There are a great many serious and impressive things to see and do in Belgium. You can come here to enjoy the country's delectable cuisine, appreciate its stunning architecture and spend time taking in its cultural treasures.
But alongside all that, it would be a shame to miss out on Belgium's playful side. It is, after all, the home of surrealism, and there are many weird and wonderful things to do that you simply cannot find anywhere else in the world.
To celebrate the country’s eccentricities, a Belgian couple have written a book called Bizarre Belgium: 50 Places for a Weird Day Out. It is a travel guide to the 50 most bizarre places in Belgium – from the world’s largest cigar, to a statue dedicated to an infamous vomiting episode by a Russian Tsar.
'Belgium is full of humour'
In an interview with The Brussels Times, co-authors Karen Francois and Kamiel De Bruyne, both 33, described how the book came about.
De Bruyne, who is a producer for Flemish television, explained: “I think Belgium is full of humour and that's what we like about it. It’s eccentric because of its history and the fact that everyone has walked over us a couple of times, and there is this great surrealist tradition.
“Whenever Karen and I travelled together, we were always on the lookout for weird or peculiar places, and so we decided we should make a travel guide for our own country – but only include the weird stuff.”
The book was recently published in English. Credit: Kamiel De Bruyne and Karen Francois.
The couple called on their Instagram followers for inspiration, asking them for places to include in the book. They then criss-crossed the country, checking out all the suggestions.
“We visited the strangest places, and met the most wonderful people,” said Francois, who also works the television industry.
The Sexy Satan of Liège
Her top pick from the book is the ‘Sexy Satan of Liège’, located in the city’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. Le génie du mal is a “devilishly handsome statue” of Lucifer, depicting the prince of darkness as a brooding, muscular sexpot.
According to Francois, the first version of the statue by Antwerp artist Joseph Geefs was removed and sent to Brussels because it “had churchgoers swooning en masse” - only to be replaced by an even sexier depiction of Satan by Joseph’s brother, William.
“When we saw it, the sunlight was streaming through the stained-glass windows, shining right on his six-pack,” she explained. More than 170 years after it was created, the statue is still getting visitors hot under the collar.
The second version of the statue is still on display in Liège Cathedral. Credit: Kamiel De Bruyne and Karen Francois.
A very unusual roadside memorial
De Bruyne’s favourite place listed in the book is a UFO memorial in Lottenhulle, Flanders.
The memorial commemorates the moment when, on Belgian National Day in 1955, a young soldier named Marin Vandercruyssen spotted a group of people standing by the roadside, staring at the sky. His father pulled over, and Vandercruyssen saw five gigantic, silver discs, each about a hundred metres in diameter, hovering above the motorway. He became convinced they were UFOs.
On 2 July 2004, Vandercruyssen unveiled a monument - a 40 x 40-centimetre marble slab - which is still in place today. The stone reads: "Marin Vandercruyssen, paratrooper, along with 20 witnesses!, saw 5 UFOs hovering over the E40 here on 21 July 1955 for ±10 min. in Lotenhulle."
Francois and De Bruyne are hopeful that the book will find an audience with both Belgians and foreign tourists alike.
"It should appeal to foreign tourists who want to see Belgium in a different way and not only see Manneken Pis or eat waffles and fries, but want to discover weird places," said De Bruyne.
