Apostroff Hotel Koksijde

... 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 ...

... huge damage during the war and required significant reconstruction. Some parts of the original buildings still stand, and show shrapnel damage, and some of the statues in the church walls are badly damaged.

Next stop after Ypres was at the Hooge Crater Cemetary. This cemetary contains the graves of nearly 6000 soldiers, many of whom were younger than I am, and a lot were only engraved with 'A British/Australian/New ...

... 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 ...

... 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!!

... wonder anyone survived at all. They also discussed the intricacy of the trenches and how they allowed rests and safety for the soldiers.

Ypres is also the resting place of John McCrae the author of the famous Poem "In Flanders Field".

After the enlightening trip to the museum we did the only thing one can do in Belgium when in need of a little cheering up and refreshment, we got some waffles! Delicious! One thing I must ...

... 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 ...

... sauce, both delicious). Yes, we really fit in well there and enjoyed our time. We used the map to discover really cute little pubs, including one that is the oldest in Bruges. You enter through a door off a tiny street and go up some internal stairs until you reach, what I presume, was someone's living room at one point. People have been coming to this place to drink beer since 1515. We met up with a young couple from Texas ...

... mind. I later went to check out a musical instruments museum but it was shut, but there was a nearby free concert which I saw a bit of, generally they would play a verse and a half of an English-speaking song then just stop, I assume because that was all they knew maybe? Went to the Mannekin Pis fountain on the way back, I'd seen it copied so many times and never understood there was an original and a story behind it, that a father had lost ...

... and their work was highly prized. So much so that in return for some of their work, Italy commissioned Michelangelo to do a sculpture to present to them. This is now in display in the local museum and is one of the few places outside Italy where you can see an original Michelangelo sculpture. And you know what the say about weavers? Well you can imagine that if you are good at weaving then you probably aint gonna be too good at fighting. So aside from the clever victory over the ...