Thermae Palace Ostende

... sauce, both delicious). Yes, we really fit in well there and enjoyed our time. We used the map to discover really cute little pubs, including one that is the oldest in Bruges. You enter through a door off a tiny street and go up some internal stairs until you reach, what I presume, was someone's living room at one point. People have been coming to this place to drink beer since 1515. We met up with a young couple from Texas ...

... who take them! This city was similar to Ghent but far more touristy.<br><br>So, I have waited until now, this very moment to discuss my own personal highlight from Holland. To some its the pot in Amsterdam, to others it is the Red Light Districts in the city, to me it is the french fry stands strewn about all the cities here. This is the culmination of all of the fry stands. In Brugge there is an actual fry museum. Yes for 5 ...

... a really really bad stomach ache from them &#8211; knives stabbing me type pain. So that kinda killed the night unfortunately, I wasn&#8217;t sure if I was going to start feeling sick or what, so Megg and I headed back to Bruges (don&#8217;t worry I was fine though!). Note to self DON&#8217;T EAT BRUSSELS MUSSELS.<br><br>Jac and Bec came to Bruges for the day, so we met them for breakfast (I had a pancake!) before we headed off to our final backpacking destination - Paris!

... back path that went past some other fields we hadn&#8217;t seen before.<br><br>Back in Brugge there were two things we wanted to see, both of them churches. One of them held Michelangelo&#8217;s Virgin and Son, and the other held a vestibule containing the blood of Jesus Christ. <br><br>We went to see the Virgin and Son first as the Basilica of the Holy Blood wasn&#8217;t open yet. Witek thought he knew what the sculpture looked like but when we got there it wasn&#8217;t the one he ...

... and Child by Leonardo Da Vinci is housed &#8211; the &#8220;pointy church&#8221; from the movie. I may get lost again. In this town, that&#8217;s not so bad.<br><br>Off the wall observations: It seems that the Italians make the American look like seasoned, sophisticated tourists. They&#8217;re everywhere, they&#8217;re loud, and you definitely don&#8217;t want them in line in front of you. They&#8217;ll take a half hour arguing with ...

... waffles. My friend and I split a banana, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate syrup-doused waffle, which was completely gone in about the span of 49 seconds. Our other friend got up from the table for a split second and basically missed the entire thing. After we scraped off all the leftover powdered sugar and chocolate sauce on the plate, and drank the rest of the sauce in its cup (I&#8217;m sad to say, that is totally true), we were ready to head off again.

... person we had met. He was very helpful, told us where all the important things were and told us where to get the best fries and with the best sauce. Stoofvlees. Like a beef stew on top of fries. It was delicious! Great recommendation! We at these a couple times while we were in bruges. <br><br>So, off to explore this beautiful city. We first took a canal tour. There are canals ...

... was much bigger than I imagined and on arrival we got caught up in a huge industrial area with factories belching out smoke and goodness knows what into the atmosphere. I didn't have a town map with me, just a general road map to get from one town to another and so we were driving round trying to see signs for the relevant beach. When me and John are alone, we often meander around a big town in the car until we see where we want to go - it's just ...

... to the rest of the trip. I sat on the beach for a while - there were lots of broken sea shells in the sand but it was still better quality sand than I expected. Afterward I walked along a busy pedestrian shopping street and then chilled on a square. I wouldn't come back to Ostend again but it was definitely worth stopping here once. Back to Bruges and a walk through Minnewater Park. Very cool - drinking my last can of ...

Hi folks So my final day was spent looking round Brussels itself. Had a stroll round the 'Grand place' (main square)which had a stunning gothic town hall. Also saw the mannekin-pis,coudenburg palace, palais de la nation (parliament) and st michaels cathedral. So im back in England now. Got back thursday night. Back to my own bed, tap water, cups of tea,free toilet and coronation ...