Let's talk Dinant.
Dinant is by far my favorite European country I have visited while abroad. For one, Belgium is gorgeous. Dinant sits on the river Meuse surrounded by beautiful green countrysides and steep cliffs. When you arrive by train, you walk into the town and see the beautiful gothic style church and the citadel perched on the cliff face behind it, but not before you begin to notice the abundance of colorful saxophones lining the Charles de Gaulle bridge that crosses the Meuse river.
The main reason I visited Dinant was due to the amount of Saxophones that line the streets. Adolphe Sax, the creator of the saxophone, was born in Dinant, and thus the city has a multitude of saxophones strewn throughout the town. On the bridge across the river Meuse, there are 28 saxophones, each painted in different styles to represent different countries of the European Union. My main goal while visiting Dinant was to find as many saxophones as I could throughout the town because they aren't solely located on the bridge. I don't remember how many I found, but it was more than I was expecting.
As I said before, Adolphe Sax was born in Dinant, even if he only lived there for a short time. So of course, there is a fun statue of him on a bench, waiting for someone to sit and chat. He is located right outside of the Adolphe Sax museum which is located in the house his family used to occupy. The museum is free to the public and, although very small, a must see if you take a trip to Dinant!
Along with saxophones lining the streets of Dinant, this quaint town is also home to a beautiful historic citadel perched atop a cliff. The citadel is accessible by cable car, stairs, or automobile. I opted to take the stairs to the top, all 408 of them. It costs the same to take the cable car or the stairs, but if you are thinking of taking the stairs, do it on the way up because the stairs are very steep and might be a little rough on your knees on the way down. Although I was huffing and puffing by the time I reached the citadel and finished all of the stairs, I am glad I took them instead of the cable car because the views of Dinant and the surrounding areas were amazing to look at on my way up.
When I finally reached the top and entered the citadel, I was surrounded by music that was being played by a band composed of individuals of all ages. On top of that, there was also an amazing sand sculpture show going on in the citadel as well when I was there. To top it off, all of the sand sculptures were Disney related.
To finish off my time in this amazingly spunky town, I stopped by a local bakery and picked up a Couque de Dinant, a very hard, sweet biscuit that was created in, you guessed it, Dinant, Belgium. When I say this thing is hard, I'm not lying. This biscuit is hard as a rock. They warned me when I bought it not to chew it, but to place a small piece in my mouth and suck on it because there is a chance I could break a tooth. The Couque de Dinant that I purchased was about the size of an iPad and it had a fun design of a saxophone pressed into it. The biscuit even came with a paper that discussed the history of the dessert! I still have this in my kitchen back in the states because it isn't something you eat all at once, but something you take small pieces off of when you are having a coffee or tea. Luckily, they last for a while, and as they age, they become softer and easier to eat.
Needless to say, Dinant is an amazing town to go and visit. I was only here for a day and fell head over heels in love with the character this town has. Nothing in Dinant disappointed me and I would go back in a heartbeat to experience the uniqueness of this hidden gem again.
Now if that's not enough to get you hyped about Dinant, I don't know what will.
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