A day in Mons, Belgium

There are so, so many things I am still learning about Belgium. Sometimes it is the fact that one line of public transport can be under ”deviation” for three years now, so you never know where the bus stops or where it goes (fun!). Other times, it is how inexplicably complicated their bureaucracy is, so you have to pray that not even the most minor inconvenience happens to you so that you have to deal with the police, municipality or any kind of authorities really. However, a few weekends ago, when my best friend was visiting from Belgrade, I learned that Belgium, even as a rather small country, has uncountable hidden spots. Also, we learned many more things, but this is the silver lining. Scroll down to see how a day in Mons, Belgium can look like.

I am not going to bore you with some dull facts about Mons as a city that you can Google yourself, but what I will tell you is that we did not plan to visit Mons, not at all. We got onto the wrong train which in fact, led us to a key takeaway fact – never get too distracted with your friends to check where you are going. However, we decided to make the best out of it and explore the city.

After hours of strolling around, three hot beverages, one charged phone and several photos, we decided that, since we are there already, we want to make the most of it, which is definitely key takeaway number two. I am not going to lie, Mons is really small. That is why it will be hard for you to miss the Museum of Beaux Arts which we bumped into. Quite accidentally, we ended up at the exhibition of Niki de Saint Phalle. She is famous for many art exhibitions, namely the figures in front of Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

To be frank, I will just tell you that the distorted, feminist style artist does leave quite a strong impression on anybody who experiences it. That is a completely different story deserving of its own article. It also allows all museum visitors to do just like the artist did – shoot a gun full of colours at a stone sculpture. In this case, your shooting will be virtual, but totally unforgettable.

Finally, even though the whole visit was completely unplanned, I think a very small town such as Mons did manage to give us the adventurous day trip we wanted. We will remember the small, stone streets, the cold, laughter, hunger and beautiful architecture. Another thing to keep in mind – if you want to have dinner in Mons, especially if it is on a weekend evening, you simply must book a table or you will end up in the smallest French restaurant eating something that you know used to fly for sure, but not completely know what it is. Don’t ask me how I know! Also, make sure to walk towards the station in time as Mons center is deceptive in size. Please, do not make the same mistake we did and miss the night train. Despite all, the key thing I have learned is that it does not really matter where you really are, but who you are with.