Royal Astor Ostende

... chocolate, and fries. French Fries actually originated in Belgium, and two stalls sellthem in the middle of Bruges outside the belfry tower in the same location they have been selling them for the last century. Apparently there is a long running rivalry between the two and locals often argue who sells the best fries - we couldn't really tell the difference.<br>From Bruges we went on two day trips to Ghent and Brussels, and poked ...

... here. "A church!" you say. I know I know you would think that i got my fill of churches in Italy and Spain however I have not been to the church that boasts to be the proud owners of a vile of Christ's actual blood! Yep you read correctly, they claim that they house the DNA and blood of Christ. Now, I'm no doctor, I gave that dream up a while ago, but I'm pretty sure that 2000 year old blood would have evaporated by now. But ...

... around a bit more and got lunch at a cheap Italian restaurant. We were cold and freezing and cold and sick of sightseeing, so we went back to the hostel for an afternoon nap &#8211; we really miss siestas! Our evening was pretty quiet too &#8211; Bruges isn&#8217;t exactly a party capital.<br><br>Day trip to Brussels! We caught the train to Brussels, and after about 1 hour we had walked around the touristy bit, seen the main square and the statue of the little boy ...

... views of farms and paddocks, a canal all the way along, sheep and cows, and even the occasional paddle steamer. It was a really enjoyable, easy ride. <br><br>Once in Damme we went down the main street to see what was going on. Not much! I was hungry by now so we stopped at a patisserie/ restaurant to have some lunch. We sat out the front on some nice couches and I went out to use the bathroom. Out the back of the restaurant I found an outdoor eating area which I thought would be nice ...

... Little houses on tiny cobblestone streets near big beautiful churches. I stopped on the square and had dinner. What Europeans call a menu is really kind of a set price thing. One from column A, one from column B and a dessert . I started out with a big Leffe beer since I&#8217;m in the land of beer. Then the soup, then a traditional Belgian stew and chocolate mousse for desert. Oh yeah, another small Chimay beer and then coffee. The ...

... waffles really were great), and went to De Halve Mann, the only brewery still working in Bruges. After a tour of the brewery, which led me to reminisce about me being Dad&#8217;s underage basement-beer-brewing apprentice, we were entitled to a free sample of the blond beer brewed on-site.<br><br>After our tasty beverage, we continued our tour of Bruges. There are a ridiculous amount of lace and chocolate shops around, and we were lucky enough to ...

... is another cute little bar. So after we ate we went across the street and had a couple beers. We also saw our tour guide from earlier that day there.<br><br>The next day it was rainy but we walked around the city anyway. It was just too cute to not explore. We walked to the edge of town and saw the dutch windmills then walked back into town for some chocolate and went on a shopping ...

Day 3 Wednesday 2nd July. Decided to get on with the cleaning of the caravan since the weather was a bit dull and showery, so no more trouble with sunburn. Whilst Phil was concentrating on the walls, I went up on the roof. ( See Photo for during and before )

... that change room. And I definitely didn't have as big of a smile on my face as he did!!! As I returned to the hostel I ran into a lost Mexican family and gave them some directions. Any excuse to practice my Spanish! After, I quickly changed into flip flops and some of the new clothes I had bought (a non-black shirt and nice light cargo pants - yes!!!) and went off to the Straffe Hendrik brewery tour. I've never been to a ...

... our meals! FYI, we are pretty sure we are not being followed any more (but not positive). Our only mishaps of the day were Scotts gigantic blister on his pinky toe (which he refuses to pop because he's a "dermatologist" and he "knows better") and Nate stepping in a fresh heap of fuming dog poop! Like I mentioned earlier, people bring their dogs with them everywhere, but unfortunately they don't always like to clean up after them!