Hotel Comte De Flandre Blankenberge

... drizzling quite a bit here in Gent, but that's ok...

Tomorrow I'll try and brave the weather (here's hoping for some more sunshine) around Gent. My last full day in Belgium, since on Monday I take a train out to Dusseldorf, to spend my last night in Germany and Europe with my first hosts. Then, I leave around noon from the Dusseldorf airport to Fort Myers, back in the states. Last 3 days....

Today was a many miles day - around 500 in fact, or about 800km! We all met up in a carpark on the outskirts of Macon, then travelled in convoy north. As we were travelling such a long way today, we all decided to use the motorways, as despite being toll roads and meaning we'd see a bit less scenery, it was well worth it as we'd get to stop for longer on the way and get there earlier. The tolls were quite expensive compared to what I'm used to (it cost us about 21 Euros/NZ$42 for the ...

... 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 ...

I saw the film "In Bruges" when it came out at the cinema a couple of years ago, and thought it looked like a beautiful city. So when Annabelle (the teacher in charge of me at school, and a good friend) suggested going for the day, Erin and I jumped at the chance.
The advantage of living so close to the Belgian border is that almost everywhere in Belgium is not much more than an hour away, and so we have no excuse not to see a lot of it!

We arrived in Bruges around 11.30 ...

... 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 ...

... 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 ...

... that! Everyone's pretty much gone this weekend, Jake and Alli already left for Barcelona, Josh and Landon went to Brussels, and a bunch of girls went to Amsterdam, but we'll find something fun to do! I think Jessica and I are going to try and go to church in Goes on Sunday to see what it's like, so that should be interesting! Anyway, I'll write if anything exciting happens, otherwise, Barcelona here I come!

... it was 13 euro each to get in to see the flowers (which were beautiful) 28 euro to catch the train and 5 euro for the bus and they expected 0,30 euro for the toilet!!! (I'll wee on the gardens before I pay for the toilet!) AND I was VERY disappointed as in the whole place (which is massive) there is only ONE windmill!!!! It was still a lovely day though.. It was a very long day and after all the walking around (which we do everyday jeez Im ...

... asked for some "help" to direct us to the next bar on his map. He was a smooth talker for sure and started talking to a couple local girls. Well we made it to the next bar and tried another Belgian beer, Hoegardeen (sp?). It was a wheat beer and not too bad. Yes, that's a 2nd beer which I've said wasn't bad. The bar seemed empty but the music wasn't bad. As we were about to leave, we saw 30 people waltz right in and two nuns ...