Sweet like Belgian chocolate

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Lovely Lille.

I went to Lille on my way to Bruges, which I think was not the best thing to do after visiting Paris; the town was pretty but I felt it had no energy. The very centre of the town, around the main square, was lovely and had lovely buildings but it was very small, so after wandering around a bit in other streets there was hardly anyone around! I found a tapas bar for lunch which was nice but bit expensive for what it was, then went to find the citadel that was marked on the map. It was a big star shape and looked like a nice park. So I walked along the river (quite grotty, especially after the Seine!) and eventually found the citadel. You couldn't go right in the centre because it's a military base, but the area around was quite nice. There was a zoo in the park, which you could see into from on top of one of the bridges, I saw monkeys, zebra and rhino! Then headed back to the station for my train, which was cancelled so had to wait an hour, I didn't get to my couchsurfers house in Bruges until about 8.

Beautiful Bruges.

I stayed with Martine in Bruges, and her 13 year old son Merijn (said Meh-rain, it means ''Merry'' in Flemish, he is named after Lord of the Rings!), and 2 black and white cats Sam and Timmy. Martine is an expert couchsurfer, has done it loads, with Merijn as well, and is a ''family ambassador'', she sets up couchsurfing meetings in Bruges and all over Belgium. It was great to stay with her because she had loads of advice about couchsurfing, and so many stories to tell. She told me about one friend she has, who is french-canadian, who is a neo-nomad and spends her life moving around from place to place, I would like to meet her, I'm intrigued to know what her life is like. Martine works setting up equipment for blind people to use in homes and other places, but was home this week with a bad back. Merijn loves computer games, South Park and Greenday. And the cats are quite young so very playful, and they are not allowed outside because some of Martine's cats before had gone missing 😞 when I arrived in the evening Martine had made some risotto which was lovely, she is vegetarian so it was mushroom and spinach, lovely!
In the morning I went into Bruges to explore. The first place I found was the Begijnhof, a little community of nuns, and a very pretty, peaceful area. The quaint whitewash houses are all facing the courtyard full of trees, with a little church at one end. I did see some nuns, and I'm ashamed to say I did take photos of them haha! I went into a different church, I think it was called church of Our Lady, it had a Michelangelo statue of the Madonna and Child inside, and lots of other interesting features, like a huge wooden sculpture designed by one of the priests. I went to the Markt next and went up the Belfort tower, to see some fantastic views over Bruges, it had over 300 steps, crazy! While at the top I met an American guy called Roman and we decided to walk around together for some company. So first stop was to get some chips and we went for a wander.
We walked to the far side of the city, through the Burg square with more grand buildings, and to the area with windmills. They are each perched on their own little hill, all lined up along a canal. We went inside one of them and saw the mill and how it would work to grind flour. There was a good view from inside as well! we walked all along the canal to the north of Bruges, and then walked along another canal back towards the centre, to see the new building that had been built for a theatre, which looked very out of place in lovely old Bruges! We then went through some parks and into another church called Magdelena or something like that! I loved just wondering around Bruges, there is always something pretty or interesting on every street and down every canal. I preferred being outside the tourist areas, where it was very busy.
Roman is an interesting guy, he wants to set up his own contracting business in Philadelphia but thinks if it doesn't work out he might move to Europe! He is originally from Russia but has lived in the states for 11 years, and comes to Europe on his holidays, this time on a tour for 12 days. He was telling me all about when he went to Jordan and all the different things he experienced there, like the guide he had found taking him to a dinner party and there being about 50 people there! So he was going back to Brussels that evening to stay there, so he gave me his card and said to look him up if I ever go to Philadelphia, I think he was quite interested in couchsurfing when I told him about it!
I had brought some groceries for making pesto and tagitelle so I went back to Martine's to cook. I brought some Belgian truffles as well so after dinner we ate chocolate, drank wine, chatted and watched some Flemish TV programmes. One was a competition where some couples open up a restaurant and whoever is the most successful gets their restaurant paid for, and they get given challenges every week. And the other one was a strictly come dancing type programme! It is strange how I think Dutch is similar to English in many ways, sometimes I'll be watching the programme and suddenly I will understand a sentance they said!
The next morning I went for a walk to a nearby village called Damme, I walked all the way to the other side of Bruges, and then down a canal to the village, it took me about 2 hours. The canal was beautiful and it was nice to be in the countryside for a bit, out of the towns! Damme has a star shaped moat all the way around because it used to be fortified, so I walked around there for a while and they went up the church tower where you can see it really well. The church was a strange little place, built in 1300s, the tower was separate from the main building but attached by a brick arch. Inside the church was some children practising for first communion, so I listened to their songs for a bit. Then an old man said he would unlock the tower for me so I could go up. There was also a wierd 3 headed statue outside the church, and from the churchyard you can see one of the faces looking over the wall!
I had lunch in a cafe - croque-Hawaii and salad, very nice! And went back to Bruges on the boat down the canal, which was really nice but a bit cold! When I got back to Martine's I wrote on her wall that she has for couchsurfers, they all write ''welcome'' in their own language, so I wrote it in ancient egyptian! Martine made pumpkin pie and salad, which was yummy, and we went to a wine tasting evening with her brilliant and very colourful friend Als. We tried rose and white wine, and had some nibbles. It turned out that the wines I really liked were all Spanish! Martine tried a few reds and I tried one or two of them, one I liked and that was Spanish too, I'm not usually a fan of red so was surprised! After going home we ate more chocolate, watched more TV and went to bed. I had my own room this time it was great! I took it easy in the morning (as I have most mornings) and left about half 10, it was sad to say goodbye, Martine was a fantasic host!

Cool Ghent.

I really like Ghent, there are so many interesting features, a botanical garden, park, I saw what is apparently the most beautiful tree in Ghent, which is pretty beautiful it has to be said! I walked from the station into the centre, seeing all these features along the way. I saw a string hanging across one street with shoes hung on it like in Big Fish! There were also lots of wall paintings around. In the centre I went into St Baafs Cathedral, a stunning building with a crypt below that was like a museum of loads of religious relics, and of course I lit a candle. In the cathedral was a painting by the van Eyck brothers called Adoration of the Lambs. You had to pay to see it but I saw the copy at the back of the cathedral. I went up the watch tower opposite the cathedral , while I was up there the clock struck 3 and I saw the mechanism for how the music is made, it’s like one of those wind up tune toys you get at Christmas - but much, much bigger! To see outside there were narrow outdoor corridors you had to squeeze through, and there were a load of scouts up there to squeeze past! The views were great but there was a lot of construction going on in the centre so not all pretty!
I ate in a funky café; hot chocolate and my first taste of chocolate Belgian waffle mmm!!! Next door to the café was a really old shop selling a special mustard made in Ghent. It was interesting to look around but the mustard was very expensive! I wanted to go to the castle, which was right in the centre of Ghent but my map lied to me so when I got there it was about to close. So I walked around the area and found some interesting streets. One had wall paintings by children all the way down, one had painted pictures and labeled it ‘’England, Belgium, Egypt, Pizza’’, and I thought ‘’all the best things haha! One street had some very interesting shops on it, one shop selling pottery I went in to be greeted by a huge black dog, and at the back of the shop was some birds in a cage and a fishtank! Opposite was a shop selling pretty, unusual clothes, and down the street was an art gallery showing the theme ‘’white’’, the best thing was a huge swan made of paper.
I walked down the only street in Ghent where graffiti is legal, it was good to see all the artwork and some boys were painting while I was there. At the end of the street I came across a fashion parade, a promotion for one of the shops, complete with red carpet and loud music, so I watched that for a while. It was almost time for my train so I headed back to the station along all the canals, across the pretty bridges, I think Ghent is a beautiful and very lively town, I would recommend seeing it!

Bustling Brussels.

I got to my couchsurfers in Brussels at about 8.30 and she took me straight out to a lovely restaurant where we ate salad and had Belgian beer! Arina is a lovely lady, has a beautiful house and two lovely cats, one ginger, one grey, stripy. We had some lovely conversations about learning languages, travelling, cats and life in general!
In the morning I went to explore Brussels and pretty much did everything Arina had recommended for me to do! I went to a flea market, bustling and lots of interesting things! To get there I had to go down an outdoor lift, because apparently Brussels is on 2 stories! As I was walking towards the centre I came across a fete, the fete de l’Iris, which had live music going on and children trying circus skills and loads of things going on. I came back later on and watched a good band playing rap-reggae type music , singing in French and English, and it was hilarious because there was a guy dressed as a huge green bottle who was dancing around. I also saw a ballet/ mime act and a street performance where people were all dressed up in suits and bowler hats with umbrellas, and they were all stood on the steps. Then they all fell over backwards, then they all woke up yawning and stretching, pulling on their shoes with their umbrellas, then one of them broke her umbrella , she was crying and they were all laughing at her, then they all started hugging her and then everybody else who was watching!
I found the centre of Brussels, saw the Grand Place- very grand indeed! Saw a posh arcade that had the oldest chocolate shop in Brussels, which was set up by a man Neuhaus, and his grandson invented praline. I saw another shop with very expensive chocolate called Marcolini’s, very nice! I ate in a café that was established in 1886, and had tea and had another Belgian waffle! I also found the Art Noveau house ‘’Old England’’, and the smallest house in Brussels. I decided to go then to the Magritte museum, which was fascinating, I love his paintings! He is a surrealist painter from Brussels who during the 1940s painted lots of politically controversial paintings about people not being able to think for themselves anymore (I listened in to a tour that was going on!)
I went back to the fete after that and was just in time to see a acrobatics performance. One guy had a huge hoola-hoop and was spinning around inside it and things, was amazing! One guy was doing weird things with a rope and some balls, as you do, and there was a girl on a trapeze who was fantastic! I walked past the palace and through a park on my way back to Arina’s. She cooked us some tortilla salad with fried egg, yummy! And we chatted a lot more!

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Comments

[anonymous]

sounds like ur having an amazing time and as I read this whilst my year 9's write an assessment I am very jealous. You enjoy my darling and you must read the book, 'eat, pray love'-you WILL LOVE IT! xx

[Sophie]

Lille is a bit dull but they did have amazing (if pricey) coffee. Brussels, though, is fab! Did you go to the beer museum?