http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Belgium , West Flanders en-us Sun, 26 May 2013 07:39:23 +0000 Sun, 26 May 2013 07:39:23 +0000 Some call it Venice of the North some dream about its streets long after they are back home and others look at pictures and imagine how great a holiday there would be. The Flemish call it Brugge and the we call it Bruges and it is one of the most beautiful places in Europe and maybe in the world. A very important city during the 13th and 14th century the city was a main trading centre of E http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-780520.html We left Grand Fort Phillipe slightly later than intended on Tuesday a little too much celebrating the night before Woolly says Personally I think they should have stopped after the second bottle of bubbles especially as they wouldnt share with me. Once Ian and Jo had FINALLY moved themselves we set off back to the A16 Motorways in the UK to move further north we managed to lose AL http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Oostende/blog-779451.html Another cool day today in Belgium. Even the natives think the weather has been nearly inhumane. We decided to take a guided tour of Flanders Fields and the WWI battle sites around Ypres.As we have been lost on and off in Belgium for going on a week we had been through a lot of the area but having a guide explain what was happening when and why made for a more interesting experience.As you all http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/blog-778742.html A great small Belgium city with many tourists and amazing views... lt3 http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-778282.html Maison Printaniereis located in a very quiet residential area in the outskirts of Bruges a 20minute walk from the city centre. There is also a bus service to the centre that leaves every 20 minutes right outside the hotel. Guests can take bikes for free if they want to travel in this way. Every Sunday morning an open market is set 55 metres from Maison Printaniere. Due to its unique location th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-778082.html Well we had a great sight seeing day but before I tell you about that I wanted to tell you about an item on the menu at the restaurant last night. They had frog legs ... Now I have never been any place where frog legs were an option to order though Dave has had them and swears they taste like chicken but the great thing about them was the Dutch word ... Kikkerbillen ... I can see the littl http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/blog-777884.html You know we had chosen a parking ramp as the place we were parking our rental car. Well imagine our surprise when this morning bright and early we walked to the ramp to get our car so we could drive up to the race and guess what Yup the ramp was closed. I don39t mean just not open where there is no attendant or you can39t park. I mean CLOSED like in garage doors lowered no one get http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/blog-777679.html Happy Friday Day 2 of our vacation. First of all I would like to tell everyone that we were REALLY tired last night and did not spell check or reread our post before posting .... looking at it this morning you really had to hang in there to figure it out.. The good news is that we are not so tired tonight so this should be a better effort.Before I start about today I wanted to tell you about http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/blog-777356.html We woke at 5.30 to pack up and check out. The man sleeping in a fold up bed at the entrance took our key and said goodbye. people were still out from the night before wondering the streets. People here dont seem to wake up til late most shops not opening until 10 by our 5th morning in Paris we were actually pretty done with it. Its a nice enough place but theres so many shifty or rude p http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-773527.html Not to let it get me down about the previous nights antics we had a new city to see Our first mission of the day was to get to the train station on the other side of the centre of town easy. We got our tickets and stood waiting for the train.....and waited.....and waited....and moved platforms....then waited..... eventually the train to Brugge arrived We 39accidentally39 got some seats in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-769221.html Last weekend I went to Bruges in Belgium. Upon deboarding the train I noticed a distinct shift in temperature from when I left Maastricht. Sure enough there was abundant snow on the ground and it was about a 25 minute walk to the hostel I was staying at. Good thing I packed warm clothes. I found out later than it hasn39t snowed in Bruges for five years lucky me Anyways after leaving my http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-767994.html 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 I39d have to do there was one task that stood head and shoulders above all the others organising the stag doAfter a few early ideas were rejected apparently http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-760480.html We all woke up with great desires to indulge in Belgium delicacies waffles frites and chocolate hit me baby So we started at the bb with more beautifully fresh croissants met up with the others and went on a search for good chocolate and the starting point of the river cruise We found both right next to each other as naturally there is a chocolate shop literally every 10 steps sometimes l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-758190.html So we arrived in Bruges last night in the POURING and I mean POURING rain What a welcome the flight from edinburgh was only an hour and a bit but we then had to get a bus into the city which was an hour and then a train from the city of brussels to Bruges which was just over another hour So even though it was a short flight it took a fair while to get into Bruges Thankfully I have my brand http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-757567.html Sunday October 21 2012 Day 15Lisa was suffering from a head cold so we slept in just so she could get some rest. Even though she was not 100 percent nothing was going to keep her from visiting the Frites and Chocolate Museums. The weather was chilly about 50 degrees and the forecast called for on and off rain all day. After breakfast at a caf we visited the Frites Museum dedicated to his http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-751817.html Friday October 19After checking out of our hotel at 930 we left Beaune and once again found ourselves on the motorway towards the city of Dijon with the help of Monique. Our first stop was along the motorway to get some fuel and have a light breakfast. We know our day was going to be hectic because our trip to Brugges would be on four trains at four different stations. Our first challenge was to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-751460.html Na een lange werkdag had ik zin om een uitje te maken en dat dreef me richting Frankrijk. Een prachtig land http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/blog-747705.html Here is my hometown http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-743426.html I don39t typically like writing beer diaries. the last thing people want to read about is how drunk you were in a foreign country. But it is Belgium and what is this country wellknown for Beer indeed So i39m going to talk at least a little about beer. But don39t worry i39ll keep it classy. I found myself in a Belgium bar the first evening here in Bruges and i can39t think http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-742981.html Het is bijna zover Zaterdag vertrekken we naar RwandaOnze vluct vertrekt om 11u15 richting Istanbul. Vroeg uit de veren dusEens we in Istanbul zijn aangekomen hebben we 3 uurtjes vrij .. genoeg dus om 39niemandsland39 te verkennen lol. Vervolgens zetten we onze vlucht door naar Kigali de hoofdstad van Rwanda.Daar worden we opgewacht door familie van Evelyne waar we tevens ook zullen v http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Brugge/blog-739877.html