{"id":5147,"date":"2021-01-13T06:03:47","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T06:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ezjcloud.com\/traveller\/?p=5147"},"modified":"2024-09-26T09:45:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T09:45:48","slug":"belgian-racing-pigeons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.easyjet.com\/en\/traveller\/belgium\/brussels\/belgian-racing-pigeons","title":{"rendered":"Fancy a flutter? Meet the Belgian racing pigeons worth a fortune"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Stepping into Brussels\u2019 Grand Place feels like going back in time. One of Europe\u2019s most opulent city squares, it has a touch of the fairy tale about it: the centuries-old buildings are gilded with pristine gold leaf, the\u00a0fa\u00e7ades\u00a0glinting in the wintry afternoon sun. Atop them, of course, are a few raggedy pigeons, happily turning the gold white with droppings. Originally a medieval marketplace, the Grand Place\u2019s historic guild houses came later, opening as trade bodies and meeting places for carpenters, brewers and other tradesmen. Walking its perimeter is like tracing the beginnings of the modern, mercantile Belgium.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">In addition to chocolate,\u00a0Trappist\u00a0beer and their golden generation of top-flight footballers, the Belgians are renowned for another, lesser-discussed export: they breed pigeons. These are elite birds \u2013 as far removed from their scruffy Brussels cousins as Lionel\u00a0Messi\u00a0is from a Sunday league footballer. In the midst of renewed interest in the ancient sport, I\u2019ve come to find out what makes these modern pigeon racers tick. And, given the huge sums of money that change hands for their elite fliers, discover the secret to their success.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SOMETHING\u2019S HAPPENING IN THE BELGIAN COUNTRYSIDE TO SET HEARTS SOARING. WE GET TO KNOW THE NATION\u2019S WORLD-FAMOUS RACING BIRDS AND THEIR BREEDERS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[793,792,794],"class_list":["post-5147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-birds","tag-racing","tag-traditional","destinations-belgium","destinations-brussels","subcategories-activities","subcategories-outdoors","inspirations-adventure"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Meet the Belgian racing pigeons worth a fortune<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Something\u2019s happening in the Belgian countryside to set hearts soaring. 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