Arriving in the Flanders region of Belgium, I had expected culture shock, having never truly immersed myself in a foreign culture before. Now returned from Belgium, I recall a culture that was in no means shocking. If anything, their culture of preservation and the personal transportation that resulted from preservation are both inviting and intriguing. Over those ten days of May, our group of nineteen travelled to Leuven, Bruges, Ghent, Brussels, and a variety of smaller vistas, each of which had no shortage of architecture wonders from the 11th to the 18th century. Coming from a country that did not exist during these times, I routinely marveled at the architecture. Most buildings are dated and uniquely named, the sum of which formed a consistent skyline only broken by the occasional church.
On tours throughout these towns and cities, there was evidence everywhere of the efforts to rebuild following fire or fighting. I noted that the collective will to preserve their architecture was not unlike their preservation of Belgian brewing methods. The study-abroad opportunity is rooted in the Engineering a Craft Brewery course at Pitt, so most of our group’s time in Belgium was within brewery walls. Here, the preservation of tradition was just as important as the preservation of the cities themselves. For instance, our professor brought us to various blenderies and foederhouses that specialized in the elusive lambic beer style. A spontaneously fermented beer exclusively produced in the Pajottenland region, lambic beers are niche and have limited demand. Despite these drawbacks, these blenderies and foederhouses continue to operate, with the hopes of preserving a storied commodity and sharing it with the world.
This throughline of preservation, which has protected architecture and traditions alike for hundreds of years, was unlike anything I had seen before. This culture of preservation had a noticeable influence over the means of transport across Belgium. Unlike America with its expansive network of highways and automobile culture, Belgium and other neighboring countries primarily walk, bike, and use public transport. Promoted by a smaller landmass and the previously discussed architectural history, this “walking culture” blossomed, providing a sustainable, discrete, and efficient means of travelling to those in Belgium.
Even travel between cities is cheap and effective, as engineers developed inter-city trains to aid commuters in their daily transit. While unfeasible in larger countries, the development of transport that is human-centric rather than automobile-centric is an aspect of Belgian culture that I would love to see emulated within American cities one day.
