De Biestpoort Hotel Leuven

... like this”, I secretly felt sick for the rest of the journey, but I didn’t tell him that. Finally arriving in Calais, 3 hours into the journey and we make our way through France and into Belgium and then arriving in Brussels. We then walked down to the Grand Place Grote Markt which is a big beautiful square in the centre of town with a big Christmas Tree and Nativity scene in the middle. We had free time to discover Brussels as we wished, visiting the ...

... Leuven train station. We arrived at the station at around 4.30, a full hour before the first train, and found hundreds of people with the same idea. The 5.33 train to Brussels was heavily crowded, but we just about got on, standing in the walkways between carriages, hardly daring to breathe for fear of invading the personal space of the many strangers also cramped between carriages.

We leave Brugge today but need to see the chocolate museum first. Gary and I leave earlier than our wives so we can climb the clock tower. I wheeze and gasp a bit on the way up, stopping on those convenient floors/landings, pretending that I want to see something there, but really just catch my breath. Although it is raining, it is ...

Marie has been telling me for ages that Leuven is her favourite city in Belgium. Last night and today, I got the opportunity to see why. Yesterday after dinner, we piled into the car and drove the twenty minute distance to Leuven. I love how everything in Belgium is so close together that you can visit nearly any city in the country in a few hours' drive. Leuven is primarily a student town, which gives it a fantastic vibe. It's the home of Leuven University, the most ...

DAY 1. We made it across Dover and into Belgium. First impression of Belgium was: it's flat. We tried to think of what Belgium was famous for and Dan came up with three people, one of which was the actor of Claude Van Dam. Does that count? We also decided they were famous for chocolate and cheese but then couldn't work out what was the difference then between Belgium and Switzerland. This gives you an insight into the nature of our car conversations. Thrilling, eh ...

... share with Daddy, who hadn't yet had a warm waffle crusted with caramelized sugar. We wandered around the downtown area for about an hour. On Saturdays they have all sorts of tents set up selling everything from olives to cheese and vegetables. We got some cheese (from a guy who apparently hates Americans, but gave me the cheese for free saying that with us here perhaps there is hope...hmmmmmm). We also picked up some strawberries ...

... and all the shops were closed - I'm sure it would've been hopping at any other time. There were 3 H&M clothing stores within 2 blocks - crazy! They're the clothing equivalent of Starbucks - spreading everywhere, well on their way to world domination. Though I'm not a fan of Starbucks, H&M is great - nice, cheap, and pretty good quality clothing. I probably will eventually become jaded and hate them once they spread some more ...

... in a pauper's grave. Van Gogh grew up a lonely child and was very attached to his mother. His hyper-critical father didn't like is artwork. He went to Paris to study the impressionists. He was schizophrenic and when he had episodes, it was seen in his paintings that grew wilder and wilder with time. He cut off his ear and later committed suicide. His paintings were discovered stored away in his family home. We learned so much here. Many think they've seen Europe, but miss the ...

Deux jours c'est peu pour découvrir Bruxelles. Il y a tellement de chose à voir. Entre musées, monuments, Histoire et culture. Disons alors que ce n'est qu'une mise en bouche. Je reviendrai. J'ai quand même eu le temps (deux fois en fait) pour un repas typiquement belge: moules frittes, avec ...

... Normandy, France, to a city called CAEN. It's right near where the Allied troops (Americans and British) landed in World War II to save the day. There are many littler differences here from home that you don't realize are going to be so wierd until you experience them. For instance, in England at the huge train station, there were no trash cans. The reason was that it's too easy for terrorists to put bombs in them. We were ...