Around and about in Belgium

Brussels makes an excellent base of operations for exploring the rest of Belgium - it's quite central and the trains run absolutely everywhere.  So we've been out of Brussels for the last few days exploring other places.

Cute Buildings and a canal... Where could we possibly be?

Bruges
Bruges is located about an hour's train ride out of Brussels, and is very sweet!  It's very well protected (a UNESCO heritage site), so has maintained it's ancient heritage.  The problem is that everyone now knows this, and a rather strong tourist culture has developed.

Nonetheless, just walking around the village is an amazing experience.  We were lucky enough that we've come at the end of the season so it wasn't too busy.

After walking into town from the railway station, we wandered to the Markt where the Belfry is located - a great location to walk up and view the entire city - over a sea of red brick houses and other structures.  From there we made our way to the Burg, the town square.  After a stop for coffee, we found some chocolate rubber duckys (yay!) and ate them at a very cool li'l fountain outside the visitor Centre.

Lunch was moules frites at a cute restaurant off the main square.  Then off to view the churches and the museums - there's a converted hospital that's been turned into a museum, very well worth a visit!

Another tip is to head to the eastern outer ring of the city, there's an amazing city gate, and operational old windmills, very beautiful.

Then back into town.

Gent
Brugges is lovely and probably one of the more touristy areas, but Gent is almost more beautiful.

Take the train to Gent from Brussels.  At first the train station doesn't really give you an indication of what lies beyond, and it's a bit of a walk into town.  Don't let that put you off, as you get into the old city, it's amazing!  (You can also take a trolley into town as well, which probably saves you a bit of time - we took the trolley back.)  Vast squares overlooked by beautiful buildings with much fewer tourists around.

I'd suggest going to the Castle (Yes, they have a castle!) and the visitor's centre is in the courtyard.  From there you can get a self-guided walking tour brochure, which takes you around all the major sites, and you can take your time and explore the sites you want at your own pace.  Definitely worth doing are:

• The Castle.  A REAL CASTLE!!!  Yes, I know we have Larnach back home, but doesn't really compare to this beautiful historic building.  It even has a torture museum and a blade from a real guillotine!
• The Canals are rather special as well, but aren't as frequent as Brugges
• The skyline is made of three or four different churches and a belfry, all worth visiting for their exquisite architecture in their own right
• There's also a rather lovely courtyard just off one of the main roads which is lovely for a quiet drink (the House of Alijn)

Ultimately, Ghent feels a little more lived in - Brugges was cut off for a number of years before it was discovered and turned into a giant tourist attraction, while Ghent has had the university to keep it going.  But both are well worth a visit.

So I'm sitting in the hotel room on our last night in Belgium chilling out.  Off to the Netherlands tomorrow, should be good!

A real life castle!!!

Belgium, Part II

Giants and castles!

It's been a wonderful few days in Belgium recently.  We used Saturday to chill out - relax, refresh ourselves.

On Sunday our hosts took us to a village called Belœil.  The reason for going was to check out the grand castle there, and admittedly it is a very grand castle (you can check out further details here).  We spent a good hour or so just wandering through its majestic halls and ooh-ing and ahh-ing.

However, while we were in the village, there was also a parade of sorts.  The village hosts a 'giants' parade where they make 10ft dancing giants, and then invite other dancing giants from nearby villages to attend, then they all make their way to the castle before dancing away.  From what I can figure, it's an excuse to eat frites, drink bier and have a generally good time while brass bands play music.  Anyway, such fun.

Monday was pretty much a complete write-off - train to Belgium, Nick not feeling well, so crashed at the Hotel.

The cobbled streets of Brussels

  However today (Tuesday) we did get a lot done.  Brussels is a truly wonderful town.  It has all the history and majesty of a larger city with less of the dirt and poverty.  Undoubtedly it's there, but just not so much of it.  So we got up and got ready, walked into town and stopped at a lovely little bar (Nick had a coffee, me a beer), then went around all the local tourist attractions.  Most of the inner town is lined with cobblestone and brickwork, and a lot of it is closed to traffic.

After visiting the Manneken Pis, we made our way to The Grand Place, which is rather lovely - like a town square surrounded by beautiful baroque buildings.  We then wandered around for a while, just darting in and out of side streets, before making our way to view the cathedral and then the Comic Strip Centre which includes pretty much a whole floor on Tintin (of course).  

Uptown to view the Musee Margritte, and to view the Palace of Justice with spectacular views over the city.

So all in all a very busy few days.  Tomorrow off to Bruges and then Gent on Thursday.  Keep it coming, Belgium!