There's more to Belgium than just... (Part One)

If you're like I was a year ago, you probably know of a few places in Belgium such as Brussels, Antwerp and maybe Bruges or Ghent, but not much else. Belgium is a small country and isn't as well known as some of its neighbors, but since we've been here we've learned that there are a lot of really neat places in this country that we'd never even heard of. So far we haven't traveled too widely, and so we only know some of these places based on reading about them or seeing them on a map. We do hope to do a little more in-country traveling as Spring arrives and we finish the marathon training (it's time consuming!), so hopefully we'll soon be able to provide firsthand trip reports on some of these destinations. In the meantime I'll give you a preview, today focusing on the lesser-known parts of Flanders (in the north), and tomorrow on Wallonia (the south).

Most of the Belgian cities you've probably heard of are in Flanders, so there aren't as many "undiscovered" places in this region as you'll find in the south. Still, there are some places that are decidedly off the beaten path. Here's a few:

Mechelen: it's about halfway between Brussels and Antwerp, and despite significant damage during both World Wars, its cathedral, palace and other architectural gems were largely preserved. It's also in the heart of the asparagus growing region, and many gourmets consider its "fat white" variety to be the best anywhere. (See picture #1, courtesy of Wikipedia)

Belgian coastal villages: we've been to De Haan, one of the quaint seaside villages, but there are numerous towns of varying size and atmosphere. There's a tram that runs almost the entire 65km of coastline and stops in nearly every town. This is a great way of getting around, and I've heard that riding the tram and hopping on and off along the way can be a nice daytrip. (See my post from October 9th, 2007 for pictures of De Haan)

Ypres: this city is unfortunately best known for being utterly destroyed in World War I. Over 300,000 Allied soldiers died here as well, so it's a somber place, as illustrated by the numerous monuments, cemetaries and the famous poem In Flanders Fields (there is also a museum of the same name). The town was rebuilt in accordance with its original design, so despite being relatively "new", it has managed to recreate much of its original charm. (See pictures #2 and #3, courtesy of Trabel and Wikipedia, of the rebuilt old town and the Menin Gate memorial)