when friends come visit me in Belgium, this is what we do:

• Brussels (Bxl)
  • visit my favourite musea
  • take a ride on the public transport lines: Bus 71, Tram 44 and Tram 23, we hop on and off whenever we see something nice
  • catch a gig at AB Club or KultuurKaffee
  • write messages to strangers in used books in the second hand bookshops on Zuidstraat.
  • Quartier Matongé, they call it little Africa :)
  • play frisbee at the Ter Kameren Bos park or take our bike for a ride
  • ignore the expensive pralines, and get Côte d'or chocolate from the supermarket instead, especially the milk chocolate, then we eat it with a cup of coffee on a terrace while people watching
  • a death ride from the Atomium, they'll take you in the atomium, you don't have to wait in line with the 500 other tourists, you get a great view when you're standing on the top of the highest sphere and an awesome adrenaline rush when you jump!
  • take pictures of Japanese tourists on La Grande Place, Bxl
  • go around the city with sidewalk chalk and draw hearts with equations inside on random things
  • buy a nice graphic tee or bag for our boyfriends (and wear it ourselves) in the what shop
  • the flee market in les Marolles
  • visit Les Petits Riens, my favourite second hand shop, i found a bike here for 20 euros, it's like Ali Baba's friggin's cave!
  • not far from the place St Catherine, there's a 'carrefour' supermarket, the one next to parking 54, where we buy a bag of chips or nuts and a bottle of sangria, take the elevator to the 10th floor and enjoy the sunset view from the roof parking with our cheap ass aperitive, it's amazing :)
• visit Gent, Bruges is too touristy
• check Use It for great maps and tips from locals
• Relax in the hot springs of Spa, 15 euros for 3 hours or 27 euros for 1 day in the hot springs, hammam and saunas
• have an adventure weekend in Durbuy, me and my friends loved the speleo experience and the kayak descent! or when you're not that adventerous, The Caves of Han-sur-Lesse are for you, just take the little train through the cave, sit back and try to close your mouth:)
• stroll through the National Botanical Garden in the fall
• visit Leuven when we're in the mood to party and meet new people, we go on thursday nights
  • the bars on Oude Markt, had some of the funniest conversations with drunk people here :)
  • Rumba and Silo are best for dancing!
  • Depot cute music venue
• taste Trappist Beer and cheese in the Orval Monastery
• visit Liège, which is an upcoming city, but stil dirty and charming, they have the best Belgian waffles! to burn of all the calories, we climb all the 347 stairs of the Montagne de bueren.
• go to my family's appartment at the seaside, when the wind is good my brother teaches us how to kite surf, if not we hang out at Surfclub Windekind, take a big walk, or go horseback riding on the beach right before sunset
• visit Tongeren, which was one of the most important Gallo-romanian cities in Belgium, with a well-kept archeological site, roman city walls and a Roman museum that i loved as a kid!
• shopping in Antwerp! and when we need a break, have a malteser crunch caramel cappuchino in Caffénation
  • De Meir (H&M, Zara, Mango, UO, COS, Wo-Men at Work, Diesel)
  • Kammenstraat (American Apparel, Fish & Chips, Sacha)
  • Steenhouwersvest (Episode, Bensimon)
  • Kloosterstraat (vintage)
  • Lombardenvest (Bjorn Borg, APC, Kiehl's, Adidas Originals, MAC)