Akiba Hotel De Haan

... window on the way, listening to my ipod looking out the window. By the time I got out of the train at Brugges, and walked along countless other tourists (insane, and this is WINTER), the sun had peeked out a bit.

By the time I was walking into the main historical center, I had beautiful weather. Nice rays of sunshine giving me some beautiful lighting for pictures and just admiring the beauty of ...

... driving) but the motorways were so good - 3 lanes each way, hardly any traffic at all, and really smooth. The motorways in France have a speed limit of 130kph in the dry, and 110kph in the wet, so either way they were faster and more direct than the meandering country roads with a 90kph limit.

Part of the way along, we came across team Les Pompiers, and they drove past us waving our aerial at us! We soon caught up and received it back though...at about 130kph!

We stopped ...

... the best way to learn about the beer produced in all of the neighboring provinces. The staff was so helpful when looking through the twenty page menu, they have seriously tried all 200 beers. The Belgian beer is also very strong, so after a couple of drink we decided it was time to try some of the local food.
There are two french fry carts sitting in the town square, the competition is steep between ...

... the market and the shops and then went on a boat ride which was fantastic, after which we went to a tea-room which claimed to have the best hot chocolate in town, and it was really good! It was incredibly sickly though and gave both Erin and I a headache for the ride home!

Altogether a really fun day out in Bruges, truffles bought, Belgian food eaten and Belgian alcohol drunk, and Belgian chocolate drunk! This is another place where we will definitely be returning!!

... The Grote Markt (Big Town Square) was huge and surrounded by cafes and gorgeous buildings such as the city hall. Many cities we've been to have similar squares with some being much more exceptional then others, Brugge included. We walked around the city, passing over the canals and peering into the churches. We went into the Beguinage in the city which was once owned by the Benguines who you could say were the first feminists. Their ...

... place where we enjoyed relaxing at night.
The highlights for me were the pubs and beer cafes we found thanks to the map where I attempted to try as many different beers as possible. After 3 days I had managed quite a few.The pubs included tiny local bars hidden in alleyways and pubs boasting the number of beersthey had available. One in particular held the guinness record a few years ago at around 2000 types but today ...

... around a bit more and got lunch at a cheap Italian restaurant. We were cold and freezing and cold and sick of sightseeing, so we went back to the hostel for an afternoon nap – we really miss siestas! Our evening was pretty quiet too – Bruges isn’t exactly a party capital.

Day trip to Brussels! We caught the train to Brussels, and after about 1 hour we had walked around the touristy bit, seen the main square and the statue of the little boy ...

... person we had met. He was very helpful, told us where all the important things were and told us where to get the best fries and with the best sauce. Stoofvlees. Like a beef stew on top of fries. It was delicious! Great recommendation! We at these a couple times while we were in bruges.

So, off to explore this beautiful city. We first took a canal tour. There are canals that ...

We make our way south out of Rotterdam to the A15 and head west, then turn south on the N57. It leads to the west coast where we drive through farms and over dikes. I really like this part of Netherlands - open farmland flanked by the sea. We take our time driving the ...

... been if it was a chocolate factory! But was interesting still. And we did get a little bit of a taste test!! But for the most of it, we ate (had crepes, waffles & mussels - all very Belgian!) and I finally had my first own, all to myself beer! It was ok, but I was struggling towards the end to finish it! Other than that, Bruges was a good place to do nothing much before we arrived in Amsterdam!