TravelStream™ news feed for member jacinta81 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/jacinta81 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:33:44 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jacinta81/8/1248862533/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jacinta81/8/1248862533/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jacinta81/8/1248862533/tpod.html Sun, 30 Aug 2009 12:33:44 -0400 One person, a giant mission & a whole lot of fun in a great big world!

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Brussels, Belgium

After waking up in Brugge I filled up on the complimentary breakfast, checked out of the hostel & jumped on a train to Brussels. I've heard a number of comments about Brussels & many of them are that there isn't much to see.As it was my last day in Belgium, I decided to leave Brussels & whatever it does have to offer for another time & head straight for the metro that would take me north of the city to check out the Atomium. I had read about the atomium from guidebooks & Uncle Davros write ups & decided in my flu like state that it could be a nice relaxing day.The giant atom was built for the Internation Exhibition of Belgium in 1958. It's 224.6ft high & each sphere is 59ft in diameter. The elevator inside takes you to the top sphere at 16.4ft/sec, reaching the top in 23seconds. You can really feel that this things goes up fast! It costs you 9euro to enter & you can explore around 4 or 5 of the speres via stairs & escalators & then the elevator is the only way to the top. Basically it is a completely useless thing but it is a really cool giant sculpture.Just next door is a place called Mini Europe. It is a scale model of most of the European cities. The detail in these things was impressive & great way of making me remember I haven't seen anywhere near enough of Europe....yet!When I got back into Brussels I made a few essential purchases; racklette cheese - check, praline chocolates - check, cherry beer - check. And then it was time to take me & my cold back to London.
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Brugge, West Flanders, Belgium

After a late night at my friends wedding I squeezed in 2 hours sleep before heading to St Pancreas Station for an early morning Eurostar journey to Belgium. A couple of hours after leaving London I was in Brussels & headed straight for the next train to Brugge.Day 1I arrived safely into Brugge & followed the crowds through cute cobblestone streets & quickly found my hostel.From my hostel it was only a short stroll along the main shopping strip before I made it to the Markt Square. Home to just about every tourist in town & the famous Belfort (Bell Tower). The square is very cute, full of gorgeous Belgian buildings all in full view of the towering Belfort. I stopped off briefly at a little Italian restaurant in the square for a late lunch. Sitting in the sunshine alfresco style, it was just a shame the food was rubbish. The view was beautiful though looking out across the square.After lunch I went through the laneways & along the canals until I came across the most photographed scene in Brugge. It is a nice view looking across the canal & up over the buildings where you can see the top of the Belfort. It's understandable why so many people want to take a photograph here. You can take a tour of the canals from here & many other spots along the canals but that would have to wait. Today was for exploring on foot.As I crossed over another little bridge I came to the Vis Markt (Fish Market) & just next door I made my first chocolatier stop in Brugge. Praline No.1 - ok! With a few pralines in hand I came across the City Hall & a stage set up in the square surrounding it. Brugge has plenty of summer entertainment with a different band playing every night. It's in this square the you'll also find the Basilica of the Holy Blood, the College of Europe & the Museum Liberty of Brugge.Heading east I came across a few nice churches & eventually came to Jerusalem Church which also houses the Kantcentrum (Lace Museum). Entry was about 2.50euro. Having a family that does many crafts & friends of my mothers that have even dabbled in lace making I had to check this place out. Every afternoon there are ladies doing demonstrations & my goodness it is incredible to watch them make this stuff. Even if you have no interest in lace whatsoever you cannot leave this place without appreciating how talented they are to make this stuff. I was mesmorized for about 15minutes watching this little old lady with a vert stooped neck flick the little wooden pieces from side to side with amazing accuracy. There was even a little girl around 6 or 7 years old making little lace bookmarks while her mother made a huge design piece.After leaving the lace museum I headed further east until I came across the windmills. With my usual bad luck, the first windmill I came across was surrounded by scaffolding. I have an amazing art at visiting a city while the things I really want to photograph are being renovated. It's really damn annoying! Luckily I walked further north along the road to find another windmill sitting up on top of a small mound. It was a gorgeous & sunny Saturday afternoon, so there were plenty of families running around the green grass & even a little antique market in the street. There was a big beer tent set up on part of the green which looked like it was in place for the summer trade & also a medieval practice session. With swords out & protective clothing & masks on the guys were having great fun practicing their swordsmenship.From here I started to head back west towards the centre of town again. There is no shortage of small streets & cute buildings to explore & I even managed to find some random bar stools in the middle of a cobblestone street. I kept walking along the street waiting to see a house party or a pub somewhere. Eventually I found a small dark doorway which lead through to a small bar. Obviously a local hangout as there was not one sign out front; just the open doorway.I eventually made it to the Friet Museum (Belgian Fries Museum). I costs a bit to get in but I think I got entry to the Friet Museum & Choco-Story (Chocolate Museum) for 8euro combined. This was including the discount from the Brugge Card that my hostel gave me on arrival. The fries museum is pretty cheesy but kind of cool at the same time. There is plenty of information about the global movement of pototoes & the invention of all the toppings now used on fries. They even have a collection of old chip fryers. And at the end of the self guided tour you make your way down stairs to the chip cafe where you can get some snacks..mostly of the fried variety. Of course I had to try a traditional Beligian Fry. I can officially say that I am not a fan! Belgian Fries are traditionally cooked in beef fat & it's that foul meaty taste to the chip that I didn't like. Stick to the vegetable oils I say.When I got back to my hostel I met a fellow traveller called Andrew. As we were both solo travellers in Brugge for the evening, we decided to go out & taste a few brew. Andrew had been told to check out a bar across town the sells over 400 varieties of beer. It took a little searching to find the place going on dodgy 3rd hand instructions but we made it & edged out way onto a table. The menu in this place was amazing. It was over an inch thick & full of more beers than I even thought existed in the world. We tried 3 beers each & Andrew seriously let the poms down in the drinking stakes. Admittedly his beers were of much higher percentage than mine but still it was only 3 beers. I am not a beer drinker; in fact I hate the stuff but after 3 cherry beers I became a real fan (of cherry beer at least). My favourite would have to be Jacobins Kriek Max, a super sweet cherry beer. We met a few nice Irish chaps & had a good chat to them & got to taste a few of their selections as well. We ended up staying at this place (Cambrinus) until closing & we were the last to leave. Great place, I would highly recommend it.Day 2I awoke the next morning & made my way downstairs to try out the complimentary breakfast. It's a cold breakfast with cereals, breads, meat, cheese & the usual juice, tea & coffees. More than adequate in my mind for a budget hostel. I ran into Andrew as I was leaving & he was still struggling after his dismal drink efforts the night before. We said farewell & I bid him good luck on his pending journey across the globe. (I'm seriously envious as he plans to drive his Landrover from London to Thailand)Before too many tourists left their hotels I thought it would be a good time to climb the Belfort. Another 6euro or so later & I was on the way up. It's 366 steps to the highest point accessible by tourists & it's spiral stairs all the way. I like spirals stairs because they usually make for some cool photos but you do have to be careful not to get dizzy. Especially when they get smaller & slippery the higher you go. The view from half way up was pretty impressive over the Markt Square. But when you go all the way to the top & inspect the working parts of this bell tower, it's an amazing 360degree view over Brugge. It really is a very pretty town.And then it was time for another chocolatier visit. Praline No. 2 - pretty good. Everyone I had spoken to about Brugge had told me you can't go & not do a canal boat tour. It costs 6.30euro for a half hour tour. It takes you past a number of the laneways I had explored the day before but then turned around heading back where we had already been & then takes you further west. You pass under the lowest bridge in Brugge which forces everyone onboard to duck. The tours are pretty relaxing & are done in a number of languages which is great. You do pass through areas that are easily accessible on foot but it really is a pretty view from the canal.After exploring a bit more of town I made my way back across to the area where Choco-Story the chocolate museum was meant to be. Unfortunately there is only one sign & it's on the side of the building, so I had a little challenge finding the place. But once inside you know that it was worth the search. As any chocolate lover would know, looking at mounds of chocolate, coco products & chocolate making equipment is pretty cool & mouth watering. But then the best part is always the praline demonstration & tasting session at the end. So that brings me to Praline No. 3 - very tasty!That pretty much brings me to the end of my time in Brugge. A hell of a lot of walking through cute laneways, admiring the buildings & chocolatiers. It's a very safe little place to visit even when travelling alone & I can really see what people love about the place.
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Thorney, England, United Kingdom

The wedding at Thorney Golf Centre, just outside Peterborough.
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Peterborough, England, United Kingdom

A friend was Australia has been in the UK for a few months with his work. He & his girlfriend decided to get married while they were here so to Peterborough it was for me. Having taken the day off for the ocassion & in possession of a hire car I spent the morning checking out Peterborough & Grimsthorpe Castle. I randomly found the castle on the sat nav after checking out the centre of Peterborough so decided to go driving in the direction of the castle. From there it was a high tale it back to Thorney for the wedding reception.
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Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

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Remich, Grevenmacher, Luxembourg

Hired a bicycle & checked out the wine district.Love it!!
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Vianden, Diekirch, Luxembourg

I apologise again for taking so long to release the pics and for not giving a good write up of Luxembourg. I seem to draw a blank when I want to put things down on paper or on computer as the case may be.Briefly I'll say Luxembourg was cute! Similar achitecture & feel to German speaking countries which I'm a fan of. Cute little villages like those that I've been to in Switzerland but lacking that little bit extra in presentation.I only got to see a few towns in Luxembourg but there is certainly a lot more to explore. I highly recommend the wine district that runs along the border with Germany.
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Windsor, United Kingdom

As the sun started to peak through the curtains, I woke up to glorious day in England. And as clear blue skies don't come around too often in these parts, I had to make the most of it and explore something new. So I got up & got myself ready for a day of exploring. I headed to Waterloo Station & checked the times of some trains out of town. The first to depart somewhere interesting was a train to Windsor. So Windsor it was...in search of a prince. Or at least to find a castle most people would dream of.About an hour later we pulled into Windsor Station & I made my way up the hill past the shops and around the surrounding wall of Windsor Castle. After a quick bite to eat I joined the line all the way down the road to enter the castle. You can buy tickets in advance to avoid these lines but since I only decided to go there an hour or so earlier I would have to wait in line. About 30mins later, after chatting to the lovely little Russian lady I met on the train & meeting two more Aussies in the queue behind me we made it to the front of the line.Windsor Castle is pretty cute in my opinion. Much nicer aesthetically than Buckingham Palace, so I can understand why the Queen prefers to live here. And Windsor township is just a cute. Nice little cobbled streets & shops everywhere.I wandered through the grounds and everywhere inside the castle that was permitted & even checked out Queen Mary's Doll House. Now I'll admit I've never really looked up what this collection is all about, I had always just assumed it was a doll collection. How wrong I could be. It's actually a miniature replica of the castle, complete with furnishings & electricity throughout. It's quite impressive & the detail is amazing. According to the guards, the artworks on the walls of the doll house & some of the furnishings were even made by the famous artists that were commissioned for the original pieces. Many were honoured to have miniatures of their works displayed in Queen Mary's collection.By the time I came out of the castle all but one store in town was closed. I would have loved to wander around town more, checking out the boutiques & walk over the river to see Eton College. You never know what future country leaders & royalty could be wandering around. But that will have to wait for another visit.Castle sightings - 1Prince sightings - 0 
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Cambridge, United Kingdom

With a weekend without plans & the sun shining; I decided to jump on a train & head for Cambridge. University town!It takes just over an hour from central London via train & the city is certainly walkable. I picked up a map at the station & started wandering. With various colleges all over the city centre, there is some amazing architecture & cute cobbled stone streets everywhere.
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London, United Kingdom

For the first time I go to see London from the air whilst flying back from Australia. London looks really nice at around 5am with a few lights still on & a clear sky overhead.I could even see the London Eye & the hospital over the road where I've been working.
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