Belgium

Bonjour, Guntentag... and I don't know how to say hello in Dutch. We came to Belgium because the couple who ran the B&B in the Dominican Republic were from here (and because we've seen the movie In Bruges). I was a bit sceptical at first but I'm really glad we picked this country as one of our stops.

Day 1: We arrived in Brussels around 5 in the evening. As I stated above, I was a bit sceptical about coming to Belgium and coming into Brussels was the reason why. It seemed dirty, grimy and didn't have anything that stuck out as amazing. Even the map our hostel gave us claimed "We know Brussels is dirty and we love it." We got to the hostel just before a big thunderstorm hit. After waiting out the rain, we ran to the grocery store to grab some food... hamburgers in a frying pan are no where near as good as on the BBQ. We decided to go grab a drink after as it was a Friday night. Brussels at night was like it was trying to be an Amsterdam, but without the scenic canals and houses. Needless to say, we were not digging this place. We went back to the hostel and were just tried and a bit frustrated that Brussels was a flop. I think we both wanted to kill this poor guy in our room because he wouldn't blow his damn nose!

Day 2: we woke up still a bit frustrated (with the guy still sniffling away). I'm glad we only stayed the one night there. We made our way to the train station to head off to Bruges. Once we got there, it was like a whole other world. Bruges is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Belgium and where In Bruges was filmed (how obvious is that?) We ended up getting a private room for the same price as two dorm beds (thank you someone for your error!) and were able to check in early. We needed lunch before the walking tour and seeing as we didn't get mussels in Brussels, we wandered off to find some shellfish goodness. They also serve fries with everything here, so we feasted on mussels and "french" fries. The walking tour we went on was really relaxed and not very serious. Our guide made us hide behind bridges over the canal and scare people on the boats. He also took us to the beer museum and a chocolate store to sample some yummy products. After relaxing back in our room, we ended up at a Greek restaurant for supper. It was a really good meal and cheaper than salads in Switzerland.

Day 3: we had to have our stuff packed up but weren't leaving Bruges until 3. We threw our packs into their locker room and went on a hunt for something I had been looking forward to: waffles. Belgium is known for their non-eggo, soft, gooey sugar dusted goodness and we hit the jackpot. Our guide had given us discount cards for a bunch of businesses and one was a waffle truck. We also received a discount card for a chocolate shop, which we stocked up for the fams back home. We then headed to De Hann where we were staying at a B&B for three nights. Imola was the woman who ran the place and she kept telling us "this is this" ... though we never found out what was what. The bed was so comfy we didn't move once we hit it.

Day 4: our B&B had a discount card to rent bicycles, so we went and grabbed a couple to bike along the ocean. Now I'm not saying I forgot how to ride a bike, well because it's like riding a bike, I'm just saying after not riding a bike for 4 years, you forget how sore you can get. We biked for about an hour and got two towns over where we ate our lunch by the water. There were people with towels and bathing suits, but even for Canadians it was not THAT warm. We went back to the B&B to relax a bit before supper because we had to bike there. The ride there was fine, but after consuming amazing fish, wine and french desserts our ride back was a bit more work. We were also biking against the wind the whole way back which didn't help. Needless to say, we slept good.

Day 5: we woke up to the worst task ahead of us: returning the bikes. I could hardly sit on the bed let alone back on the bike. It was a pretty sore 15 minutes but we managed. Once we were back to using our beloved feet, we took a stroll on the beach. It was really peaceful and a nice way to spend the morning. We wanted to walk around the town a bit but soon realised how small the town was. It was a beautiful place but not much to see. We did however realise we never got ourselves chocolate, so we headed into what was apparently the world famous something or other and filled a small box with our evening dessert. Jordon wanted mussels again before we left Belgium so we had them for dinner again. You will never have a problem finding mussels in Belgium.

We're headed back to the UK now via a ferry from France to make our way back to Glasgow. Only one more country to go and then we come home in 6 days!

-Vanessa xo