TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - It’s been a long time since I wanted to visit Belgium. Despite of living in Germany, which is located just next to Belgium, I have never visited the country. So when my daughter Sheila spilled out the idea to travel to Belgium on the train, I nodded without hesitation.
“Belgium is a small country. We can drive around the country in one day,” a friend once said.
Then I booked the ticket through D-Gahn, Germany’s railway company that offered ticket with half of the normal price. My 14-year-old daughter could even ride for free of charge because she is under 15 years old.
Through Wimdu.de website, I found a private apartment for rent that belongs to a photographer. The apartment was fully furnished for almost Rp1 million per night charge. The price was still cheaper than if we booked a hotel room that only offer bedroom and bathroom.
The weather was not too friendly when we begun our journey on April. The sun was bright but the temperature was 4 to 5 Celsius degree. We took off on the InterCity Express, a fast train that took us to Koeln in four hours. In Koeln, We took the Regional Express train to Aachen and arrived in less than one hour. The trip cost us 29.25 Euros.
Most of the trains in Germany are clean and comfortable. They have toilets similar to those available on the planes, with soap and tissues. There were no bumpy experiences (like when the train is transferring rails), so it was comfortable for long distance trip. The sea was made of sponge and covered with velvet.
I stayed over in Aachen at my friend’s house. We visited Maastricht; a city belongs to the Netherlands but only one hour drive from Aachen, the next morning.
On our way to Maastricht, we stopped by the Vaals hills that are 300-meter above the sea level.
“Here is the point where three countries (Drielandenpunt) meet, the Netherlands-Belgium-Germany,” my friend said when we were driving.
The hill is a favorite place for pedestrian and cyclists for its shady and fresh environment.
The Drielandenpunt is indicated with three national flags that are stuck on the same point. We took photos and ate the Netherland fried potatoes. There were many tourists with hat and sunglasses occupying the seats to enjoy the ambience.
From here, we continued to go to Maastricht, the second biggest city after Amsterdam. While drugs like morphine or marijuana are illegal in Germany, they are commonly served at the bars in Netherlands. Germany police are regularly raided cars from Netherland for drug smuggling.
Maastricht is attractive for tourists as a recreational and shopping place. The view at the downtown is similar to the Pasar Baru in Jakarta, where vendors of vegetables, snacks and ice creams are mixed with stores that sell expensive goods. My daughter could not stop munching on the Dutch typical food, poffertjes (pancake smeared with sugar powder).
“Peanut sauce is an Indonesian recipe that is adopted by the Dutch,” said a food vendor who claimed to go to Indonesia often.
We were soon on the train again to go to Belgium. The InterCity Express took us to the Brussel Nord station, Belgium, eight minute later. Finding the seemingly simple address for the apartment turned out to be difficult. Some people we asked did not know how to get to the address.
Luckily, a black man helped us calling Damien, the owner of the apartment, to ask for direction. It was a relief.
The apartment looked exactly like it looks on the internet. It was my first time booking through Windu.de and I was not disappointed.
I still want to laze around in the apartment when my daughter asked to go to eat some waffle in the down town. It was her wish since before we departed. The widely known waffle turned out to be originated from Belgium. In the waffle restaurant, the waffle is served with various kinds of toppings such as cream, chocolate, honey, and strawberry jam.
Across the Brussels Central Station there is Grote Markt, the city center of Brussels that was surrounded by antique buildings in gothic style and extraordinarily beautiful architectures. Grote Markt is the most visited place.
On August, Belgium would put red carpet covered with thousands of colorful begonia flowers. This annual tradition is listed as the world heritage by UNESCO.
The other legend in Belgium, is Tintin.
“Belgians grew up with Tintin,” said a person showing how popular the comic character is. Tintin is created by Herge or Georges Remi. We can see the original sketches and things that had inspired the cartoonists in the Herge Museum.
The museum is located in the west of Belgium, only 30 minutes from the downtown. On top of the museum building, the statue or Tintin and his dog snowy was built. The museum was built by Herge’s second wife Fanny Rodwell and consisting of two stories with nine display rooms.
Belgium becomes more attractive since all of the tourism destinations are accessible with bus or trams. By referring on a piece of city map, we can find our way to the desired destination.
Our next destinations were Atomium, the symbol of Belgium and resurrection of economy and science. Here, the first world exhibition after the World War II was held. Exploring the Atomium felt like we were traveling from one atom to another.
Not far from Atomium, there was the mini Europe built on 24-hectare land. There were 350 miniatures of buildings typical to European countries such as Berlin Wall, Buckingham Plaace, Big Ben, and Pisa tower.
On our last day, we were hunting for the famous Belgium chocolates. Once it comes into the mouth, the chocolate melted and it was very delicate. However, they were not cheap. One ounce of chocolate was sold for Rp128,000. Rumors says that Belgium spend 750 tons of chocolate a year through 2,000 stores spread across the city.
There were many mouth-drooling foods worth trying but I had to save time to buy gifts for my friends and family.
SRI PUDYASTUTI BAUMEISTER
