City Hunter: Four Cities

I only meant to go and see Manneken Pis, and ended up as a city hunter. While planning the trip I noticed the four cities were all a short train ride apart, so I decided to see all of them! My secret favourite is Antwerp, a city I first came to know through diamonds. When I worked as a consultant at I-PRIMO, our lessons always covered where diamonds come from and where they are traded, and Antwerp is a key hub among the world's four major diamond exchanges: around 80% of rough diamonds and 50% of all diamond trading pass through it. So you can imagine how excited I was to actually arrive there! The second stop was Ghent. It was drizzling, but honestly the whole city felt so warm and calm that even the sound of the rain was soothing. The next day, in Bruges, the streets kidnapped us before we even reached the canals, and we took photo after photo of cute houses and cobbled lanes. Just before leaving Belgium we went back to Brussels to meet Manneken Pis and his sister Jeanneke Pis! As the saying goes, "Belgium gave Brussels to the EU, Bruges to the tourists, and kept Ghent for itself." Go and see it for yourself and you'll understand what makes Belgium special!

Antwerp has more than its diamond quarter: it also has the most beautiful railway station in the world, and the moment you step off the train at Central Station you can see it lives up to the name! I love the marble walls and the high ceilings, which make the space feel so comfortable. Sunlight pours in through the glass and scatters across the hall, laying a warm tone over the cold marble. My favourite detail is the slightly vintage gilded ANTWERPEN sign, which takes the grandeur of the station to another level! Outside the station there are lots of diamond shops, with all kinds of cuts and carat sizes you rarely see in Taiwan. A completely different world! The streets are spotless and orderly. We rode e-scooters to Het Steen, the oldest surviving building in Antwerp. A giant statue stands at the gate: legend has it that Lange Wapper, a giant who loved playing tricks, once lived in the castle. It doesn't look like a typical castle; from the outside it is very simple. I didn't do my homework on the giant, but the castle is well laid out, with a gift shop and a viewing deck inside. Well worth a visit, and it's free, so I highly recommend it! From there it's about a 5 to 10 minute walk to the Town Hall square. The Baroque bronze fountain in the middle tells Antwerp's legend: the hero Brabo killed the giant, cut off his hand and threw it into the river! Then it was time to refuel with Belgian fries at Frites Atelier Antwerp, a chain you'll find all over the Netherlands and Belgium. As an energy boost, it was exactly what we needed! By the way, we also found a COCO and topped up with a bubble tea! Then the train carried on to the next stop: Ghent.

We spent the night in Ghent at a business hotel and went for a walk around the city in the evening. With the steady drizzle and our early flight, we were all exhausted. We stopped on St Michael's Bridge and watched people and trams passing back and forth. Just walking through this city is enough to fall for it: quiet, with a style all its own, untroubled by the world. One short night was enough for Ghent's romance to leave a deep impression. I'm hoping to come back on a sunny day, or to stay longer next time. I think I'll love it even more!

The train rolled slowly on. On a March morning in Belgium it was still cold for me. Bruges is a city whose name is so cute I can't forget it; in Chinese it sounds like Pluto's name, and I always want to ask, "And where's Pluto?" The walk from the station to the canals takes about 20 minutes, and it took us a whole hour! Red-brick houses with doors in every colour, uneven cobbled lanes, quiet empty streets: the whole town became our photo studio and the three of us had the best time! Even at the canals, every view looked like a scene from a film, almost unreal. Imagine living somewhere like this, how lovely! We couldn't skip the boat tour, so we bought tickets and joined in! The most memorable part was the captain, who switched freely between English, Spanish and Italian as he guided us (IG:soycapitan_g) and gave a really thorough introduction to Bruges. Sitting on the boat in a light breeze, the city of red and yellow brick felt different from the first two cities, a little more playful and lively. In the end, to catch our train, the three of us ran to the station, just as playful and lively.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly arrive at Brussels Central. Please remember to take all your belongings with you. Thank you for travelling with SNCB." Our last stop was Brussels. To be honest, the city centre isn't really my thing. From the moment we left Central Station, the smell of urine followed us all the way, and like most tourist areas it was crowded, messy and full of strange people. We hurried straight to Manneken Pis, and when I finally saw him I thought: yep, he really is just a little boy. A cute "been there" moment! Then we went to find his sister Jeanneke Pis, and finished with a Belgian beer to round off the trip on a high note before heading back to Ireland.

Belgium was one of the few trips I took with my two flatmates, just the three of us. Once our lives on the Ireland working holiday had settled down, we each had our own working hours, our own places we wanted to go and our own friends, but I'm so glad they were like family to me in Ireland, with me through the fun, the happy days, the lows and the times I felt lost. We are all different, yet we share the same curiosity about the world. That last Belgian beer was a toast to everyone brave enough to set out. The beauty of Europe can't be summed up by one place, or described in just a few words. A different time, different travel companions, a different mood: each brings its own kind of beauty. Is it your turn to set off? I hope I'll get to hear your story next time.