Royal Astrid Hotel Ostende

... for the day.Ghent is a nice place with an amazing central area full of churches and imposing buildings.Unfortunately the entire area was under construction so it didn't have the same effect.<br>Brussels was larger than the other cities, and we picked up a similar local map to visit thehidden gems on offer.<br>(Whitney)<br>Bruges is a really lovely city, enclosed by a river that runs around and through it which results in ...

... I'm wrong. Who knows? (Probably historians, or doctors shh.) <br><br>That's it, I got on a train and headed back to Amsterdam for the night. It was a whirlwind trip through Belgium but so has the rest of this trip so why would this be any different. <br><br>Oh I did stop in Antwerp and had a Belgian waffle. I had three bites and threw it away it was so sweet. But I'm sure everyone else would love it. <br><br>Update soon!<br><br>Dina

... 8211; &#8216;Mannekin ****&#8217; I think his name is (everyone told me the statue was going to be smaller than I thought, so I thought it was going to be small.. but not that small?!) So Megg and I were wondering what the hell we were going to do for the rest of the day (we aren&#8217;t exactly 100% motivated to look at stuff anymore..) when Megg whacked me and yells &#8216;JAC!&#8217;. Yep, a familiar face &#8211; Megg bumped into her old housemate Jac, and ...

... quiet so when I got back to Witek I suggested that we move out there. We debated the move as we had already ordered but it was a bit noisy by the road. <br><br>It was nice out there until our drinks came and the European wasps joined us! We swatted them away as they are a common nuisance in Europe and we have gotten used to them. At home I would normally go inside as I am not very fond of them at all! Having said this, there was one particular wasp that was particularly persistent ...

... came in a pot and the milk was heated as well. So my 16 Euro dinner came to about 37 Euro, or about $55.50. Oh well. Had a good conversation with a bunch of Swedes who were in town on business then made it back to the hotel. Today I got an early start and just walked the streets. There&#8217;s a canal ring as well as a canal network within the ring. Everywhere you turned there was another photo opportunity and I won&#8217;t bore ...

... into a chocolate store and get free samples during a chocolate-making presentation. By this point, I had introduced everyone in our group to the VanAcker family-style vacation, so we had walked basically over the entire area of Bruges and seen everything our Bible/Europe on a Budget had listed. For dinner, we were planning to eat at a place called the Hobbit (right next door to Tolkein &#8211; this place is great for nerds), but after walking around ...

... for beer and the corresponding glasses...because every beer in Belgium has a specific glass that you are supposed to drink it from. We spent as much time as we could in Bruges before we had to head back to Brussels to catch our plane and we still needed more time in Brussels to meet up with a friend from Clemson. I was sad to leave Bruges. It was definitely an amazing place to visit. <br>

Day 2 Tuesday 1st July. Due to the repeat of the 30 degree heat and the soreness of my sunburn from the previous day ( again see Photo 2 ), decided to have a day off and go for a ride to Diksmuide. Travelled up alongside the canal. At one point we managed to tuck in behind a farm tractor that had passed us on the canal road so spent a short time travelling at about 48K/hr, GREAT FUN. Had lunch ...

... before so it was pretty cool. It was a good deal at 5 Euros when you factor in the included beer at the end. The tour guide was very good - knowing I was from Calgary she asked me if I noticed the Grasshopper and Big Rock beer cans on display. I stopped by the Begijnhof on the way to the train station. Its courtyard is kind of neat - very tranquil, but it was nothing special. Still, it's a worth a quick visit. Off to Ostend ...

Well everything seems to be going along pretty well and we are happy about that. Since leaving last Tues it has been a whirlwind of travel, sights, good food, chocolate, and did I mention the beer. Of course it is only to compare and contrast with Wi beer. We flew into Brussels without problems except the jetlag. Then caught a train to Brugge where we spent our first night. then off to the port town of Zeebruge to pick up our van and within the ...