Blogs from Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium, Europe - page 8

Ten weeks, 13,784 kilometers and 17 Countries later we returned the van on Friday. We were both very upset to be saying goodbye, as it has been an amazing adventure and probably the only time we will be free to travel for that long without any plans. The van definitely had its fair share of problems (we had to get a few jump and push starts over the last couple of weeks) but that didn't manage to deter away from the great time we had in Europe. Europe is definitely set up for camping, and it was such an easy way to get around. Surprisingly the Dutch were always the most common nationality to see at a campsite- generally making up around 60% of the population. In our last week in the van we headed to ... read more

Photos of Bruges...... read more

Bruges - day 1 We all arose much brighter and earlier than previous mornings (breakfast finishedmat 10am so normally we made it down at 9:50) but today the bus left at 8am.... I am used to early starts back home but travelling is helping me appreciate a good sleep in. I dragged my re-packed backpack to the bus and met my bus buddy Fiona whom I had partied with in Paris. :-) We had a stop at an amazing french servo....amazing you ask. How could a servo be amazing? Well there was a freshly baked pattisery, a grocery store selling dehli type delicasies and had a free microwave in case you needed it, another eatery with french pasteries, cooked meals, fresh ham and cheeses, fresh fruit and yoghurt, a yummy french boy behind the counter....whoops! Hehe, ... read more

After Dan Gent made the big decision of asking Em to marry him, he then made a crazy request in asking me to be his best man. It was a request I was honoured to accept, and of course along with a host of surely important things that I'd have to do there was one task that stood head and shoulders above all the others – organising the stag do!! After a few early ideas were rejected (apparently a motorcycle trip through Vietnam is just TOO dangerous 6 weeks before a wedding!!), we settled on living life as rock stars for 3 and a half days by hiring a rock band tour bus to take us on a road trip to Amsterdam and Brugges!! The only slight snag was that we were pretending to be a ... read more

Dreaming spires, the Venice of the North, stepped roofs, a city built on wool. All words that describe Brugges a beautiful medieval city with a history of a school of painting known as the Flemishstyle which gained world renown. Brugges is considered as the most intact of all medieval cities with a 13th century belltower complete with a carillion of 48 bells. I loved Brugges a delightful city full of canals and bridges, higgledy piggledy cobbled alleyways and streets. Calling it the Crown Jewel of Belgium is an understatement. Bruges was a unique city, small enough to be inviting and large enough to be beguiling. Fascinating with its brickwork that looked like streaky bacon, light bricks representing the fat and the red bricks the lean meat of the bacon. I would recommend a trip on the ... read more