Ramada Limited Brugge

... 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....

... 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 ...

... soldier'. Again, it was pretty sobering, seeing all these graves.

We managed to all get completely soaked today, and it was freezing cold and windy as well, so it wasn't particularly comfortable. After that, it was back to Calais, stopping at one more of the massive French hypermarkets for a few souvenir pieces of food, then back onto the ferry back to Dover.

So, that was the Crumball Rally over! We did ...

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 ...

... 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 ...

... went for a wander around the Beguinage and the little streets of the city before stopping for lunch in a restaurant on the main square, which was really nice and served local traditional food which was really great.

We wanted to go up the clock-tower but the queue was far too long and we decided that we could go back another day during the week when there weren't so many tourists!

The Christmas market had just started in Bruges so we spent quite a while wandering ...

... it when I return...its a joke!)

When I returned to my accommodation, I found that I needed to move my room, which I forgot about, and thestaff kindly assisted. I had left my jacket in the common room the previous evening, and it was still there.

I had my last Belgium chips and mayo later in the afternoon. Dinner consisted of Belgium waffles (banana and chocolate) at the Square. The resturant on the corner in the ...

... of days then head north. I tried booking that B&B when I was in Amsterdam and I received an error message. I tried again once I arrived at this hotel. Still an error message. I thought that maybe the problem was that I was trying to book too soon to the date I requested. So I started planning my Expedition through the U.K. I have vouchers for 8 nights in Britain/Scotland and 7 in Ireland. I wasn't going to use my vouchers for the 3 nights in ...

... Julia and I trotted over to the main town square to start our daily walking tours courtesy of Rick Steves. Julia will fill you in on the details since she read them to me the entire way. Julia's take on the walk through Bruges: Bruges is the most adorable little Medieval town. It's full of low brick houses (with low doorways for Jenn to hit her head on), red tile roofs, narrow cobblestone alleys, and winding canals all the way around it, which ...

... are right out of a picture book. Bruges is soaked in history and culture. We walked over 10 miles a day pounding the pavement with soar feet, but too completely in awe to take a break. We wandering aimlessly down streets with brightly colored doors and baskets filled with flowers potted underneath windows. I will never forget wondering around Brugges' little bridges and running ...