Blogs from Belgium, Europe - page 11

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Europe » Belgium » Limburg » Hasselt June 11th 2018

Juli & augustus 2018! Doel :twee maanden the UK & surroundings - fietsen en kamperen. Rondje fietsen van Runkst naar Engeland, Wales, Ierland, Schotland, de Hoek van Holland en terug. Eilandjes, bergen, natuur, outdoor, kamperen, kramperen, trappen, slapen in de tent en niet iedere dag campingspaghetti eten, in het weekend naar de pub... Départ 30 juni - Retour +/- 25 augustus.... Hasta la vista! xxx... read more

Europe » Belgium » Brussels-Capital Region » Brussels June 8th 2018

After a great night's sleep in our cool, comfortable room, Alex and I got up at 0900 and went to breakfast at hotel's Cafe OO! (The exclamation point is part of the name.) We had eggs, bacon, pastries and fruit, but the real star of the show were real Belgian waffles served from the old VW van parked in the dining room! They were really great, and Bloom! certainly knows how to make breakfast fun! After breakfast, we came back to the room to relax a bit before starting our day. We ended up falling asleep til almost noon. Part of it was the cloudy, rainy morning, but the fatigue of travel and constantly going is really starting to hit us. The rain stopped although it stayed cloudy, muggy, and a little too warm. A 20 ... read more
Thank heavens for coffee
Waffle van
War memorial

Europe » Belgium » Brussels-Capital Region » Brussels June 7th 2018

Today was relatively quiet compared to the past few days. Alex and I slept in til 1000, packed, and made our way from Amsterdam to Brussels. We continued to expertly navigate the train system, going from Sloterdijk to Schippol Airport to Brussels Midi without a hitch. The trip gave us a great view of the countryside - lush trees, farms, cattle, sheep, and the occasional windmill flying by as we sped south. The major train stations in Europe are like shopping centers, with tons of stores and restaurants along with hundreds or thousands of travelers. We stopped at Midi for a salad and just watched people coming and going. The Belgian military had a strong presence - soldiers in full gear armed with automatic weapons monitored the entrance, and there were several military vehicles parked in ... read more
Waiting for the train
Waiting at Schippol
Brussels Midi

Europe » Belgium » West Flanders » Ypres May 20th 2018

It has been a busy three days as we drove from Paris to Belgium and then back to France to visit the World War 1 cemeteries and memorials. Ypres (pronounced e- pers) is about a 2 hours drive from Paris and we finally had some more seasonable weather, although there was still a chill in the air. Our 2 night stay in Ypres included the ceremony at the Menin Gate and a tour next day of some of the war memorials in the North Salient (Salient in this context is a military term for section). The guided tour included memorials/cemeteries at Essex Farm, St Julien, Langemark (a German Cemetery), Hill 62 and Passchendale, the largest Allied Cemetery of the war. The Menin Gate Ceremony has been held every day since 1928 (except for the German Occupation ... read more
Canadian Monument at St. Julien
Canadian Memorial at Paschendaale
Tyne Cot Cemetery

Europe » Belgium May 13th 2018

Der Kriegsschauplatz von du Hoc war sehr eindrücklich. Er befindet sich genau zwischen Utah- und Omaha Beach und auch dort fand eine Massenabschlachtung von Menschen, anlässlich der Invasion im Juni 1944, statt. Wir wussten natürlich, dass in der Woche der Befreieung von Frankreich, der Auffahrt und der damit verbundenen "Brückentage" die Campingplätze gut belegt sein werden. In Etretat aber schlugen die Menschenströme alle Vorstellungen. Wir bekamen allerdings noch einen Platz auf dem gemeindeeigenen Camperplatz. Am 11.05. konnten wir einen Campingplatz beziehen, direkt an der Grenze zu Belgien, mit einem wunderschönen Sandstrand zur Nordsee. Anderntags, nach kurzer Fahrt, bezogen wir den Stellplatz in Brügge und konnten bei herrlichem Wetter die Stadt sowie eine Kanalfahrt geniessen. Selbstverständlich fehlte ein Brauereibesuch mit dem dazugehörenden Gratisbier nicht.... read more
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Europe » Belgium » Brussels-Capital Region May 1st 2018

Paula and Harry took us for a tour around Brussels. Paula had made up an itinerary which allowed us to walk to a good variety of sites without collapsing, and she built in a stop at the quint historic pub connected to the TOON marionette theatre where she introduced us to the local red beer. Later we walked across to the other side of the river to have dinner at a restaurant in a Project sponsored by the government. Their son-in-law Simon had initiated and developed a huge garden in the unused space between two long buildings, and Harry had helped get things going by reassembling a secondhand greenhouse for it. The garden now supplies fresh vegetables to both the restaurant and the Food Hub shop within the Project.... read more
Giant clock with emerging statues
The English building
The King's Palace

Europe » Belgium » Brussels-Capital Region May 1st 2018

This is the year of Phil's 80th and Martha's 70th birthdays, so instead of our usual camping trips we decided to do something really special. We booked onto the "Classic European River Cruise" with the company Gate 1 Travel, taking 2 weeks to travel from Amsterdam to Budapest along the Rhine, the Main and the Danube Rivers and then we planned to wend our way back on land through Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. We hope you can travel with us on this great birthday adventure! A top priority was to visit our Belgian daughter-in-law Tine's family in Leuven. We had a wonderful 5 days with her parents Paula and Harry and our stay included special times with Tine's brother, sister, brother-in-law and little Sebastian, a tour of Leuven town and a tour of the ... read more
Martha Mollison
Leuven Town Hall
Church in Leuven

Europe » Belgium April 16th 2018

Antwerp is Europe's 2nd largest port and therefore one would not expect it to be a pretty place. How wrong you would be as we discovered. Lovely cobbled streets with some narrow medieval walk ways and lots of bars and restaurants not to mention the lovely chocolate shops. Rubens was born here so you can visit his house and there are lots of museums with lots of art which unfortunately we didn't have the time to visit. However the most famous of Ruben's paintings are in the Cathedral and should not be missed. They are the huge Ascent on the Cross and the Descent from the Cross and an Assumption of the Virgin in the cupola. For the first hour we were taken round by a very funny Belgian who told us some very amusing tales ... read more
Cathedral Spire
Little boy with his dog
Ruben's House

Europe » Belgium April 14th 2018

A good race day on Wednesday - lots of excitement at the end. Everyone is glad that Quick Step Floors did not win - it was Tim Wellens from Lotto Soudal today. The start town of Leuven was really pretty - especially the townhall, and there were lots of spectators to watch. Many tributes before and after the race to Michael Goolaerts (the rider who passed away Sunday) and lots of emotion in the peloton. The race went through the countryside outside of Brussels, and it was gorgeous when the sun was out. We cannot report on the finishing town though - it was a small town, with about 4 ways into the town. We tried each approach and they were all blocked. One time we did manage to get on the actual race road which ... read more
Michael Gooleants Team Leads the Way
Race Refreshment
Friendly Llamas at the farm

Europe » Belgium » East Flanders » Gent April 12th 2018

A busy day today, a full day tour to Ghent (where the ship is docked) and Bruges. We woke this morning to find another ship inches from our balcony - docked in Ghent harbour, along with 6 other ships! So again, had to cross another ship to reach the shore, then buses to the city of Ghent which is some way from the harbour. After the bus dropped us off, we started (yet another) our walking tour of Ghent, a mediaeval city in Belgium. Our tour guide was telling us that in this part of the Netherlands (Flanders) there are lots of languages. Children learn to speak Flemish, which is a spoken only language but similar to dutch. Then when they start pre-school, at 2 1/2, they learn dutch, then in primary school, French. And then ... read more
Bridge in Ghent
Canal in Ghent
Buildings in Ghent




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