Ok, I have finally found a program to work on my blog and do it a lot easier, but you may notice some changes to it, but all good. So here is the Belgium post, and I put the 2 places together as I only spent a short time in each. Welcome to Belgium, the chocolate, beer and waffles of course!
Day 40 Sat. May 30
I caught the 12:45pm train to Antwerpen and arrived around 3pm, and I had to wait til 3:47 to get the next train to Brugge. Finally got on the next train and made it there then had to catch the bus to the hostel and the driver let me off where I needed to be…I walked up the street and found it, “Brugge Bauhaus Hostel”.
There was a bar and restaurant there also, I checked in and I was in a co-ed room with 4 bunk beds,there was 5 guys and 3 girls,also had lockers and a sink in the room. Sorted my things and then went for a walk down the street to the grocery store and grabbed some things, then returned and decided to eat in the restaurant right there in the hostel. While I waited for my food, this woman and her daughter next to me started chatting about the troubles she was having with this group they were traveling with. They were from Australia and it was their first time in Europe, so really unfortunate that things weren’t working out too well for them. I got my food, ordered steak and it was very good, and then I went back to the room, I met Bo, from Texas, how classic is that. We chatted for a bit while he was getting ready to go out for the night and as he put it he was putting on his blazer and boots for a good night out….just funny. Then I logged online to figure out my next moves again, and figured out I have to reroute a little for the next few places as travel is cheaper from some places to others. I also looked through some flyers to see what to do and see in Brugge, apparently there is a movie about this place, ‘In Bruges”, gonna have to see it now since I was there, I finished that and turned in early for the night.
Day 41 Sun. May 31
After a good nights sleep, I got up early and had the free breakfast, just juice, coffee/tea, cereal and bread with jams or cheese and meats, (seems to be the standard for breakfasts in the hostels) was surprised there was no Belgium waffles. I made a sandwich to go and went and gathered some things and off I went, needed to go to the train station and buy tickets to Brussels and Paris, so at the town square I caught a bus there. Bought both tickets and then decided to walk back through to town.
It is a quaint little town, it is called “The Venice of the North” there is a Michelangelo statue in a church, west-Flemish is the dialect here and french. There are a lot of pretty parks, there isn’t a big shopping area but that is what makes it so nice and relaxed. That is exactly what I think I needed a quiet day to chill after my busy/great time in Amsterdam. I very popular thing here is french fries and they eat them with mayonnaise or some other sauces, but apparently potatoes are cheap so there is an abundance of fry places, same thing was in Amsterdam too. I wandered to the Central Square, and got a few pics…
The Town Monument
this is the Medieval Tower, it is 83 metres high, and you can go up 366 steps and get a nice view of the city but there was a line up so I just took some pics of it for now, it now bends over 1.5 meters.
this is the “Holy Blood Chapel”, there is a little cylinder of blood that was taken on a crusade to Jerusalem in the 12th century and the true Catholics believe that is it filled with Jesus’ blood. Every day, they take it out of its safe and put it on a pillow to be worshipped. Interesting.
The Governor’s House
Just some random shots along the way
After walking around a bit, I happen to come across the Salvador Dali Museum, that I didn’t even know was here, so I took walk through there and I bought myself some nice perfume.
Left town square and decided to walk on the outskirts a little, and I came across a Windmill and decided to go up and see what it is like inside and to see the view from there
Nice view over the canal, park and the neighbourhoods.
This is the fence that runs around the windmill and it had the lace design as that is very popular thing in Belgium, pretty neat that it is done in the wire fence.
So, after my walking adventures, and chillin out in the park for awhile, I headed back to the hostel. I went to go grab my laptop and to my surprise and fear it was not in my locker, of course at this point I am freaking and very upset, but then I see it on the floor under the beds next to me. I must have left in on my bed while I was situating things and thankfully my roommates took it and placed it there to keep it safe. So, there are some good people that stay in the hostels, I think everyone is worried about the same things so we all look out for each other the best we can. So thankful! I went and logged online for a bit to book my hostels for the next couple of stops which I could only get one for Brussels so far, still looking for Paris, and then decided to take a short nap. When I returned to the room I quickly talked to Bo again and he mentioned the tower, he went up today and said it was a great view, so I decided to walk back there and see if I could go up and I wanted to try and check out the Chocolate Museum….hey I am in Belgium after all…..lol. So, off I went, and I was too late for both things unfortunately but on the way back I got a few pics of some of the chocolate places and the amazing designs all made of chocolate
chocolate boxes filled with individual chocolates…yummy
sorry about the reflection, but there is swans with eggs and then boobs of chocolate……apparently they can make anything out of chocolate….yummy!
Ok, so back to the hostel and on the way, passed Bo, said goodbye as he was heading to A-dam. Got to the room and went to lay down for a bit, just before I met Florencia, from Argentina. When I got up and she did as well, we decided to go get a bite to eat in the restaurant, they gave us a free sample card for 3 different beers with a meal so we thought we would try them out. While we were getting ready, a couple more girls came in, also from Argentina, Renata and Daiana, so they also joined us for dinner.
in order, is Daiana, Florencia, me and Renata
this was the beer samples, a dark ale, a light wheat and a cherry, I drank the cherry only and it was pretty good….pretty pretty good!
We all chatted about our trips, etc. Florencia is a dentist and has her own practise in Argentina, she is just traveling around a bit for a short vacation. Renata is in Marketing and she also is just doing a short trip, as is Daiana, they are traveling together.
After our meal, we decided to take a stroll through the streets and see what was happenin, and it was pretty quiet. This is just a store along the way, Belgium is not only known for their waffles and chocolate but for the many kinds of beer.
Another picture of the girls.
So, after that we returned to the hostel the girls crashed as they were leaving early in the morning and myself and Florencia logged online for a little bit to try again to find a hostel for Paris, no luck yet and then we headed to bed. Off to Brussels tomorrow.
Day 42 Mon. June 1
Got up early and went for breakfast, then back to my room to pack up. I said good bye to Florencia and then went into the bar area to keep checking for a hostel in Paris, saw Florencia again quickly on her way to go exploring the town. Then I packed up my puter and went to the bus stop, there was quite a few people waiting and finally the bus came after like 15min, and the rude bus driver who didn’t want to check each of us in separately so she decided to charge us as a group which was cheaper. I met a young Canadian couple on the bus from Edmonton, they were traveling around for a couple of months and it seems that everyone is doing an opposite route then me, interesting. Finally we got to the train station and I waited at the platform for Brussels as did everyone else, I met the young couple from my room (Aussies) that saved my laptop, thanked them and chatted, they were just about finished their travels in another week or so. Finally got on the train and it was about an hour ride, arrived at 12:30, walked out of the station and checked my directions but I did not see the street sign, so I called the hostel and the reception gave me some direction. So I wondered a bit and still did not find the street name she mentioned, so I called back and this time she was kinda short with me, she mentioned a statue and I found that and then she hung up to help customers so I just walked along and I finally found it and they were closed for lunch.
I sat on a bench close by to eat my sandwich and chill and that is when I met Fred and Beau from California who were also waiting to get into the hostel. They were a father & son doing some backpacking, very cool. They were just in Amsterdam and they were heading to Spain after this. So we chatted about our travels so far while we waited and then they finally opened the doors and we went in and checked in. While I was standing in line, I chatted with a guy from North Dakota who was heading to Amsterdam next and so I gave him some info, tips on things to do and places to go, told him a few stories. Some guy who works in the hostel walked past and starting singing the Canadian national anthem, he saw my flag on my backpack, and then said he was from Canada, and from the accent I think from Montreal or Quebec. Then I went up to my room and sorted my things quickly, was a small room with 2 bunk beds but we had a shower and sink in the room, so good stuff. I met one roommate, she was from Mexico, and she didn’t speak much English, so it was only a quick hello.
I rolled up my pants, put on my flip flops, was a hot day out today, and headed out. I knocked on Fred and Beau’s room but they were already gone, so I went back down to the train station to find out about trains from Paris to Germany, and so I may reroute to Switzerland first. Then took an exit from the station and started wondering around on an adventure of Brussels with a very confusing map. So, here are some pictures and not sure what everything is again b/c they don’t list them on the map.
just a random streets
enlarged this one so you could see it, this little guy is a national symbol in Brussels, like a mascot, here are tons of souvenirs of him, his name is Manneken Pis and apparently his suit is changed a few times per month and there is a city museum with the last 804 costumes…lol. There are 3 different peeing statues in Brussels.
This is Albert, the statue I had to find to get in the right directions to my hostel.
This is the City Centre and I don’t know what all the buildings are but they were quite magnificent. Lots of detail on them, wow, sorry you don’t see that in Canada.
I continued to walk along and then I bumped into Fred and Beau so we wandered along following the map the best the 3 of us could make out of it. First we stopped and had a taste of the Belgium chocolate, chocolate covered strawberries and was so delicious!
Ya, I took a pic of it.
We walked along to the Royal palace, nothing exciting
right across the street was Warandepark, so we walked through and we came across this gothic St.Geodele-St.Michiels Cathedral
enlarged for the detail
You can take pictures inside….so here are some highlights
organ pipes
After that, we continued to walk along and find our way back to the hostel, Fred napped and myself and Beau went online. I searched some more for hostels in Paris, and checked prices from Paris to Switzerland, sorted some of my pics and then Beau invited me to go find some a place to go eat with him and his dad, so off we went. We walked along some of the same streets we were on earlier and then we discovered a whole area of restaurants, there were some very narrow alleys and some wider. So we explored and well to our surprise, no matter how hungry we were, the waiters in these restaurants really wanted us to eat at their places. Seriously I have never seen this before, they stand right out and swarm you, telling you what great deals they have and that their food is the best, doing whatever they can to sell the place and talk you in to eating there. There was all different nationalities of food, from Italian, Greek, then a fish and meat area with all the seafood right there to see. I could not believe it, this one young waiter approached me grabbed my hand and kissed it and told me that he had a great deal, which included a free glass of wine I believe and I told him I wasn’t hungry and thanked him and then kissed his hand back….too funny! Once we walked through like 2 or so of the alleys, I was a little afraid to go down anymore, it was crazy! But we finally decided on Italian, one thing too is you actually feel like if you go to one and not the other, they will stare you down the whole time you eat, but we were safe. So we got a pizza, and some pasta, and we all shared, it was quite good but who knows, which place really is the best. I also asked the waiter if they are seriously competing and do they hold meetings monthly to see who had a better month then the other. We wondered if these were all family owned restaurants and how long they have been in the family, and how proud the fathers would be to see how evolved the waiters have gotten over time, well more like aggressive…..lol
Here are some pics of a few of them, not sure which ones are which
Beau and Fred
…Hi Guys! welcome to my blog…….look at that, you’re a feature…….LOL… hope ur enjoying Spain, I know I will but gotta wait, so much more to see before then.
Once we finished dinner we made out way back through the alleys and it was pretty easy, got to tell them we picked someone else over them, kinda funny! So we made our way back to the hostel and I decided I wanted some ice cream for dessert and once again, where did I go, Hagan Daaz, so dum…….I should have gotten an original Belgium waffle but not enough room for that after dinner. Got back to the hostel and Beau and I got online again. I finally found and booked a hostel which is good and a relief since I was heading to Paris tomorrow.
“So, until Paris” good evening, morning, afternoon, whichever applies.
Don’t know if they have these at home yet……smart car sport car, very cool looking, had to take a pic.
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