Saturday, April 26, 2014

Central Europe 4th part: 3 Days in Benelux States: Belgium

23-days Autumn Experience on my 1st Schengen Visa Escapade
October 17 to October 19, 2013 

"The lake and the mountains have become my landscape, my real world."- Georges Simenon

My 21st country to visit, 25th solo backpacking trip, 5th visa application for tourism on entire single page, and of course, usual budget do-it-yourself itinerary from arrival to departure.

Benelux is a union of states comprising three neighboring countries in Midwestern Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal monarchy in Western Europe. The name 'Belgium' is derived from Gallia Belgica, a Roman province in the northernmost part of Gaul.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium

Atomium

Atomium

Atomium

This another race against time, very short backpacking researched in somehow detailed manner has a compressed itinerary designed as follows: 

October 18 Friday:

Basic Words to Remember;
hello - hallo;   thank you - dank u;   I love you - ik houd van u;   goodbye - doei!
yes/no - ja/nee;   sorry - sorry!;   please - alstublieft;   excuse me - excuseer me!
toilet - toilet;   train station - trein station;   airport - luchthaven

timezone - +0100H UTC;   capital - Brussels;   language - Dutch 
currency - Euro 1EUR = 56 PHP = 1.3 USD

visa - Filipino's need to apply 1st before travel 
how to apply tourist visa in Belgium ? (Schengen visa applied in France Embassy)
 
Mini-Europe seen in Atomium

views outside Atomium

Brussels Cathedral

Brussels other tourist spots


Interesting Facts about Belgium:
1.There are over 800 kinds of beers made in Belgium. Belgians consume in average 150 liters of beer per person per year. 
2. Belgium is the country that grants the most new citizenship per capita in the world after Canada
3. Belgian people are the most avid users of discount coupons in the world, just before the United States.

Brussels Train Station arrival at night; (coming from Luxembourg City, Luxembourg)
Night train travel from Luxembourg to Brussels was very relaxing with no hassle and interruption. No hassle means absolutely no immigration security check anywhere and no interruption means no delay on train departure/arrivals. I arrived exactly the same time as specified in e-ticket.

Brussels other tourist spots

Brussels other tourist spots

Anyways, I divided this wonderful journey into different set of posts to be more specific on its content;



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