Belgium - Part 3

So - continuing in Brussels - not long left here. We went back to Bory's house and watched some tour defrance - a little strange as we didn't have that much in common. No sports, no movies, and the major topics of conversation were also null. But that didn't stop me being able to talk to him - just the other guys were lap-topping. - Damn this facebook. I hate it. People spend so much time telling people that they are "Hating the moment when I.... " etc etc. It's ridiculous. And I know the irony of saying that when I am writing a blog that is similar, but this is my journal, and you guys are welcome to read it also. Anyway, we left Brussels and went to meet thomas - our next host, a baker from Ardooie. He took us around the city of Gent. Firstly - what a city, they have it mapped out quite nicely. They have everything from architectural brilliance, to huge cathedrals to canals, to open square with people sitting around - very nice. We had a tour with Thomas ate some frites, and went back to his house in Ardooie. Now I mentioned that he is a baker? well he owns a bakery and well... you know me.. I was happy.. Bam. We got fresh baked goods every morning. A delight. A he also bought us fresh ham and cheese from the local butcher.. mmmmm. The first day we went to Brugge.

They have these overprices horse tours around the city. We skipped it.

Basilica of the Holy Blood.

A very touristy city, but still nice, I liked gent better but... We left earlish to go to and see 3-4 things. A train city - model trains in a pub.(More detail - a trainset for adults with electric triggers to control the trains. )  Horrible. It was half finished (only had 3 trains on the tracks), and nothing like I had hoped for. I tried to talk to the guy but he was unfriendly and fobbed me off with a brochure. Don't go to train city - or walk in the back door, and then leave as you get to see the trains as you walk past. For a supposed train lover, his display was very uninspiring. I've seen much better.  So we left, bought our tickets to the Brewery tour and looked through the shops while waiting. The tour was great. Mainly so by our enthusiastic guide. I am telling you, you can make anything interesting if you are enthusiastic and act like you are crazy. The guy had such a cool accent, and made some good, albeit well rehearsed jokes.  How he stays that enthusiastic for 6 1 hour tours a day we don't know, but we heard him going off for the next tour in the same jovial manner. Bravo Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan.  We then checked out some cool churches, skipped the canal tour and headed out to our next destination.

I got a call from the place which wanted us to postpone the  tour till the next day. This was a crossroad in what I have been tossing up while I have been traveling so far. Obviously money is a large factor. But how large? I really felt like we hadn't been doing much apart from looking at old building and not doing things that we would normally not do. So I tried to convince tarks and funky to go Ballooning with me. Too expensive was the answer. Now let me get this straight - it was expensive, at 160 euro a pop, (no pun intended) it is an expensive activity, but when will I get the chance to go over Brugge again in a balloon?? So I went, and convinced Tarks to come. He (I think) is glad he went. I really enjoyed it. Quiet, peaceful, nice guide, the people we had with us were nice, and the countryside and the city was amazing to see from there. We also set off every dog in the neighborhood, because we were flying at about 60m, at times we were flying at about 1m, before ascending again.  We tried to land about 3 times, but kept going off course,
 which of course added to the fun. A land in a paddock of a farmer, meeting the farmer, having a laugh with my broken dutch completed an excellent ride. Seeing things from a different angle and doing something I hadn't done before are all parts of traveling I suppose. But a thoroughly enjoyed trip, and a positive experience. Will I go again? probably not. The cost is too prohibitive, but I did learn that to come back with money in the bank and a few regrets of " I should have done that" is something I don't want. 

City of Brugges

Some castle... Nice though..

Setting up the balloon - blowing with cold air to fill it before heating it.

The next day(today) we went to the beach after a late start (again) and saw the belgium beach. The beaches in Europe are wide but not long. (so far anyway) we went swimming and coerced funky into coming when we saw that we were having fun playing classic catches, and then came back to Tom's house for the next part of our trip. - He happened to have a few buildings (of his mum) that he rents out to students. So in the square of Gent, there was a concert - prince. I have only heard one song by prince I think, and it showed tonight, the crowd was going off, and from our balcony window where we were sitting it was pretty cool, but... I think I knew about 20 words for the whole concert. Tomorrow we are going to normandy, beach landings, and co. Then onto Paris to meet my parents.

Bye for now.