Day 5 8 AM. I was loitering out on the sidewalk in the spitting rain. Nearby, a small group of people huddled together beneath a shallow overhang in front of the hostel entrance. It was cold. The morning’s coffee was starting to wear off. After about fifteen minutes of soaking up the atmosphere it finally arrived. A red and yellow mini-bus plastered with the label ‘Quasimodo Tours’ on the side, pulled up alongside the anxious pedestrian battalion. The door opened and out stepped a tall, lanky character. Quasimodo’s taller, less-humped younger brother, I pres [View Full Entry]

---

---

Tues 1st Dec - Arrived in the Netherlands at 11.30am (saw a paddock beside the motorway enroute that was part of Germany!). Met Marjolein's mother who had made salad rolls for lunch. Had a chat, exchanged some gifts and then had some homemade cake - YUM!Then her father piled us all in the van and took us sightseeing. Went to a very large American War Cemetery - 8000+ graves. Finished the day off by taking us out to a GREEK restaurant for dinner, then drove us back to our hotel in Brussels, but not before giving us all some more gifts [View Full Entry]

---

---

Bruges Walk through town Katie and I spent our first day in Bruges exploring the small city. We went into the basement of the Crown plaza to see the ruins of an ancient church. Then we went to a church that claims to hold some of Jesus's blood. We were there for some ceremony for they take it from it's special spot on an alter to another place on the pulpit so people can touch it and pray. It was interesting to see, but the whole thing seemed a little whacky to me. After the church, we walked through Markt, the [View Full Entry]

---

---

My Battle With Sean & The A-Z of Beer We need to have a talk about Sean. And no, I don't mean that American guy that's married to our friend Tegan ;) Sean is my Irish GPS. Sean and I started out getting along fine, and he always sent me in the right direction while I laughed at the funny way he said “Left”, and “Right”, and “Congestion Charge”. But one day there was the little matter of sending me (with an empty fuel tank) to a fuel station that turned out to be a EuroSPAR, which is NOT a fuel [View Full Entry]

---

---

This weekend we decided to go to Belgium! We left early Zaterdag* morning with a car that we hired. Along the way we stopped of at a place called Damme. Mum couldn't stop saying how spectacular it looked. There we got ice-creams and had a look at a town hall that was built in 1316!!! We got to Brugge in time for lunch. Mum and Dad remembered Brugge as 'a quiet little village' but it was packed with people. On the way to the markt (centre of town) we stopped of to buy some Belgium chocolate that was lekker*. Also while [View Full Entry]

---

---

Dias 22 a 24 - Em um mesmo dia, acordei na Inglaterra, passei boa parte do dia na França e dormi na Bélgica. Não apenas cruzei três países, mas três línguas distintas: inglês, francês e holandês, ou flamengo, como preferem alguns belgas. Entretanto, é mais fácil se comunicar na Bélgica, onde se fala uma língua completamente diferente, mas quase todos falam inglês, do que na França, um país de língua latina. As poucas horas em que estive na França já foram suficientes para que eu pudesse perceber que o desprezo dos Frances pelo inglês não é apenas um clichê. Após pegar [View Full Entry]

---

---

Belgium and names Just realised that I missed a few photos of oddities in Belgique, in particular a shop which at first glance appeared to be a translation issue, one of those were in Dutch or Flemish the name sounded good then someone decided to put it up in English, the give away came in the picture on the door, it seems to be a high class boutique clothes store, with the picture on the door....what was lurking at the back of the store..... anyone's best guess!! Then there was the guy in Brussels who we were absolutely sure wasn't drunk, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Due to popular demand, I am writing my first blog before I have actually started my travels. So the trip to Bruges was amazing, I thought I would indulge myself in luxury accommodation, fine beer, fine chocolate and the real french frie before I set off for 7 months of complete budget living. The trip to Bruges was ruined by the ever so handy UK police who decided to close the road into the port and therefore make us miss the ferry. I get the feeling that the drive into Bruges itself would have been even more painful if it wasn't [View Full Entry]

---

---

While I'm on a roll, I might as well get up to date. From Paris we got the train to Bruges, which is a beautiful place (thanks Fi for that tip). We spent a day and a half there doing all things Belgian. Or at least drinking beer and eating waffles. Around this consumption of Belgian finery we did find time to see the sights. We did a canal tour, walked around town, wandered through the two main squares Markt and Burg, headed to one of the town's churches to see Michelangelo's statue 'Madonna and Child' (clearly not the real Madonna [View Full Entry]

---

---

Brugges for a day. We have caught up with a friend we met on our Kumuka journey through the middle east to stay with him at Den Haag, Netherlands for a little while. So why not jump across the border to Belgium and visit Brugges as we have decided due to time restraints that we would have to drop Belgium altogether. So a 3 1/2 hour train trip each way we headed to Brugges for a Beer and Chocolate fix. With just a short walk from the train station we made it into the town square for a quick coffee and [View Full Entry]

---

---