Hotel Ghent River

... 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 ...

... riding the bus with my huge backpack. Things always seem tougher and the rides longer when I have to haul it around with me. I won't miss it that much, I'm afraid. Anyways, it was acutally only about a 10 minute bus ride to the area where Johanna lives,and I found her apartment right away.

I greeted her and we had some really nice conversation, and she made some delicious ...

... fuel in Dijon, which (at least the parts we saw) didn't look all that great, in contrast to the rest of the country which I thought was great.

Our final stop in France was in Metz, where we grabbed lunch, had a quick walk around the markets and I bought a crepe with strawberry jam (delicious). We had a walk through St Stephens Cathedral - a massive church whose construction started in around 1220 and finished in 1520. It is a very spectacular building, incredibly tall and with ...

... at the end.
We also toured the local De Halv Maans brewery, which offered good views at the top and pretty good beer. And we found the newest idea in take out--fast food pasta! They cook fresh pasta right in front of you, add a sauce, put it in a cup and give you a fork, for 3 Euro. We think it would take off at home.
Oh, we haven't mentioned chocolate yet. Brugge also has a chocolate museum which ...

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 ...

Washington: Lehet cigizni! Kinaiak puszikat dobalnak az Eszternek.
Vegas: A szimpi mokus repulorol Donald elvisz a szallodaba.Jo beszelgetes erdekes ember.
E: hagyjuk annyit maszni amennyit csak lehet a repulest jol birja de a vegen bog.Donald irto turelmesen birja mellettunk.

... out how Belgian service stations worked.

Quickly arrived in Gent, stopped for a rest then into the centre of this beautiful city for a wander and a kebab. Lots of people out and about enjoying Friday evening. Wonderful architecture everywhere -
great first stop.

Approx 220 miles today.

Now for Lachlan...

Report goes largely as above, so not ...

... to the country on the bus I realized that. On my bus ride over, there were foreigners from as far away as Columbia and Afric that called Brussels home; French Belgians going home and of course Flemish Belgians, but it is the influence of the Flemish and the French Belgians that give Brussels it's flavor I feel in regards to its cuisine as well as its architecture and art and its culture. How to describe this, I'm not sure yet, and of course these are my ...

... family-oriented campgrounds where people mind their own business. Not bad in a way, but not great if you want to meet people. There is also this language barrier. The Flandres part of Belgium speaks a language very close to the Dutch. Quite a few people speak english, but not too many. And don't try in French.....there is a bit of friction between the Flanders part (mostly Dutch speaking) and the Wallonie (French speaking). Maybe I should head ...

And then it is all over. You arrive home and it feels like you´ve never been away. But I know it is not like that. I have many pictures, memories in my head, scars on my body and unremovable stains on my clothes and backpack which will always stay and remind me of all the good times I had. I consider it as a privilege for having travelled in these two special countries of our world. I returned with a positive feeling. There is not more I have to add. I can only say ...