Hugh Pope

Writer on citizens' assemblies, Turkey, Middle East & Central Asia. And soon on walking in Belgium: The Brux-to-Lux Trail.

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Welcome to The Brux-to-Lux Trail!

I'm writing up my personal antidote to ongoing global mayhem – a peaceful 360km walk from Brussels to Luxembourg – and invite you along for the journey.

Here's a video taster and there's a link to the first weekly post in the comments.

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

⚔️Taking part reminded me of how anachronistic this style of duelling debate can feel

⚖️I hoped that we can all evolve towards more deliberative decision-making, for instance through randomly selected citizens’ assemblies.

https://t.co/TmH9xUj3G3

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

My speech at the Oxford Union against regretting the end of the Ottoman Empire. (We won!) I argued:

🇹🇷 Modern #Turkey has moved on

💘Let's stop romanticising the past

🇬🇧 A club so close to Britain's elite, which repeatedly attacked the Ottomans, can't wish for their return

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Click below to read my full post about day-stage #20 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail, from Bour to Luxembourg city and its museum with the forgotten glories of the Gallo-Roman past.

It also has links to maps, GPX files, and the route on the Komoot hiking app.

https://t.co/ao3z0LmYJo

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

A last post as my 380 km journey on foot from Brussels ends in Luxembourg.

Natural beauty aside, what struck me most was how many wars ravaged these lands.

Kudos then to 80 conflict-free years since WWII, western Europe's longest peace since the collapse of the Roman Empire.

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Click below to read my full post about day-stage #19 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail, from Oberpallen to Bour in Luxembourg. It also has links to maps, GPX files, and the route on the Komoot hiking app.

https://t.co/JqazAkEp2C

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

I learned a new phrase on the 19th day of my journey on foot from Brussels to Luxembourg: forest bathing.

I feared the Grand Duchy's south would be dull and flat. But three quarters of my walk passed through woodlands that were rich, varied and invigorating.

Read on ⬇️

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Click below to read my full Substack post (free) about day-stage #18 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail, from Marbehan in Belgium to Oberpallen in Luxembourg. It also has links to maps, GPX files, and the route on the Komoot hiking app.

https://t.co/oDcs9s6QOU

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Why is quiche lorraine a slice of the quintessential Europe?

Join me on my icy January trek through Belgian Lorraine for a taste of the old continent: rural beauty, proto-European Franks, never-ending wars, industrial decline, and Franco-German overlap.

Link follows below ⬇️

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Day #17 of my path from Brussels to Luxembourg tracks an opening act of the First World War - August 1914's Battle of the Frontiers.

Invading German troops killed 27,000 French counter-attackers here in just one day.

A spooky forest walk.

https://t.co/cX5Ls5GnvH

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Europe's DNA goes deep. The name of England's Forest of Arden – made famous by Shakespeare – has the same Celtic origin as Belgium's Ardennes.

Read on for more Celtic musings on the 16th day of my 360 km journey from Brussels to Luxembourg:

https://t.co/ZJvtIKb1Zx

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

I meet my first European astronaut on today's walk in the woods - day 15 of my journey on foot from Brussels to Luxembourg. Read all about it on my Substack here:

https://t.co/WLfv7xspcH

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

The 14th day of my walk from Brussels to Luxembourg takes a dark turn. Today’s hike along the Lomme river follows the steps of four sisters who in March 1618 became the burned-at-the-stake victims of a fevered witch-hunt.

https://t.co/aIrq24bL5w

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

The 13th stage of the 20 days it takes me to walk from Brussels to Luxembourg reaches the modest highest point of the hike. It got me thinking about what this hike is actually really about.

https://t.co/MrbF9e5WdP

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Sortition goes back further in Brussels than many people think

The city successfully used random selection to solve a mediaeval crisis – and could do so again

https://t.co/mUS3IhlGUu

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Click below to read about day-stage #12 of my Brux-to-Lux Trail, from Villers-sur-Lesse to Rochefort-Gemelle, with maps, GPX files, and links to Komoot hiking app.

Posts available every Wednesday by email from Substack (it's free and easy to subscribe!).

https://t.co/PSCMoSHLQG

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

One of the pleasant dilemmas on the 12th stage of my walk from Brussels to Luxembourg - to hike the slick trail conversion of an old railway line, or strike uphill on the longer earthen paths winding through the woods?

Link in thread for more ...

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Follow this link to read about day-stage #10 of The Brux-to-Lux Trail, from Dinant to Gendron-Celles. New posts every Wednesday by email from Substack (it's free and easy to subscribe).

https://t.co/ZqwxldMhu7

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Summer calling! My day on Belgium's river Lesse, the tenth day-stage of my walk from Brussels to Luxembourg, was the prettiest so far.

Link in comments to discover the picturesque Château de Walzin and many other beauties along the way.

[Hélène Landemore @landemore]

Apparently there’s now a YouTube video titled “The Ancient Invention That Solves Corruption” based in part on Politics Without Politicians 😄

It’s wonderfully done and mostly accurate, if occasionally enthusiastic in its claims. But great to see sortition and citizen assemblies reaching wider audiences.

Ideas travel. https://t.co/mG7HpnXnvk

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

Follow this link to read my post about stage #09 of The Brux-to-Lux Trail, from Godinne to Dinant. Available every Wednesday by email from Substack (it's free and easy to subscribe).

https://t.co/gGoTE9OJlz

[Hugh Pope @Hugh_Pope]

My ninth day walking from Brussels to Luxembourg crosses paths with old wars, forests, hills, farms, châteaux, wide fields, and the Meuse river town of Dinant.

I also stumble onto the curious story of "The Hitler Tunnel" - perhaps one of the only places still to bear his name.