Lev Lafayette's journal

The first leg of the trip to the low countries was from Stuttgart to Luxembourg via Koblenz which pretty much followed the Rhine, with all its old-world beauty. Contrary to expectations, accommodation and dining at Luxembourg was very reasonably priced; a hat-tip to the superb value-for-money Empire Hotel and the cheap-and-cheerful Italian restaurant next door. There was sufficient time to tour select landmarks of the old city and remains of the historic fortifications, as well as taking the Skylift which provided a panorama of the city. One thing particularly of note was that few people in Luxembourg speak the national-language Luxembourgish (which, for all intents and purposes, is a dialect of German). Whilst French is listed as a "working language" of the Grand Duchy, almost every conversation is in French first. The reason is quite clear when one views the demographics; Luxembourg is essentially a migrant city, and of the locals and migrants, close to 100% of the population is French-speaking.

The next city was Brussels, the journey from Luxembourg through the traditional Walloon territory, alternating between small towns, deep forest in hilly areas, and green fields, where the cows are so fat and happy that most have decided that they don't need to stand anymore. Staying at the Hotel Des Colonies was quite a historical experience; built in the early 1900s it is lusciously designed numerous art nouveau effects and was occupied by in both the first and second world wars by various powers as a headquarters. It is believed that Field Marshal Montgomery wrote his Christmas speech in the hotel itself. In the attempt to continue historical contributions the new shower system was designed for contortionists. Despite all this the opportunity was taken to visit the old city centre region and stand in absolute awe of its imposing and lavish 17th century wrought and gilt guildhouses. The day finished with quiet dinner at the peaceful Place des Martyrs, where bodies of the 1830 Belgian revolution lay. Again as another example of the northward march of the French language, it was only here that I overhead any Flemish spoken at all, which is a significant demographic shift.

Following Brussels the next stop was Ghent, a small and compact city steeped in medieval and early modern history. The opportunity was taken to visit the local university and in particular Kenneth Hoste, the main organiser behind EasyBuild, who provided lunch and a tour of the data centre which hosts the regional HPC system. I was also alerted to a couple of job opportunities. Late in the afternoon caught up with Qassem and his friend Salah. I have established a long-standing friendship with Qassem, a Syrian refugee from Da'ara, whereas his friend is from Aleppo. Qassem has written a number of articles for the Isocracy Network, and it just so happened to be his birthday on the date of our arrival. He and Salah gave us a tour of major features of the city (including Gravensteen, St Michaels' etc), along with dinner with the sole small Syrian restaurant. Afterward we went to Salah's apartment where we watched the unexpected win of Belgium over Brazil. The latter had many more opportunities at goal, but the Belgian defense was really quite impressive - and when the Belgians did attack, they did so very quickly. It is, of course, almost impossible to visit Europe at this time of year without making some observation on the World Cup.