B&B Double Door Brugge

... drizzling quite a bit here in Gent, but that's ok...

Tomorrow I'll try and brave the weather (here's hoping for some more sunshine) around Gent. My last full day in Belgium, since on Monday I take a train out to Dusseldorf, to spend my last night in Germany and Europe with my first hosts. Then, I leave around noon from the Dusseldorf airport to Fort Myers, back in the states. Last 3 days....

Today I said goodbye to rainy, rainy Bruxelles, and took the half hour train (8 euros) to Gent/Ghent, where I met up with my first host ever, Johanna. She was the first couchsurfer to welcome me into her home back in 2007, after I had finished my year in South Korea, in Beijing.

- Before going to Ghent, I actually made a stop in the Musical Instruments Museum in Bruxelles ...

... soldier'. Again, it was pretty sobering, seeing all these graves.

We managed to all get completely soaked today, and it was freezing cold and windy as well, so it wasn't particularly comfortable. After that, it was back to Calais, stopping at one more of the massive French hypermarkets for a few souvenir pieces of food, then back onto the ferry back to Dover.

So, that was the Crumball Rally over! We did ...

... attention to detail.

Back on the road, we headed further north and crossed over the border in Luxembourg. We stopped briefly at some motorway services, but as we were running short for time we didn't get the chance to stop in Luxembourg city. Going through one village we did see a pretty cool house on top of an outcrop of rocks, which looked great all lit up, but it was hard to get a shot which did it justice.

After crossing over into Belgium we stopped for gas, then ...

I saw the film "In Bruges" when it came out at the cinema a couple of years ago, and thought it looked like a beautiful city. So when Annabelle (the teacher in charge of me at school, and a good friend) suggested going for the day, Erin and I jumped at the chance.
The advantage of living so close to the Belgian border is that almost everywhere in Belgium is not much more than an hour away, and so we have no excuse not to see a lot of it!

We arrived in Bruges around 11.30 ...

... Hostel pub crawl.. I do not recommend the Cherry beer (purely on taste alone).

In the middle of the Markt are competing Frittes (fries) takeaway stores... chips covered in spicy mayo or gravy.. or whatever you want really! It was only fair to try them both.

Day 2 and the Food Markets started the day. Meat on a stick and soooo much fruit ...

... I dont know how close it actually comes to resembling beer, but i have found my one drink and happily felt like a beer drinker for the night! Michael and myself hung out at the bar with 2 other guys that we had met - an irishman called Martin and a Canadian called Mike. It sounded like a bad joke (hence the title of this entry!) but we all ended up having a really good night together and by the end i was ready to abandon all the **** out of my bag just so i could put ...

... the church and replaced it with a crown, in order to pay homage to the Monarchy I guess, as well as the Lord. They not only topped off the church with this garish crown of blue, but tried to make the church seem even more vacant by removing its thirty meter, 5068 pipe organ (see photo) which was once played by the 10 year-old Mozart. The town's folk revolted and the organ stayed.

Five hundred-year-old cafes and hotels surround the massive church. Our hotel room ...

... better than what we get at home, but the mayo that covers it is fantastic.. It's not that sickly sweet stuff, but creamy and lightly flavoured.. Not long after, we decided to stop for our 2nd lot of Belgium invented cuisine - the famous Belgium waffle.. Brian settled for a banana covered waffle, while I had the strawberry one.. OMG, they were to die for!! They were sweet, light and crisp yet just melted in your mouth.. Nothing like the ...

A historical town in medieval architecture (once be castle of the kingdom) & now listed 'World Heritage Site' by UNESCO... famous in Bruges : The Basilica of the Holy Blood The relic of the Holy Blood, which was brought to the city during the First Crusade, is paraded every year through the streets of the city. More than 1,600 inhabitants take part in this mile-long religious procession, many dressed as medieval knights or crusaders.