Some of the most generous and helpful folk I've ever met have been German. The most polite and pleasant - Dutch. Friendly - Spanish. Excitable, bizarre and barking mad - Italian. Arrogant, unhelpful and worthy of kicking - Yes, you've guessed. The one's who surprised me are the Belgiums. They've totally blown their inoffensive, plucky national stereotype with me. I've never been more verbally abused than I was by a young lass in a service station shop on a Belgium motorway when I had the temerity to address her in French; and I still have nightmares about the time I walked into a backstreet pub in Ypres and ordered a drink in English. The pub was full of Belgium Hell's Angels who all turned and glared at me. The place went silent and the barman said (in English - which I thought was a bit ironic) 'You better leave. You're not welcome here'. I left.
Only place I never felt comfortable in Belgium was Brussels. Don’t know why. Was treated well in Ostend, Bruges and especially Ghent, a similar sized city to Hull with a near identical population with a lot more going on.
Me and @askewshair were in Krakow sat, perhaps unsurprisingly, at a bar and got chatting to the barman about football. He cautioned us against going to the Crakovia/Wisla derby because ‘they are all mafia and carry big swords’ (firmly pronouncing the ‘w’) Kind of assumed he meant hooligans with large knives but either way weren’t too disappointed we were missing the game by a few days!
Can’t say I felt uncomfortable there, but it doesn’t feel like the other places I’ve been to in Belgium Was fairly in and out though
Yes, can’t explain why. Been a few times and always felt on edge for some reason. It was strange, nothing to do with the way the Belgians reacted just felt on edge.
Always assured of a warm welcome in Lokeren, not. The views expressed in my posts are not necessarily mine.
Never had a problem with the French. Tried to use my lingo and they helped when I struggled and was happy to speak English if they could. In fact the conductor on the Paris to Nice train couldn’t be more helpful when we ****ed up our tickets for the wrong day. Ah well Ce La Vie
Some would have a nervous breakdown if our fans were like theirs. Not least our police and stewards. And there are worse mobs in Poland than the Krakow ones. Had a physiotherapist from Krakow about 15 years ago. Absolute stunner. Was engaged to a lucky lad from Scarborough.
The 'South' of the Country, including Brussels,is predominantly French spoken(although even that doesn't exist in areas like Molenbeek anymore).The Flemish have an intense dislike of their work ethic and their drain on the economy. I was in Brussels recently and it has become a pretty scary place and a ****-hole into the bargain... I've been to most other areas in the North and the difference is vast.
Brussels had not been culturally enriched when I first went but still felt on edge there for some reason. And did on subsequent visits.
Same here, been to France a few times and even in famously supposedly unfriendly Paris I have always felt pretty welcome, though as with everywhere foreign I have ever been I think making an effort to speak the local language opens doors. The worst actual racism I have ever had directed at me was in Stornoway, where I went into a pub where they were speaking English to each other and (ironically but unforgettably) rapt watching Emmerdale on the TV, but pretended not to be able to understand a word I said in my not entirely dissimilar accent and started loudly asking each other, also in English, whether they could understand what the foreign bastard at the bar was saying. What made it even more abstractly odd was the guy next to me at the bar who as I was hurriedly leaving anyway suggested I get out sharpish in a thick Geordie accent. A really odd evening...
2024 euros: june 14-july 14 fixtures: https://www.uefa.com/euro2024/news/...2024-fixtures-when-and-where-are-the-matches/
Brussels after 8pm is a horrible place And the mass immigration is one of the reasons Thats a literal fact
