On 11 September 1944, a massive, intense air battle took place over the mountains between Germany and what was then Czechoslovakia. The memory of this battle is still alive today.
Tag: Belgium
Belgium – home of surreal art, great food and the European institutions. For almost 6 years, it was my home too and I loved living in the Belgian capital of Brussels.
Belgium has a bad reputation which is undeserved. Perhaps it’s because of the suspicion that sometimes surrounds the European project. I admit it is a reputation that is difficult to penetrate from the outside; I only fell in love with the country while living there.
First of all, Belgium is a foodie paradise. With more Michelin stars than France, you are spoilt for choice. Local cuisine is of incredibly high quality. Belgium also has an incredible variety of beers and has more chocolate shops per square metre than anywhere else I’ve been to.
Belgium is the site of so many battles in European history that the entire country is a huge outdoors museum. Being able to explore these places so easily and to walk in the paths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers is a great experience.
Lastly, it is well-connected to every region in Europe and every major country in the world. This is a side effect of being the centre of the European Union; if you live there, you can find a flight or connection to wherever you want to go. My personal favourite is the train network that can have you in Paris, London, Amsterdam or Cologne within 2 hours. Who wouldn’t want to live in that sort of place?
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I’ve written plenty of articles about the effects of the 30 Years’ war on Prague and Czechia in general. I knew bits and pieces of the story so I decided to put all my research into a larger article to put things into context.
There’s a plaque on the wall in the castle in Ghent, Belgium, thanking the city for the symbolic establishment of the SAS. In Belgium. The SAS? Symbolic establishment? I started digging deeper to find out what this was all about.
I often discuss Maltese history with others and have written about unusual parts of it here. Often people claims that ‘the British illegally took control’ of the Maltese islands. This is not true, but few are aware of this part of our history.
The National Park in Brussels, right in front of the Royal Palace, is a welcome touch of greenery in the city. But why would the Belgians commemorate the spot in the park where Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, felt violently sick?
Depending on which part of Brussels you work in, the lunch options can vary tremendously. The vast majority of them are quite good but trying toRead More
When based in Brussels, one of the joys of life was hopping onto the Eurostar and cruising to London. I often did it for work but I tookRead More
Picture the scene – you’re in Brussels over a weekend because of a business meeting that ran late on Friday. You’ve only heard bad thingsRead More
Many people stare at me when I tell them that I like Brussels. For them it is a grey, bland, cloud-covered Euro-cratic city. For me,Read More
You know how it is: you’ve had a long day, you’re tired and you just feel like nothing more than a drink. You wish youRead More