Blogs from Belgium, Europe - page 167

On Sunday we visited the town of Dinant on our way back to Gent. It was another beautiful day, and the view that greeted us when we got off the bus was of the fortified citadel looming overhead. Many of us climbed to the top. The Citadel provided a great view of the city and the bridge below. We took a guided tour of the citadel. It was informative, but a little slow because everything had to be repeated in three languages: French, Dutch, and English. Probably one of the most interesting parts of the tour was when we walked through an old bunker. Apparently at one time a bomb exploded near it, shifting it off its vertical axis. The whole place was enclosed, and the effect was one of serious vertigo. Your eyes tell you ... read more

I was lucky enough to have two Dusseldorf trips one after the other, which was just as well after the previous days' episode. I went straight to the central station and made sure this time i had got on the right train. I arrived at a place called Aachen which is just before the Belgium border where i had to change trains. It was a quick 10 minute journey over the border where i had to change trains again. Forty five minutes later i was finally in Liege. Got out of the station to find out that if i wanted to go to the city centre i would need to catch ANOTHER train. So by the time i got there it was already dark and i only had a couple of hours to look around before ... read more

Today I took a trip to the Fort of Breendonk, not far from Gent. Breendonk was originally built in the early 1900's as part of the outer defense network for Antwerp. During WWII the Nazi's took posession of the fort and used it as a concentration camp. The fort now stands as a memorial to those who suffered during WWII. The visit to Breendonk was not exactly pleasant. I'm not going to post a lot of photos here, just a few to give you an idea of the place.... read more

I've been back from my travels a month now, and Brussels is its usual rainy self. But en route for Brussels I stopped off for a drink to celebrate April and Andrew's engagement in London (notice the sparkling ring!). Congratulations! I spent my birthday with my sis, Clare, and my adorable nieces. We did loads of great things in Brussels like go to the Children's Museum, as well as Oceade. But the most enjoyable part was the day we spent making things out of fimo, as well as the 'pop concert' Clare and I had to sit through... Anyway, I'm about to enter my last month in Brussels, so here is a picture of the view from my kitchen, midwinter! I love this view, and will be very sad to leave:(... read more

First name: Claire Nickname: (if you find a nice one…) Family name: (we don’t care) Age: 23 (until my next birthday…) Hobbies: travels, friends, music, cooking, Latin dance (but for later on…), and any beautiful things of this small world. Other big travels: Spain, Peru, Senegal “Tout est relatif” - “Everything is relative” … That’s my motto. ... read more