Quirky Flanders 20 of the region’s oddest or most unexpected activities CONTENT Derek Blyth Author Quirky Flanders 2 / Walk barefoot in Limburg 12 / Discover the new Berlin landers is full of offbeat things to do. 3 / Visit a bizarre Belgian enclave 13 / Take a foodie tour in the Westhoek They can be surprising, sometimes 4 / Walk through a forest that was once 14 / Explore the dark secrets of a Fa little disturbing, but always a battlefield Brabant Castle unexpected. Most are off the beaten track, 5 / Find old Antwerp in a lost Scheldt 15 / Cycle down the golden river away from the crowds, in places that are village 16 / Sneak a look at the forbidden sometimes hard to find. 6 / Follow the Brussels street art trail sculpture 7 / Find the Bruges no one knows 17 / Stroll through eccentric You might need to ask in a local bar 8 / Take the world’s longest tram ride architecture for directions or set off on foot down a 9 / Admire the station that moved 36 18 / Take a night walk in Ghent muddy track. But it’s worth making the metres 19 / Hop on a free bike to explore effort to find them, because they tell you 10 / Wander along Mechelen’s lost river Ostend’s hinterland something about Flanders that you don’t 11 / Visit the world’s most beautiful 20 / Walk under the river in Antwerp read in the guide books or learn from chocolate shop Wikipedia. Quirky Flanders 2 WALK BAREFOOT IN LIMBURG VISIT A BIZARRE BELGIAN ENCLAVE he village of Baarle-Hertog is described as a Belgian enclave within the Nether- Tlands, but it’s a lot more complicated than that. The village, population 2,300, is t used to be seen as eccentric broken up into 20 little enclaves located and even reckless, but walk- inside the Dutch village of Baarle-Nassau. Iing barefoot is taking off in But there are also seven Dutch exclaves Flanders. Some argue that it provides within the Belgian enclaves. health benefits, but others simply see it as a new way to experience nature. The result is a baffling border town with two fire stations, two town The best place to try it out is in Limburg halls, a cafe split between two coun- province, where the first blotevoetenpad tries and a house with the living (barefoot path) was created in 2006 at De Li- room in Belgium and the bed- eteberg nature reserve. The 2km barefoot trail room on Dutch soil. Once a den lets you experience a range of surfaces, from of smuggling, it is now a lively wooden walkways to sand and even mud. tourist town with a curious split identity. The route includes a steep hill, a stretch of water and a wooden lookout tower. Kids, not surprisingly, Northern Antwerp love it. province Visitors’ Centre Lieteberg Zutendaal æ www.lieteberg.be æ www.baarle-hertog.be Quirky Flanders 3 WALK THROUGH A FOREST THAT WAS ONCE A BATTLE- FIELD he nature reserve De Palingbeek has woodland trails, farm animals and Tviews of rolling countryside. But this estate near Ypres also has a tragic history. Some of the fiercest battles of the First World War were fought here, leaving FIND OLD behind concrete bunkers, flooded craters and two small cemeteries hidden deep ANTWERP IN A in the forest. LOST SCHELDT The most striking is Hedge Row Cemetery, a silent, mysterious VILLAGE place that can only be reached on foot along a muddy forest trail. The original cemetery was he strange forgotten village of Buitenland destroyed by shellfire, and the is hard to find. It lies off the main road in graves were laid out after the Ta bend of the Old Scheldt. Not many people war in a circle. Three former ever come here, so no one has bothered to explain army packs are lined up the strange buildings that don’t look as if they be- along the cemetery wall long. containing objects that soldiers once carried, They were built in 1894 for the World Fair in Antwerp as like gas masks, hand- part of a nostalgic section called Old Antwerp. After the æ www.tinyurl.com/depalingbeek kerchiefs and even fair was over, most of the buildings were demolished, but makeup. a few were rebuilt in Buitenland by a local businessman who owned a basket-making company. The most impressive Zwarteleenstraat is a replica of the 16th-century Reuzenhuis. Palingbeek, West Flanders Near Bornem, Antwerp province Quirky Flanders 4 FOLLOW THE BRUSSELS STREET ART TRAIL FIND THE BRUGES NO ONE KNOWS illions of tourists head straight for the crowded centre of Bruges, but Malmost no one walks around the he street art scene in Brussels old ramparts. Landscaped in the 19th emerged in the 1990s when century, they form an almost continuous Tthe city, modelling itself on green belt around the old city. Here is Berlin, took a more tolerant attitude where to head if you want to escape the towards graffiti. Many of the best street crowds. artists flocked to the abandoned Kapell- ekerk railway station in the Marollen You might pass the occasional fisher- where the art organisation Recyclart was man or a couple riding their bikes, based. but almost everyone is local. The seven-kilometre trail takes you The artists were given permission to create past city gates, windmills and a works in the tunnels that run under the rail- wooden crane, with authentic way viaduct. Here you find striking works by local pubs like De Windmolen local artists such as Bonom and ROA as well as providing stops along the Greek artist Sonke. From the station, head into the way. Marollen district where vibrant street art can be found in cobbled alleys off the Hoogstraat. Between Bruges train station and Ezelpoort Ursulinenstraat, Brussels city gate æ www.recyclart.be æ www.brugge.be Quirky Flanders 5 TAKE THE WORLD’S LONGEST TRAM RIDE ost visitors say the same thing. The Flemish coast is flat. It’s a long line ADMIRE Mof apartment buildings. And it al- ways rains. But take a ride on the coast tram THE STATION and you might see things differently. THAT MOVED The 67-kilometre route is the longest in the world and costs just a few euros for a day ticket. You can cover the 36 METRES entire route from southern De Panne to northern Knokke in a couple of hours, but it is more fun to get off at different stops along the way. ou might not think Antwerpen-Dam looks You can wander among the fish different from any other Belgian train sta- shops in Nieuwpoort, drink a Ytion. Located near Park Spoor Noord, it’s a coffee in Ostend’s grand cafe typical Flemish Renaissance brick building stand- Du Parc and walk out to the ing alongside a railway viaduct. But an exhibition end of the wooden jetty of old photographs in the tunnel under the viaduct in Blankenberge. But the tells an astonishing story. best part of the trip is the stretch between the sea It reveals that the entire station was moved 36 metres and the dunes just west in 1907 using an ingenious system of mechanical jacks æ www.delijn.be of Ostend. and rails. The company that carried out this exceptional engineering project hoped that it could sell the technolo- From De Panne to gy elsewhere, but the concept never took off, leaving Dam Knokke station as a unique experiment. Damplein, Antwerp Quirky Flanders 6 VISIT THE WORLD’S WANDER ALONG MOST BEAUTIFUL MECHELEN’S LOST CHOCOLATE SHOP RIVER t’s one of Flanders’ forgotten hen Dominique Persoone opened rivers. The Dijle flows secret- The Chocolate Line in Bruges, Ily between old buildings Wpeople were rather shocked that in Mechelen, but you can track it he used ingredients like smoked eel, fried down at a couple of spots. Begin on bacon and cauliflower. But then he was Zoutwerf, a former harbour with an awarded a place in the Michelin guide, impressive renaissance house once and the critics adjusted their opinion. owned by the guild of fishermen. His second shop occupies two Here you can pick up the Dijlepad wood- rooms in a former royal palace on en walkway that meanders along stretches Antwerp’s Meir, once occupied by of water once accessible only by boat. Then Napoleon’s brother. The choco- head back to the charming cafe De Gouden lates are sold in an elegant room Vis near the old fish market where you can with 18th-century wall paint- sit outside on a sunny terrace overlooking the ings, while the ancient tiled river. kitchen is now a chocolate workshop. Paleis op de Meir Meir 50, Antwerp æ www.mechelen.be æ www.dominiquepersoone.be Quirky Flanders 7 DISCOVER THE NEW BERLIN et off through the streets of Brussels to check out some quirky art galleries in TAKE A Sunusual locations. Begin at Wiels, where edgy art is shown in a former brewery next FOODIE to the railway tracks. The newly opened rooftop space adds to the excitement of TOUR IN THE this industrial space. Head uptown to Poelaertplein where WESTHOEK several galleries, including the well- known Jan Mot, have taken over a large building once occupied by a law publisher. Now head ome of the strangest food and beer is through Elsene to Galerie Valerie produced in the rolling hills of the Flem- Bach, where art is exhibited Sish west country around Ypres. It’s worth in a former skating rink. End checking out the bierpaté sold in local butchers, your art tour at Galerie Rivoli with each recipe using a different local beer.