and another in Antwerp, home via Gent. Can’t wait!
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Wow, Bruges, Antwerp, Gent….pearls of Flanders. First time?
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Nope, been several times before but it didn’t disappoint!
What a lovely little country.
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In Brussels I lived on great beer and cheese sandwiches.
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Yeh, Belgian beer… 😉
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Interesting article! I’m half-Belgian by descent and have been there quite a few times now. It’s a lovely little country and the food is great (I love kroketten and bitterballen, although I think they may be Dutch). Another interesting fact is that it is compulsory to vote in the Belgian elections, it is considered a federal offence to abstain.
I hope you tried the beer there, there are so many different beers (mostly bottle conditioned) and each is served in its own glass. They really treat their beer like the French treat their wine!
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Wow, I didnt know that you have to vote here. Yeh, I love this country and our little village Tervuren. Thanks for stopping by.
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ciao! thanks for (ad)dressing my blog. i checked yours and it’s just a luvFAB.
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Thanks for dropping by
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Interesting blog post about Belgium. Sweden isn´t too far away but I have never been there! Thanks for the list!
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We actually drove to Lund and Malmo in Sweden after our visit to Legoland in Denmark couple weeks ago, it was fantastic. Belgium is a small country with large attitude… I am sure you will love Brussels if you decided to come here in the future
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Great list! I love Belgium as well, especially the Belgium chocolate.
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They are the best… Thanks for stopping by
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l love Belgium,l visited this beautiful city when l used to live in Vienna.Best regards.J.Michael
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Oh how wonderful, we’ve visited Vienna in couple months ago in April. My next post was going to be on Vienna actually. So many places to visit there. Thanks for stopping by.
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you forgot Belgian beer, the Atomium. Oh my, when I was 8 or 9 years old, we went to see the Atomium and there were these, to me, amazing speaking trash cans in the form of a man and a woman. They kept saying “ici papier, papier ici” and my mom had to find trash to put in their mouths.
sorry to rattle on. It’s just a fun memory for me and I guess you had to be there.
Love your blog as well as frites with mayonnaise
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I love almost everything about Belgium, we have about a year and a half left here before going back to my home in Oregon. Until then enjoying every bit of it… Thx for visiting my blog btw
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Appuuu…I’m so glad I found your blog! I was wondering if you had one cause you get to travel to so many cool places!! I hope I can visit you guys in Belgium..iA, until then…I’ll just read your posts and imagine myself there =D
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Thx for visiting my blog Mou… I really hope u guys can make it to Brussels soon iA.
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Lovely! I would love to see some photos! I’ve never been!
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Thx for visiting my blog. I am still working on a page on Brussels but you can check out my page on Gent… A beautiful city in Belgium
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I used to live in Belgium and this post served as a great reminder! Thanks!!
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Thx for visiting, glad you liked it. I bet you miss Belgium, I know I would.
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Great list! I study (partly) in Belgium and I like it a lot 😀
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Thx Annie, hope you are enjoying Belgium as much as I am.
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thank you for pointing to us! and, great blog post! love belgium!
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Thx for visiting.
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