Belgium in Brief: Small country, big dreams

Belgium in Brief: Small country, big dreams

Belgium is often known as 'that small country between France and Germany' – that is, if it is known at all.

One Belgian Airbnb host recently decided to ride the wave of the country's reputation of smallness, and opened the world's smallest Airbnb, right in the heart of Liège.

The converted pigeon coop somehow packs a bedroom, a kitchen, a separate toilet and shower, and even a living room in a space that is no bigger than 10 square metres.

While some are capitalising on everything being small in the country, however, others are trying to big up Belgium's reputation: on the online platform Reddit, the country's community banded together on the R/place collaborative art project to create a large Belgian tricolour flag on a large digital canvas.

For four days, they worked tirelessly to decorate a large vertical stretch of the canvas with a long Belgian flag, national symbols, and other Belgian landmarks.

While the community was able to stand its ground against communities that were up to ten times larger, one Redditor explained – in true Belgian fashion – that a large part of the achievement was due to the Belgian flag having the same colours as the German one.

"Many players not knowing the difference probably just assumed it was Germany expanding," the Redditor said. "Because of their reputation of being well-organised, they assumed that our flag too would be difficult to challenge and attack."

What do you think? Let @Maajtee know.

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