Huyshoeve Knokke

I slept really well last night at Johanna's place (yes, I promise to make entries -even if they're short- for past days/cities). Then this morning I took the bus under a light drizzle to the Ghent main train station. There I paid my 6.6 Euros for a round trip (weekend price) to Brugges (Brugge/Brujas), which I had heard so much about.

I had quite the positive attitude, even as the rain fell against my ...

... 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 ...

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 ...

... the market and the shops and then went on a boat ride which was fantastic, after which we went to a tea-room which claimed to have the best hot chocolate in town, and it was really good! It was incredibly sickly though and gave both Erin and I a headache for the ride home!

Altogether a really fun day out in Bruges, truffles bought, Belgian food eaten and Belgian alcohol drunk, and Belgian chocolate drunk! This is another place where we will definitely be returning!!

... has been preserved. After our nice walk through there we walked to the more modern area of the town and discovered a separate square with the most unusual statues in a fountain. It seemed to greatly contrast the medieval feel of the city and was almost shocking. We enjoyed them greatly though and took some pictures with the ducky of course!

After spending some time sitting at the steps in the market square we made our way up ...

... English detective show or something. We had a great night out and ran back to the hostel in the rain.
We walked all around the town and saw little parks and local areas to the north of the town where people actually live. Around town there are heaps of chocolate shops and even a TinTin shop! The clothing stores are all fancy and there are mouth-watering pink-decorated candy stores.
Our visit to Ghent was nice too. It is ...

... de vélo ( www.VanHesteSport.tk) a La Panne, Belgique. Si jamais vous passez dans le coin et que vous avez besoin de pièces de vélo, allez faire un tour. Ils fabriquent également des cadres de course. Le gars est un ex-coureur, pis il connait la game..... Anyway, le diagnistic final sur mon problème......selle mal ajusté, et clips de pédales trop reculées.......Ouain.....Ca pouvait ben mal aller! J'en au profité pour lui acheter quelque ...

... those just as easily. Whatever happened to environmentally sound clay pidgeon massacres? Belgian bicyclists, verdict: insane. They wear no helmets and they go way too fast and they're everywhere! On sidewalks, in the middle of the street or in jumpy transition between road and sidewalk, generally zig-zagging about as if in a daze (must be the summer heat)... crazy! Belgian beaches. It's so very relaxed and beautiful on ...

... it was still dark so I pulled over on a parking highway and had some sleep. Later I drove to Veere which I had been told by HC that it was a cute town and it was indeed. But first I got so tired that I slept on the car there for about 4h so I lost a part of my day. After Veere I went back to Middelburg which is really nice and look like Amsterdam, in more little and more clean. I then drove the whole island making some stop at some bunker ...