Belgium Favorite Tips by tompt

Where to park?

Favorite thing: Another example of the confusing signs in Belgium. When you are driving a moped (bromfiets in dutch) where should you park at this college in Aalst right as the picture says or left as the written sign at the bottom says?

A new export product

Favorite thing: A genius idea, the new belgian posters...........

Who wouldn't want to have this beautiful poster hanging from there wall? And when you know it is a Belgian invention, it is even better.

And if you are one of the few who don't like the design you can color it just as you like it!

Picture taken in Aalst april 2007.

The one time the Belgian beats the Dutch.......

Fondest memory: Altough this picture wasn't taken in Belgium but In Valkenburg (Netherlands), we still want to put it here to boast the moral of our Belgian readers. (Valkenburg is very close to Belgium)

This is picture taken in the Fluweelengrot, a marlstone cave. It is one of the many pictures painted on the walls there. But this one has a [ very unlikely ;-) ] story.
On the left you see a Dutch man on the right it is a neighbour for Belgium. The Belgian has a club, but the Dutch has a sword swinging above his head. The question is who is going to win?

The answer is fairly simple: the Belgian knight, because the Dutch sword is going to hit the rock above his head.

[ We still think the story should be the other way around....... but this is what the sign said ]

What is the address?

Favorite thing: This picture is made in Durbuy, the smallest city in Belgium. We would think it is easy to find a housenumber in the smallest city........... but not here! This house has actually two numbers next to the door (16 and 100).

For more detail see the other picture.

paying your parkingfee

Favorite thing: Another strange belgian thing. Paying your parking fee you can choose: pay with coins or not.

In the case of this parkingmeter in Lier the tariff is as follows:
Tariff 1: pay with coins
- 0,20 Euro per 24 minutes or
- 2,00 Euro per 4 hours
if you don't pay with coins you automatically choose tariff 2.
Tariff 2: half day ticket
- 9,00 Euro from 9:00-14:00 or 14:00 to 19:00
Do some calculating and make your choice...... 2 Euro per 4 hours or 9 Euro for 5 hours, tough, tough.

Really, we will never understand the belgian method.

Toilet or ticket office?

Favorite thing: At the station of Mechelen Nekkerspoel there is a temporary ticket office and a temporary toilet. But this signs seem to tell us they are in the same room. Or is it just a seperate ticket office for men and women?

This sign is not bad...

Favorite thing: This is a very realistic sign, not often seen, but absolutely confronting smokers. The skull smoking a cigarette above the doorway to the smokingroom is very clear.
You can smoke there, but it is at your own risk.........

Help Belgium !

Favorite thing: We like to tease our Belgian friends with strange things we see in their country, all the general tips are about signs or situations we actually saw in Belgium. Some of these things may look strange in the eyes of the foreigner, and some also look strange in the eyes of the Belgians.

Therefor we start with this sign (somewhere in the small town of Diksmuide) it says: SUPPORT BELGIUM !

All tips here should be read with a sense of humor :-)

just 4 fun

Favorite thing: Sit back and enjoy these actual things we noticed in Belgium and don't take the text to literal.

First thing we noticed:
The dogs can't read signs in Belgium.

Wheelchairs down.....

Fondest memory: And sometimes the road is made easier for wheelchairs. This way of travelling is absolutely faster than the previous sign........