[Closed] Belgium

I thought they only had Kms in Belgium ?

Theres a bloke at my work who dresses like a Belgian 🙂

Yes I lived in Brussels and loved it.

Is it even a real country? I thought it was a made-up one, like oompah-loompah-land and Luxembourg...

No mountains but a thriving organised ride scene http://www.o2bikers.com/agenda.asp?pageID=124&countryID=1&first=true

Reasonable beer selection
http://www.moederlambic.com/bars/fr/menuhome/2_0_1_place

Bike friendly cities
http://www.cyclechic.be/

and you can get out of the country in an hour and half when you've had enough

thinking of moving?

Not lived there, but spent a fair amount of time there with work a few years ago in Ghent and Hasselt.

I really liked it - great place to spend a few days every few weeks...
Tailgating seems like the national hobby though...

One of those places you need to scratch the surface of. Cycling is the closest thing to religion, and they've a fair bit of a cultural legacy in the art world..,,

Strange sense of humour, but I like them. Sort of march to the beat of their own drum.

I was offered a job in a Brussels ad agency in 2000 but turned it down mainly due to the fact that the stupidly high level of income tax would have meant I'd have less take home pay than what I was earning in my current job.

I regret that decision most days, largely because I instantly fell in love with the agency receptionist when I went for one of the interviews.

Anyhoo... I have no idea what that tax percentage is now, but it might be worth investigating.

Wonderful country with great art, beer, food, people, architecture, history and variety.

I'd live there like a shot.

Wallonia for hills and Flanders for cities.

I think there's a couple of Belgian expats on here.
I'm one of them & >10years there 🙂

It's got plenty of good points but also some awful frustrating characteristics too.

(The above mentioned driving standards is just one)

Politically hopeless & will surely retain the record for country without a government for a long time. Latest elections were equally baffling.

Cycling is king though (in Flanders anyway) so I can forgive a lot

(Where does this most highway miles come from? - cannot be correct)

Indeed no mountains as such but plenty of hills. Feel free to ride an Ardennes based MTB marathon and tell me there was no climbing challenge 😉

PS: Hi from a very wet Swiss Alps where I'm enjoying some longer descents

Marge,

that will be higway miles compared to size and then it is most likely correct. You could see the highway lighting from space though now they do dim some early morning.

Ambientcost,

Still one of the most taxed countries in the world especially for high earners, do check your after tax income. No welath tax though or most capital gains so good for the really rich.

As said diverse north really flat in many places, south some nice hills road and offroad and hillier than many parts of england all depends with what you compare. Weather regularly grey and wet but then if you come from uk thats often just the same.

I was born there but I moved away.

Lived in Brussels for 3 years. Loved it
Good food and beer. Great place for live music. Some cool towns to visit. Mtbing is flat but surprisingly decent. Close to hillier bits for weekends away.

Where in Belgium are you considering? We live in Eindhoven but know a lot of people who live in and around the Antwerpen area so I could probably get the answers to any specific questions.

A couple of Belgian quirks that I’ve noticed, they have vending machines for bread and only seem to sell UHT milk.

We’re going to Lommel tonight to watch the criterium, waffles, beer and Nibali vs. Nys – what’s not to like?

Worked in Antwerp and Brussels an awful lot. I like the Belgians a lot, very similar humour to us. Out of all the EMEA colleagues I worked with, the 3 or 4 Belgians became friends and we still meet up even without working together (though it still happens from time to time).Personally I think their high tax regime has it right when I see the quality of care and how the country runs (and how they are taken care of), but you'd probably need to be born into it to fully accept it.

The Ardennes is all sorts of cycling fun, but most (all?) of the work will be further north I'd have thought. At least the Alps are a shorter drive 🙂

just back from holiday there.... loved ghent , bruge not so .... driving was insanity. was like being back in the USA - baring in mind id just driven through holland /germany /france overthe previous 2 weeks . belgium just seemed more mad.and yes they like a tailgate or 2 even when theres no where to move due to trucks overtaking trucks.

property prices amazed me - in the ghent area this was.

45 sqm appartment - 250k euros.

thanks for all the answers - as yet i do not know where i would be living. It is just a job that has been suggested to me.