Altea Acces Ostende

... chocolate, and fries. French Fries actually originated in Belgium, and two stalls sellthem in the middle of Bruges outside the belfry tower in the same location they have been selling them for the last century. Apparently there is a long running rivalry between the two and locals often argue who sells the best fries - we couldn't really tell the difference.<br>From Bruges we went on two day trips to Ghent and Brussels, and poked ...

... here. "A church!" you say. I know I know you would think that i got my fill of churches in Italy and Spain however I have not been to the church that boasts to be the proud owners of a vile of Christ's actual blood! Yep you read correctly, they claim that they house the DNA and blood of Christ. Now, I'm no doctor, I gave that dream up a while ago, but I'm pretty sure that 2000 year old blood would have evaporated by now. But ...

... about a million chocolate shops, so we spent the rest of the day going in and out of them with watering mouths &#8211; so much yummy chocolate EVERYWHERE! I did a free walking tour in the eve with all the clothes I own on &#8211; Megg was too cold and couldn&#8217;t go outside! I&#8217;m sure I learnt lots of interesting things.. All I can remember is that Beer was invented in the middle ages because water was too dirty to drink. But I learnt that in Prague &#8211 ...

... a bit much. I was sobbing and repeating 'I don&#8217;t want to get on a propeller pane!&#8217; as we got off the bus and on to the plane. I tried to control myself as we went through the door to the plane but the flight attendant could see I was upset and asked me what was wrong. I repeated my little line &#8216;I don&#8217;t want to get on a propeller plane!&#8217;<br><br>I was so embarrassed but so scared at the same time, it was hard to know what to do!<br><br>She was very ...

... and Child by Leonardo Da Vinci is housed &#8211; the &#8220;pointy church&#8221; from the movie. I may get lost again. In this town, that&#8217;s not so bad.<br><br>Off the wall observations: It seems that the Italians make the American look like seasoned, sophisticated tourists. They&#8217;re everywhere, they&#8217;re loud, and you definitely don&#8217;t want them in line in front of you. They&#8217;ll take a half hour arguing with ...

... cobbled streets, red shingled roofs, canals, and historic buildings. <br><br>We first walked to Bruge's cathedral, which was still great to see despite all the cathedrals that I&#8217;ve been to already. We then headed toward the main plaza along with the bunches of other tourists flocking around Bruges. On the way, we had our first truly Belgian experience: waffles. Needless to say, I was ridiculously excited, and my waffle-chocolate sauce ...

... is another cute little bar. So after we ate we went across the street and had a couple beers. We also saw our tour guide from earlier that day there.<br><br>The next day it was rainy but we walked around the city anyway. It was just too cute to not explore. We walked to the edge of town and saw the dutch windmills then walked back into town for some chocolate and went on a shopping ...

... thru a narrow walkway between the buildings that lead to a larger street of shops and people all heading to another city square. Here in the next city square was the Church of Our Lady. St. Mary is the patron saint of the city of Bruges. The Church of Our Lady was a pristine medieval cathedral; that has survived the wars of man and the ravages of nature since the 13th century. It is the tallest brick church in the world. Here in the church is the world famous statue ...

... that she's been born in the city, lived there all of her life and loved it but on the contrary she found that the transient population of junkies, tourists and those that have generally decided to opt make it a lonely city. It struck me as strange that freedom to be oneself seems to be the key to society in Amsterdam and yet it may also make for an isolated society. I guess this is the same in any big city but for ...

... the Market Square on the second pass. You have to be patient when traveling, or at least when you are traveling with me. I could not find the recommended hotel from the guidebook, and because I was tired and hungry (and hangry because I was mad and needed to eat), I took a room at another place near the square. The room was hilarious. It was only E44, and I know why. The hotel was nice enough, for sure, but the room had some unique features. While ...