After coming back from Russia, I went to Belgium and Holland for a few days, the first time for me to visit those two countries. For most of the time I stayed in Antwerp but my girlfriend and I also did some trips to Amsterdam, Brussels and Ghent.
The general impression of Belgium and Amsterdam is quite nice. It seems to be like Germany for the most part just that the language is different and that there are some local features unique to each city. One notable general difference is that restaurants are a lot more expensive but no less frequented and that the cities seem more lively.
Antwerp is a very lovely and rather small city except for its huge train station that is especially impressive at night because it goes way below the ground in a grand aula under the historic dome. One feature I noticed is that it has go lots of flags hanging everywhere as you can see below on the city hall.
Brussels on the other hand is quite old in many parts and certainly has the flair of a big european city. What is exhausting is that part of the city is located up a small hill but that makes for great sundowns in turn when sitting on the hillside.
Amsterdam is many people’s favourite city and that is certainly understandable when you visit it. We rented a bike for most of our stay and the canals are a great way to discover the whole city. Logical when the whole city is made up of canals? As you can see on the pictures the typical street in the centre really is just a small road to the left and the right of a canal flowing in the middle. Of course you also smell weed the moment you step out of the train.
