Belgium was not in my list of next destinations, but as I had to go there for a Toastmasters meeting, I decided to extend my stay for a week and discover it. Belgium is a country, which is not known for their touristic interest (especially for a one-week long trip), but that would allow me to be more relaxed during that time, which is also nice. After checking with friends with some local expertise, I decided to establish my base in Brussels after the 3-day meeting in Leuven, and do day-trips from there, and then go to the Netherlands in the weekend.
Belgium is a quite complex country in spite of its small size. Nowadays, we see a clear language difference: the Northern people speak Flemish (Dutch), while the Southern ones speak French. The only officially bilingual city in the country is Brussels. This is the outcome of a very convulse history with many countries invading this area for centuries (for instance, French language in Belgium is the result of an invasion back in the 5th Century). Belgium has been under Spanish, Austrian, French and Dutch rule, before its final independence in 1830. 
Independence did not bring them peace, though. Belgium was also invaded in both World Wars. It was after the World War II, in 1948 that together with France, Germany, and the other countries in the Benelux, the first seeds of the European Union were planted. The goal was to avoid more wars in Europe, and the vehicle to do so was an agreement on one of the most important resources in Europe: the coal and the steel in Central Europe. It all began with a cooperation agreement on the coal and steel, led by Robert Schuman (French Foreign Affairs Minister), in 1950. Their idea was that, being the coal and the steel strategic assets, if they agreed on it, it would be impossible to enter again in a war. This first intention evolved into more aspects, like an economic union or the citizenship, as well as growing the number of countries, and the main institutions of the European Union were established in Brussels: the Parlament (although its official headquarter is Strasbourg), and the Commission, apart from several agencies.
Apart of Europe HQ, Belgium is worldwide known for one more thing: beer. They have hundreds of them, with a specific glass for every single beer to boost the characteristics of the beer. Everything has a beginning and beer history in Belgium is quite interesting. In the Middle Ages, water quality was not that good, and Saint Arnold (who happens to be the patron saint of the brewers) promoted that people drank beer instead of water, so that some diseases could be avoided. Beer was at that time brewed mainly in the Monasteries, and this production started to happen as well outside the religious circles. In the 19th century, the monasteries brewed again as a way to get funds, due to a bad financial situation provoked by the religious crisis. Nowadays, beer production, even if originally made by monks, has been outsourced, except six of them, the Trappist, which are still brewed in active abbeys: Chimay, Orval, Westmalle, Rocheforst, Achel, and Westvleteren.
Travelling in this area has several common items. One of them are the Béguinages/Beginjhofs, enclosed urban villages, which used to host beguines, single women, who although not making any formal religious vows, formed monastic-like communities where they could live as long as they remain unmarried, which normally meant the whole life. The Belfries are towers that seem to be part of churches, but they are not, as they were built to celebrate civic liberties and wealth in the Middle Ages. Food-wise, I discovered their love for the mussels, which are served with fries (they claim to have invented them too) in almost any place, and of course, waffles and chocolate are also known worldwide. 
Going back to the actual trip, I started it in Leuven (A), a small town East of Brussels, for a Toastmasters weekend. It is home of the first university in Belgium, and its Town Hall tried to compete with the Brussels’ one in size, although it would be better off in other categories, like its ornate Gothic facade. Its Béguinage belongs nowadays to the University, and is used to accomodate teachers and students. 
After Leuven, I moved to Brussels, which seemed to me an interesting city to spend some months or even years as an expat, but probably not the best place to settle down. From what I heard, you should keep your eyes open and safety is not one of their strengths (although I did not experience anything wrong myself). Brussels top sight is of course the Grande Place. It is an extremely nice spot, with the different guild houses competing one to each other in beauty, and a huge town hall.
In the city centre, the Galeries St.Hubert are also worth a visit, the mandatory Manekken Pis (really small one), and the nice atmosphere at the Place Sainte Catherine. The EU-Area is interesting from the point of view that most of the citizens in Brussels work in something related to the institutions, and it also hosts the Parlamentarium, a museum about the European Union which can make you spend a complete morning reading and watching all the info they have. Last but not least, a visit to the Atomium to see this original construction built in 1958 for the Expo is worth the long tram ride.
From Brussels, I did two day trips. The first one was to Brugge and Gent, which are the cities that attract most tourists, and there is a very good reason for that. Both of them keep a medieval atmosphere that makes its visit very entertaining, although most of them were destroyed after the wars, and were reconstructed thinking on the tourism. Brugge (1) was part of the Hanseatic League back in the 14th Century, as its harbour was one of the major ones in the North of Europe. The merchants at that time used to meet at the Inn of the Van der Buerse family to trade, and from those meetings comes the name “Bourse”, which is stock market in French. During the 15th century the Zwin, a big channel that arrived to Brugges, silted up and Brugge had no access to the sea, going through a deep economic crisis till the 20th Century brought the tourism back to the city. Brugge has a number of interesting buildings, and sights, but I would highlight the Gotische Zaal in the Stadhuis.
On the other hand, Gent (2) looks a bit more “normal”, with a nice combination of old reconstructed buildings with newer and more functional ones. Its importance in history is out of question, as it even was the third largest medieval city, only after Paris and Constatinople. Gent also went through some centuries of recession, till the Industrial Revolution brought a number of flax and cotton mills to the city. If you like fortresses, its Belfort is a really nice piece to visit; and the same applies with the Dulle Griet bar in the Vrijdagsmarkt if you like beer. 
The second day trip covered the East part: Liège and Namur. These are not extremely touristic and not a must in Belgium, I must admit. Liège (3) is today a modern city with a river, and I found it a probably nice place to live, but not to visit. Historically-wise, it was a historic religious center, governed by the Prince-Bishops until the end of the 18th Century, and it has always been a key place for industry: arms and gunpowder till the 17th Century, and home of steel and glass factories since the 19th Century. What I really liked was the way that the train took from Namur to Liege close to the river Mense and with really nice views, before arriving to Santiago Calatrava’s main train station. Namur (4) is a small town with just one interesting item: a fortress occupies a big rock in the middle of the city, which can be visited on your own, offering you nice views of the rest of the city, but nothing impressive either. 
After a week in Belgium, I still managed to pay a quick visit to the Netherlands. We established the base of operations in Leiden (C), a relaxed town, with an important university and full of nice channels. 
Our first visit was the Afsluitdijk (5), the Closure Dike, in the north of Amsterdam. Driving through it is quite spectacular, as it is a 32 km-long dike in the middle of two seas: North Sea and the Ijsselmeer. It is one of the main constructions that allowed a big portion of the current Netherlands to emerge. Being in a windy day, with waves at both sides of the dike, it is hard to imagine how they could built it in just 5 years, and almost a century ago… between 1927 and 1932. 
Saturday afternoon was the right moment for The Hague (6). The city is alive, and hosts the International Court. From a tourist point of view, its Begijnhof is worth a visit, but what really surprised me was the beach area. It has a number of restaurants and many other attractions for the spare time, while the sun sets behind the oil platforms in the North Sea. 
Haarlem (7) was the perfect closing for the week on Sunday: channels, the Great Church, mills and a well-preserved Beginjhof, before returning to the Charleroi airport.
