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Welcome to the VUB

It might be in Belgium’s largest city, but the Free University of Brussels is the country’s cosiest university alternative

The roots of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), or Free University of Brussels, date back to 1834, when the French-speaking Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) was founded. Shortly after Belgium’s creation, lawyer Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen established an academic centre independent from any religion or ideology, separate from both church and state. This was largely a reaction to institutions such as Leuven’s renowned Catholic university, set up four centuries earlier.

The principle of free enquiry remains at the university's core today; the motto "scientia vincere tenebras" (science will triumph over darkness) advocates independent, critical thinking, driven by evidence, not by dogma, politics, prejudice or greed.

Tania Rabesandratana

(October 6, 2010)

Welcome to KULeuven

The venerable Catholic University of Leuven has been around for nearly six centuries – but it is looking resolutely into a high-tech future

The Catholic University of Leuven, or KULeuven, as it’s know locally, is one of the oldest universities in Europe: it was founded in 1425. In the following centuries, the university has attracted illustrious minds, including the 16th-century humanist Erasmus (who picked Leuven to found a Collegium for the study of Hebrew, Latin and Greek), mathematician Gemma Frisius and anatomist Andreas Vesalius. It also became a respected training hub for Roman Catholic intellectuals from Protestant countries.

In the late 18th century, the French occupiers closed the university, but the institution reopened as a state university in 1816, shortly after the region became part of the Netherlands. In 1830, Belgium was founded through revolution, and Belgian bishops reorganised the institution. Decades later, KULeuven was hit severely during the two World Wars - in particular, the library lost 300,000 valuable books to a German fire in 1914 and nearly 900,000 volumes during a second fire in 1940.

Tania Rabesandratana

(September 29, 2010)

Welcome to UGent

Ghent has been dubbed both “the new Bruges” and “Belgium’s best-kept secret” by the Lonely Planet travel guides. If the city’s architectural charms and cultural life are known only to a select few, the same can’t be said of Ghent University’s pluralistic teaching and first-rate research, which are hardly a secret in the international academic world.

Ghent University, or UGent, goes by the motto "dare to think". It is one of the most liberal educational institutions in Flanders: the official mission statement insists that the university encourages critical and creative thinking, welcomes all cultures and backgrounds and strives to entrench its social commitment and broaden its international horizons.

Tania Rabesandratana

(September 22, 2010)

Killing me softly

Call it team building or playing war, paintball is as popular as ever in Flanders

“I killed two people!” Galbha Duggal excitedly exclaims, face shiny with sweat. She is bouncing with enthusiasm, talking in a stream of consciousness. “Oh my god, it feels so good. I understand why people do this. I wasn’t enjoying it before, but now I get it.” All the while, she’s eyeing the door, ready to return to the terrain with her semi-automatic.

A petite 22-year-old foreign exchange student at the University of Ghent, Duggal isn't your typical cold-blooded killer. But then, this isn't murder - it's paintball.

A sport that began in 1981 in the American state of New Hampshire (whose motto is appropriately "Live Free or Die"), the game is now played worldwide, both indoors and out. Rules vary and, with them, strategies, but one guideline is constant: don't get hit by a paintball.

Courtney Davis

(September 8, 2010)

Portrait of a city: Brussels

Capital of modesty

Most Flemish don't like their capital. Brussels is too dirty, too noisy, too smelly and too "dark". Never mind its manifold treasures, traffic is murder, and its stations are the pits, so let's not.

Reality check: that is what a big city is like. And we only have one of those. Life is too long not to discover how well Brussels, amidst all the hustle, manages to retain its individuality and colour. In just one visit, you come across some amazing people and incre- dibly diverse neighbourhoods, all gravitating around a bustling historic centre. The whole world is right here. For cosmopolitans, one- day tourists and its one million residents, only Brussels will do.

Monique Phillips

(September 1, 2010)

bite - De Voet van Keizer Karel

Tucked away off the busy N8, just east of Dilbeek in Flemish Brabant, is a narrow country road that leads to the village of Wambeek. Follow this road as it winds through corn fields and idyllic, white farmhouses until you reach a large ivy-covered building in a clearing in the trees.

In this protected monument, dating back to the 15th century, a water mill ground grain for the local community until 1983. Making use of the passing stream, the Klapscheutmolen provided milled grain as food for cattle, as well as the ingredients for the neighbouring family De Troch’s brewing activities.

Robyn Boyle

(September 1, 2010)

We can fly

Kitesurfing champions are attracting more beginners than ever to their schools on the coast

Standing in the rain, strong winds whipping my hair in my face, I’m unhappily facing the roaring surf of a storm-surged ocean. I am cold, wet and, worst of all, strapped to a kite large enough to fling my body any way the wind blows – literally.

For the past two hours, I've been flying an enormous sail 20 meters in the air as the first step in learning how to kitesurf. A relatively new sport, this ocean- based pastime has been gaining in popularity all over the world. Your body is harnessed to a kite, while your feet are secured to a surfboard with straps. Once you know what you're doing, the winds pulls you along the water and potentially up and out of the water.

Courtney Davis

(August 25, 2010)

On the waterfront

The best way to see Flanders’ river city is from the river

There’s no better way of discovering a city than your own personal guide, like a friend who lives there. Short of that, the best advice is always: join a tour. All right, you’ll be rubbing shoulders with the tourists, but be honest, that’s really what you are for the day.

Antwerp is a river city par excellence, so the ideal way to capture its essence is to see it from the water. The first thing that strikes you is how the river splits the city. At the level of the old town, it's 500 metres to the other side, which is so distant that the best name they could come up with for the built-up area is Linkeroever - Left Bank.

Alan Hope

(August 18, 2010)

Portrait of a city: Hasselt

Life in the slow lane

Hasselt resembles an off-white meringue cake. Picture perfect. You might find it a tad too sweet, and its centre might turn out to be hollow rather than hiding an exotic delicacy. But never mind, there’s plenty of colourful topping to go with it, around the outskirts of town. As the local saying goes, you need at least three servings of Hasselt to make up your mind.

Trying to peg down Hasselt is a tough job. Its split personality escapes all cliché. Life is a bit slower-paced in this small city, but Hasselt is extremely posh as well. Even Antwerp’s fashionistas descend on Hasselt’s shopping streets like little ants. Clothes and shoes, preferably by local designers, is what they are looking for. Names and labels, darling. If Eddy Monsoon had to pick a Belgian town to live in, she’d do great in Hasselt.

Monique Phillips

(August 18, 2010)

I’m hip, and I have a kid

Park parties in Ghent for the whole family

Having children is a blessed event, but an improvement to your social life it is not. For frustrated young parents, it’s usually an either/or scenario. Either you are relaxing with your friends or you are playing with your kids – rarely is it a combination of the two.

Enter Ghent’s tree-lined Koningin Astrid Park on Ferdinand Lousbergkaai. Every Sunday in August from 14.00 to dusk, the young, creative and often child-carrying enter the park en masse to enjoy a pretty special atmosphere.

In a handful of wading pools near a large sand pit, kids of all ages are screaming, running and having the time of their lives. A small walking path around the park is filled with strollers, Frisbee and games of tag. A van is on hand to teach circus tricks, while parents are camped nearby on benches or picnic blankets.

Courtney Davis

(August 11, 2010)