Belgium

There is a good reason both the European Union and the NATO decided to base their headquarters in Belgium: its cuisine and its beer! All that diplomacy, after all, is hungry and thirsty work.

The Belgians are veritable gourmands, and love their food. Whether we are talking about a quick snack, like fries (smothered in sauce), a savoury dish like mussels, or a sweet desert in the form of one of their world famous waffles, it is invariably good. And you can wash it all down with one of the hundreds, if not thousand, varieties of beers that this nation hosts. Walking down a random street in Brussels will clog your arteries, but you will promptly forget that when you buy yet another box of Belgium chocolates from one of the many chocolatiers.

All in all it’s best to keep active in Belgium if you don’t want to add any weight while you are there. Luckily there is plenty to see and do, both for the sporty or the cultural. Visit medieval Ghent or Bruges, hike the Ardennes, try your hand with the Saxophone in Dinant, learn about European Union and mingle with the diplomats in Brussels, contemplate the horrors of war in Ypres and its poppy fields, and cycle from one brewery to the next to keep those calories burning!

Belgium is Europe, don’t miss it!