Kaminski Globe Trotters: Welcome to The Country of The Red Devils

Belgium Red Devils Soccer Team

It's a small country, full of attractions that many people around the world ignore of. Yes... it rains a lot, but there is lot's of green spaces. The French make fun of this small place, north of their nation. If you haven't guessed yet, I'm talking about Belgium, the country of the Red Devils.

Antwerp

A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY:

Belgium takes it's name from Celtic tribes called Belgae that settled in Low Countries (Belgium,) a long time ago. Though, they were not to establish a big colony because the Roman Empire (at the time it was Julius Ceasar who was running it,) took over the Celtic territory. Later on, the German Franks settled in what was before the Celtic grounds, thus they created a new language: Flemish. Belgium in now separated into two different territories: the Flanders and Wallonia. These two parts of Belgium have been at war since a very long, fighting for their freedom.

THINGS you MIGHT want TO know About Belgium:

Belgium's population reached about 11,204,000 people in the year of 2014.
Belgium is the most densely populated country in the world since it covering an area of 30,528 km 2.
The capital of Belgium is initially Brussels, which is also known as the capital of the European Union.
Three official languages are spoken in Belgium: Flemish (which is very similar to Dutch,) French and German.
There is a town in this small country called Spa, which is where the word "spa," actually comes from. A long time ago, people used to come to Spa just to bathe in the warm baths.
For grownup talk, Belgium is world famous for it's wonderful beers, there are about 1100 different kinds of these alcoholic beverages in this country.
Now, for kid talk, Belgium is world known for it's delicious chocolate, french fries and waffles. I live in Brussels, and I can tell you that the chocolate is amazing there!!!!!
French fries were not made in France, but in Belgium!!!!! I just wanted to make that clear.
Lot's of people make fun of the city Brussels, because it sounds like Brussels sprouts. Actually, the famous stinky vegetable was "invented" in this country .
There are more comic makers per square meter in Belgium, than there is anywhere else in the world!!!! Tintin, the smurfs, etc, were all invented in Belgium.\
The saxophone was given it's name because of it's inventor Adolphe Sax the belgium musician who invented the musical instrument.

Brussels:

The Grande Place:
Moving from New York to Brussels is a huge shock. Obviously, this is Europe, there are not skyscrapers every where and so forth, but instead of modern buildings there are wonderful (and sometimes beautiful) historic sites. Take the Grand Place for instance:

This magnificent square that attracts the most tourists during the day, is located in the center of Brussels. The architecture of this square dates back to the late 17th century, which explains the kind of Gothic style on some of those buildings. There is long history behind the Grand Place but I'm not going to write it all because then it would take several days. So, I'll just give you the information you need to know. The Grand Place demonstrates the strength an the prosperity of Brussels, because it overcame many bombardments during the 15th century. If you like back at the two pictures above, the one on the left shows the King's House. It was built using Gothic style, and it resisted to the strong bombardments that was taking place in the city of Brussels couple centuries ago. Decades ago, the King's House was transformed into the City Museum, so that newcomers or tourists would be able to get a deeper understanding of what they were seeing and visiting. Surrounding the King's House, there are many house that are ornamented with gold, these were the houses of many important people that lived or stayed in Brussels. Finally if you look back to the images above, the one on the right shows a big and beautiful historic landmark, houses and this sort of flower carpet. The beautiful historic landmark is Town Hall. This one though, was slightly damaged and rebuilt during the 16th century. The flower carpet that you also see, is not always there, but is put out at the beginning of May to celebrate spring's arrival and the new blooming flowers.

THE ATOMNIUM and MINI EUROPE:

The atomnium:

This landmark (the most visited one in Brussels,) was built for the World Fair in Brussels, in the year of 1958, it now remains where it, and it is now the symbol of the European Union's capital. Around it was built this amusement park that includes Mini Europe, Oceania, and so forth. Today we climb into the 9 round spheres and see Brussels landscape. For more information go to: http://atomium.be/.

MINI EUROPE:

Mini Europe is basically a mini amusement park, where for each country belonging to the European Union there are several monuments. It's amazingly well done, and it is great for both children and adults. I really do recommend this place. But for information got to: http://www.minieurope.com/

OTHER PLACES TO VISIT IN BELGIUM:

Antwerp:

Antwerp is a beautiful town located
in the Flanders region. It is known for it's diamond mines, and that is why the wheel in the background of this image is shaped and represented as a diamond,