Hotel Lido 2000 Ostende

... bikes for the day and see all the sights but we wanted to get some advice on where to go and what to see. The guy there was very helpful by drawing a path on our map for us to follow and circling all of the highlights.

We went and sorted out bikes at the bike hire place and set off for our first stop which was one of the churches in town. There was nothing significant about it except that the guy at the tourist office had recommended it so we figured we would take a look. It ...

... but I know what the waiters were talking among themselves about after they left.

Well, one more day in Bruges, then I board the train Saturday morning for Amsterdam and the final leg of the trip. I’m looking forward to lugging my luggage just one last time before coming home. Tomorrow it’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.

... ice cream combination was ridiculously delicious. After that, we continued to the main plaza (where the climax of In Bruges occurred, for those interested – it was crazy to be where it was filmed!). There, we walked around the bell tower, the Medieval Belfort, and admired all the fantastic architecture, including the beer wall that displayed every beer brewed in Belgium – a landmark in wall construction, I’m sure. We skipped lunch ...

... I have seen since being here. I'm wishing now that we had ventured inside, but our time there was very short. We will just have to travel there again in the future.


After leaving Cologne we arrived in Brussels, Belgium and took the subway to the area of town where our bed and breakfast was located. After a little confusion, due to an absence of any sort of sign or marking of the building, we found the B and B and we ...

... a carillon concert which happens every Sunday at 2pm and they play Greensleeves, Danny Boy and a Bach symphony. When we reached the top of the tower, Katelyn said, I hope the bells don't ring and in the next second they did, very loudly.

We packed our bags as we were leaving for Amsterdam the next day. I loved Bruges but because Greg hadn’t felt well, we hadn’t done anything outside of Bruges and it had been pretty relaxing compared to London.

... none of the flavours were labelled in the shop and there was no description sheet. I also had to take photos of the rude chocolate in the windows (only in Belgium???). I couldn’t believe how many more people there were in town for the weekend.

I met up with Greg and the girls for lunch which actually consisted of another pastry from our favourite patisserie!!! This time I had a mango and raspberry ...

... The praline was really nice- you can buy it by the bucket from suppliers, I had resisted because of the quantity you have to buy, but it was so nice that I may have to change my mind.

Up until now, I had been really eating healthily and with all of the walking, had actually started to lose weight, and then we found a place that has led to my undoing. Yes, it was a patisserie with the European pastries that I have craved. I had a fruit tart which was divine.

That ...

... We were mobbed. So, we had to retreat back to our B&B, which was very nice, take a nap, and wait for the evening to provide some sort of sanctuary from all the locals coming in for the day. As evening arrived, peace filled the city, and the buildings, which were lit up beautifully, provided a great backdrop for a 'charming' evening of strolling through the ...

... history. We also stopped in Ypres, the medieval city that was completely leveled during the 4 years of fighting. It's all been rebuilt to look just like the original city, but all of the buildings there now are 1920's or newer. We stopped by the Menin Gate where the names of 55,000 soldiers missing in action are inscribed. Then we went to a WWI trench that has been excavated and we could walk through. It's difficult to really get a feel of what it ...

... and chocolate shops. Swans swim through all the canals and horses with carriages trot down the streets- its so cute! We only had enough time to walk around the city and visit the major monuments. It was a beautiful fall day though (with NO rain!) and we had a wonderful time. In the late afternoon we hopped back on the train and headed to the city of Antwerp. Since Nate and Andrea had been there before we were able to speed walk ...