I decide to go on a road trip on my own with my car to Belgium for a day
Meet some people I met earlier this summer at a festival
Follow the workshop on intimacy dancing they are giving in Gent
I will talk about this in part 2 of my story.
At first, I was not used to going out on my own and I mostly stayed around my city.
Going to Belgium with all these unknown places and situations was not comfortable at first.
However, I realized while I was driving and enjoying my music, it was very liberating.
The road to Belgium was a little busy, requiring my attention to stay focused. It made my body feel a little cramped.
But as the road became less busy, I started to relax more and more, and began to enjoy the drive.
And start notice the road in Wallonië the first part from Belgium Becomes more bumpy and some holes on the road after a while. I get used to it after passing the toll road. My first stop was at Molen Beek because I needed some petrol to fill my car. On the highway, it seemed like there was no gas station coming, so I decided to take the first option I could exit the highway and find my way on this country side of Belgium to the gas station. The prices are great if you compare them to the prices in the Netherlands.
Now that my car was full, I was seeking a place where I could eat something good. So, I drove to the little towns on the countryside and stumbled upon a place called ’t Veldcafe with a few parking spots and a terrace that seemed popular even for the Belgian people. Besides needing to find a toilet, I checked out this place and the people there looked kind. I decided to eat something there, so I ordered the best homemade iced tea and grilled cheese sandwich I had in a long time. The picture I took shows it all.
When I tried to pay with my bank card, it didn’t seem to work and I was told that they only accepted payment through a Belgian bank card using an app called “Bank Contact”. So, that was not an option for me, and the woman at the bar became curious about it. I said I had to get some money from my car, and she jokingly told me I could run fast. But when I came back and paid for my lunch, she was very kind and I even gave her a little tip because everything was so good and I wanted to show my appreciation.
Afterwards, I went to a small supermarket to get some snacks for on the road. After this, I continued my journey to Gent, which was not far.For the last part, I decided to skip the highway and find the place where I needed to be. However, I needed a place to park my car for quite a few hours, so I found this spot at the Amandus Capel, a church in the middle of the city. Belgium is very Catholic, (according to the internet 57 % of Belgium people identify as catholic fun fact )and I spotted some older men and women in authentic clothes, which was beautiful to see as they were going to the miss to preach together.
I was still early for the event in the evening, so I walked around Gent and noticed that all the different cultures are living so well along each other. It was amazing to see. There was a Turkish man cleaning his BMW, and I said to him that it looked amazing. He proudly told me it was 10 years old. I said, “You don’t see that it’s 10 years old,” and he had an even bigger smile and thanked me before I walked away. I looked at how I had to walk from my parking spot to the event, so I knew that I would be on time. After I found it, I needed some food again and found this Syrian eating spot only a few minutes away from my parking spot.
I spoke to the owner of Limoena Grillhouse, telling him that I don’t know much about the Syrian kitchen. I asked for his favorite dish, so I trusted him completely and took his favorite dish. It was Fattah chicken with a French gin lemon drink. It was my first time trying it, and it was amazing. I love discovering new cultures and their way of living and foods. When I was full, I walked back to my car and refreshed myself and changed some clothes in the parking spot out of my trunk because it was a long hot day before I went to the event in the evening.
Much love,
Brian from Stories and Footsteps ✨♥️✨
