Hotel Malcot Mechelen

... to the hostel). Bruges was just absolutely incredible all the way through.

At the train station, we had one final waffle at Haagen Daz, then boarded the TGV high-speed train to get back to Paris. Our trip had a bit of a rocky start, but our tour of the VanAcker homeland was definitely a rousing success. A strange thing that I noticed was how much I've already started to think of France as a comfortable home base. After dealing with the craziness that ...

... to the top by the promise of an ice cream cone when we got to the bottom! With Mechelen having so many churches, literally not 10 minutes goes by without the very loud sound of ringing church bells. Sometimes they last for just a few seconds sometimes 10 minutes! The sign that welcomes you to Mechelen is covered with pictures of bells if that gives you an idea of how well known the city is for them ...

... Fatty K's label's owner/operator, Pita (again, of Showarma records).  Pita was from Morrocco originally, so we had a lot to talk about (e.g. Gnawa, the Master Musicians of Jajouka, Najat Aatabou, and other artists from the Maghreb like Anouar Brahem).  Told him about all the amazing musicians I will be recording like the upright bass player Miles Jay, the Turkish darbuka player Misirli Ahmet, the nay player Moslem Rahal, and the oud player Hazem Shaheen.  I played him some ...

... building. We then had some traditional fries & mayonnaise with beer. After that we went to the Centre Belge de la Blande Dessinee - The Comic Strip museum. Belgians are famous for comics including Tintin, Lucky Luke and The Smurfs. The museum was pretty good, although it would be enjoyed more by comic buffs - and people who can read Dutch or French. It was now time to meet the group and head back to Mechelen. It had drizzled pretty much all ...

... AND my old one, containing my visa for Australia. They have to be united in Perth in a month. Sick of me asking, Tony shows me, but .... there is only one: my old one. Big panic. We do not even have a key to the house, where my passport is on !!! But: Linda has. I call her. She will pick up the key from her home, drive to our house, pick up the passport and come back. But, that is just it! We have no idea where the ...

... thing... I don't know if it is because our time was limited, or because we come from a country that everybody is running after something and waiters just break legs to serve you, but this is not the story in Mechelen. We waited and waited and waited for someone to take our order, and when we finally did give it, we then waited and waited and waited (seemed like forever) untill our order was actually there! And this is not just one place, this happened all over in every ...

... nice place great people and quite reasonably priced. Met a bunch of local youths who have been my close friends the last few days. In fact, one of their fathers offered me a under the table job at his English bar. Tempting, could make a few bucks and get beyond tourism. Ill think about it. Let me know any of your suggestions, maby a push somewhere will resolve everything. PEACE

... the product you are looking for is in the name. The fries were delicious. Dad likes to rate his fries and we will follow and rate them a 9 out of 10. Since then we have heard a few theories about why fries are so good. One, they are cut fresh, two, they are fried twice at two different temperatures and three, they use beef fat. Whatever they do, they are doing it right. In Brussels we saw much ...

... it not being in prime season it had thousands upon thousands of tulips and other beautiful flowers. We then headed into Alkamaar which is a little harbourside town famous for its cheese markets and men in white coats that cart the cheese around. It was a very cute little town with more cobbled streets and beautiful shops. Unfortunately, the famous cheese parade is only on Fridays from 10.00 to 12.00 so we will miss it.... It's not like we need anymore cheese though at present. Driving ...

... We could not find aspirin anywhere. The hotel store in Brussels didn't have it, none of the hotel staff had it, and nowhere in town had it. They don't have over-the-counter medicine readily available at the local Walgreens, grocery store, gas station, etc. like in the US. Julie eventually got some in Bruges from a pharmacist and I think that made her trip a bit more enjoyable. After walking around for a bit, we decided to get some dinner. We hadn't eaten all day and actually ...