“So you’re travelling in Belgium. I mean, only in Belgium? You’re not going to Amsterdam or Paris?”, the man asked in French. In the train to Antwerp, this man seemed surprised that we spent our whole vacation in Belgium. Usually, people are just passing through the country going somewhere else. Well, this time, I felt like slow travelling, which means for me to visit a new town everyday, but to stay in a 100km area, and Belgium was the perfect match. Distance in Belgium are ridiculously short when we are used to travelling in Canada. Crossing the country is the same distance than going from Montreal to Quebec city. I understand better now why Europeans are unable to evaluate travelling time appropriately in America. “Let’s go to Montreal and then New York and then Miami, shall we?” As short as it can be, the train ride from Brussels to Antwerp was enough to time travel. Old buildings in Europe have nothing to do with old buildings in Quebec. I always feel like we lie to ourselves when we call something “old” here in Canada. It’s a bit forced, like a kid calling me Mrs. I don’t know if I can qualify Antwerp of […]
