Home is where our story begins ...
A quarter of century, this is the amount of years that I have been living in the Basque country. Who was going to tell me during my youth that I would live in Belgium. Tucked between the Netherlands and France on the north coast of Europe, Belgium is home to more than 11.4 million people. Since the beginning of 2019 is also my new home.
A bilingual country, which is divided into two regions with radically different styles and heritage: the French-speaking Wallonia in the south, and the Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north. The capital, Brussels, is considered a separate region but largely speaks French. The language barrier within their own country is often dissolved through English, which is widely spoken, including at the country’s largest university, the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven).
Belgium is a very liberal country. Euthanasia was legalized in 2002, and gay marriage in 2003. It also prides itself on its hospitality: world-class beer is available from bars that stay late deep into the night (there is no legal closing time), tasty food can be bought from street vendors (often coated to excess in mayonnaise) and there are host of small shops or chains offering Belgian chocolates.
Brussels’ location at the crossroads between the Netherlands, Germany and France often made it the center of European wars for the past 1000 years, but today it means easy access to the European Union’s major players. Although it is home to only 2% of Europe’s citizens, its chemical, plastics and life sciences sectors account for 5% of value according to the European Chemical Industry Council. This weighs in at around €65 billion (￡57 billion), directly employing 90,000 workers across more than 700 companies in the chemical sciences and accounting for almost a third of total manufacturing value in the country. It’s worth noting, though, that few of these are Belgian-owned companies: around 75% of employment in the Belgian chemical industry is through a foreign parent company.
Belgians also enjoy a high quality of living but they suffer from high taxes. One of the things that has surprised me the most is the number of people who use the bicycle as a method of transportation. Even though the weather is not as good as in the south of Europe, they are very aware of taking care of the environment. Due to the great location, is the home of the European Parliament. Which is an important forum for political debate and decision-making at the EU level. The Members of the European Parliament are directly elected by voters in all Member States to represent people’s interests with regard to EU law-making and to make sure other EU institutions are working democratically.
If you’re in Brussels, avoid the tourist hotspot of Menneke Pis (the small statue of a boy urinating isn’t that impressive) and instead head out to see the Atomium. Built for the 1958 World’s Fair, today the 102-meter high model of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times is a museum.
Figure 1.- Incredible view of one of the canals in Bruge.
One tip if you are looking to do some sightseeing in Belgium. The towns of Bruges (Fig1) and Ghent are largely considered picture-perfect, filled as they are with medieval houses and canals.