Andromeda Ostende

... for the day.Ghent is a nice place with an amazing central area full of churches and imposing buildings.Unfortunately the entire area was under construction so it didn't have the same effect.<br>Brussels was larger than the other cities, and we picked up a similar local map to visit thehidden gems on offer.<br>(Whitney)<br>Bruges is a really lovely city, enclosed by a river that runs around and through it which results in ...

... I'm wrong. Who knows? (Probably historians, or doctors shh.) <br><br>That's it, I got on a train and headed back to Amsterdam for the night. It was a whirlwind trip through Belgium but so has the rest of this trip so why would this be any different. <br><br>Oh I did stop in Antwerp and had a Belgian waffle. I had three bites and threw it away it was so sweet. But I'm sure everyone else would love it. <br><br>Update soon!<br><br>Dina

... a really really bad stomach ache from them &#8211; knives stabbing me type pain. So that kinda killed the night unfortunately, I wasn&#8217;t sure if I was going to start feeling sick or what, so Megg and I headed back to Bruges (don&#8217;t worry I was fine though!). Note to self DON&#8217;T EAT BRUSSELS MUSSELS.<br><br>Jac and Bec came to Bruges for the day, so we met them for breakfast (I had a pancake!) before we headed off to our final backpacking destination - Paris!

... of like a glass cylinder really and what I think is supposed to be inside it is a piece of the cross that Jesus died on with his blood on it. There was definitely a tinge of red to it but I&#8217;m not authorized to say whether it was the real deal or not. All the same I said a little prayer for Obelix, it can&#8217;t hurt! When we got outside Witek told me he said a prayer for Obelix too and I thought that was nice that we were both on the same page.<br><br>After this we decided ...

... but I know what the waiters were talking among themselves about after they left.<br><br>Well, one more day in Bruges, then I board the train Saturday morning for Amsterdam and the final leg of the trip. I&#8217;m looking forward to lugging my luggage just one last time before coming home. Tomorrow it&#8217;s laundry day again. I finally found the Laundromat the hotel recommended down a bunch of twisty streets and snapped about 40 photos on the way.

... waffles. My friend and I split a banana, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate syrup-doused waffle, which was completely gone in about the span of 49 seconds. Our other friend got up from the table for a split second and basically missed the entire thing. After we scraped off all the leftover powdered sugar and chocolate sauce on the plate, and drank the rest of the sauce in its cup (I&#8217;m sad to say, that is totally true), we were ready to head off again.

... for beer and the corresponding glasses...because every beer in Belgium has a specific glass that you are supposed to drink it from. We spent as much time as we could in Bruges before we had to head back to Brussels to catch our plane and we still needed more time in Brussels to meet up with a friend from Clemson. I was sad to leave Bruges. It was definitely an amazing place to visit. <br>

... a shower before anyone else got up. Sadly I was beaten to it, which wasn't unexpected given that we only had two showers to share between the whole floor. By the time we were all ready it was almost 9.00, the end of breakfast time. Although we hadn't expected breakfast before we arrived, to miss out would be a waste of an opportunity, so we made a run for it. Bread and jam never tasted so good, although bread and chocolate spread would prove to be ...

... Get this, the guy is Flemish, but someone like his grandfather is Spanish or something, his mother-in-law is German, but you'd swear he was Irish with his sense of humor.... and somehow he's gotten around to knowing as many languages as Jan (and has corresponding jokes for each nationality accordingly!). Then he assured the only Japanese family on the boat that if they came back same time next year, he'd give the whole tour in Japanese, since he's still ...

... it was the most relaxing portion of the trip and honestly one of the prettiest cites we have been to. We also rented a car and drove to Flander's Fileds and Ypres and many of the World War I battle sites. It was a very emotional and moving tour.