Alternative Wales (a): Belgium
Written by Luke James
This article originally featured in AW17. To support Alternative Wales and enjoy more of Wales’ best football writing, order a copy from our shop.
Belgium away changed my life. I enjoyed our visit in 2013 so much that I’ve ended up living here and, by the time you read this, I’ll be changing the nappies of a Cymro-Belgo baby.
But look, I get it. We were all enthusiastic visitors back then. Now you’ve been to Delirium and had the hangover to prove it. You’ve done the comedy photo with the little pissing boy. Not even the half-time techno does it for you anymore.
It is undeniable that the fact we’ve already played in Brussels more times than Swansea or Wrexham combined over the last decade is absurd. Even the Belgians are bored of playing in Brussels, with their FA deciding to take their games round the country this year. All of them apart from ours, of course.
The truth is though that nobody can claim to have completed this kaleidoscopic collection of peoples, languages and cultures - not even the Wales away veterans for whom this will be their eighth visit since 1991. I’ve lived here eight years now and I still feel as if I’m still only scratching the surface.
So step away from O’Reillys and peel back another layer of this fascinatingly complex place. You can make a good start just by going round the corner to Café Le Coq, a great launching off point for a tour of traditional ‘brown bars’, in which the wood panelled walls create the perfect atmosphere for (gently!) sipping a Trappist ale over cheese with celery salt.
One street further down you will find the boss of brown bars, Billie, where you can line your stomach with their famous spag bol before continuing down the Vlaamsesteenweg to Roskam, Au Labourer, Café Walvis and other cool bars which line the route to the canal. This is the centre of the Dutch speaking community so it’s ‘dag’ and ‘dank u wel’ not ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci’.
Walk in the other direction from the centre, past the Mannekin Pis’ canine companion, the Zinneke Pis, and you’ll arrive at the cobblestone streets of Marolles, where the daily flea market is surrounded by bars, such as Le Petit Lion and Le Marseillais, with as much character as their patrons. You might overhear them ‘babeleir’ in Brusseleir, the city’s French-infused dialect of Dutch over a glass of Gueuze, a fizzy and fruity local beer known as ‘Brussels champagne’.
In Marolles, you can take a lift up to the Palais de Justice, the collapsing monolith of a courthouse constructed deliberately to tower over the working class neighbourhood. After enjoying the panoramic view of Brussels, head to the Parvis de Saint Gilles (try the ‘Maison du Peuple’ where Lenin once spoke), Place Flagey (Café Belga) or Chatelain (Supra Bailly) to share une petite bière on a terrace with Brussels’ hipster crowd.
The Belgian football season will be finished by June but, while in Saint Gilles, groundhoppers can still drop into the bar inside the listed art deco grandstand of its football club, whose 1930s glory years came under Welsh coach Charles JW Griffiths.
Flagey also provides a classy hair of the dog option on a Sunday morning, when locals use the weekly market as an excuse to drink Breton cider, beers, and white wine for breakfast. Opposite you’ll find De Valera’s Irish bar which has a terrace overlooking Brussels’ answer to Roath Park lakes. Bus 71 from the city centre will leave you directly in front of it.
Talking of transport, Brussels was the first capital city in the world to have a railway connection and, spared a Beeching-style station cull, Belgium still has one of the most dense rail networks in the world, making it easy to visit all four corners of the country by train, quickly and cheaply. From the central station designed by Victor Horta, you can join Chris Coleman in Leuven, the home of Stella Artois, where you could take a brewery tour or just enjoy a few on the Oude Markt. You could also be in Ghent in 35 mins, Antwerp in 40 mins, and Brugge, Namur or Liege in an hour.
Change at Gent to go to Ieper (Ypres) and pay your respects to the many Welsh soldiers who died here in World War One. As well as taking in the last post at the Menin Gate, visit the excellent ‘In Flanders Fields Museum’ on the town’s beautiful central square. The more intrepid of you could continue on bus 91 to the village of Langemark, where poet Hedd Wyn was killed on the first day of the battle of Passchendaele.
An impressive red dragon statue sits at the centre of the Welsh memorial park opened in 2014. From here you can start the Hedd Wyn memorial walk which takes in his grave at Artillery Wood cemetery before crossing the former frontlines. You will receive a very warm welcome from local people who hold a memorial service to fallen Welsh soldiers on the first Monday of every month and, if you’re lucky, you might be able to buy the Hedd Wyn beer sold exclusively in a barn that doubles as an occasional bar, bedecked with Welsh flags and sports shirts, next to the statue.
The dedication of that community to remembering our fallen is a reminder that, while Kevin de Bruyne and quite a few of you might be ‘bored’ of this game, there is a deep connection between our countries that could sustain a trip every week, let alone every qualification campaign. Belgium away doesn’t need to change your life, but give some of this a go and it might just change your view of Belgium away. ▪