Charleroi:
Charleroi is the third biggest city of Belgium, situated in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. Charleroi is not like any other Belgian city - no Grand Places, and its very hilly, lots of slopes in the town. The atmosphere feels different too, slightly scarier, more oppressive, but not altogether unfriendly.
Charleroi has a lot of beautiful sights, shopping-streets, parks, many cultural activities and museums. Shopping is pretty good, there's Ville2, a shopping center next to the stadium in the North town (Metro - Samaritains) which has a big cinema complex next to it, Carollywood, as well as restaurants and a big car park. There are lots of clothes shops on the steep Rue de la Montagne, which leads up to the Place Charles II, where you'll find the Cathedral and the Town Hall, plus huge spouting fountains that come up from the ground. Nearby in Chatelineau there is a shopping center called Cora, and in nearby Gilly there are also lots of shops (Gilly is at the end of the Métro), and a good theatre, Le Temps Choisis.
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