May 4, 2013 - Belgium

We left Paris by train to Lille, not the Eurostar this time but the local French train company TGV. It took 1 hour and we were in Lille in no time, these trains also travel at 300kph, I think it's a great way to travel but Jules gets bored. We arrived in Lille at the Lille Europe Station and got in a taxi to take us to the hire car offices. We loaded our luggage and got in, the driver couldn't speak English and my schoolboy French isn't what it used to be so I had to get the iPad out and show him the booking form for the car. Then he...

Apr 13, 2013 - A return visit to one of our favourite towns in Belgium -Bruges

It is interesting how life goes in circles. We have visited Bruges twice before. The first time on a three week holiday heading to the Black Forest in Germany and Switzerland, This time we are planning to explore Germany for the summer .The second time for a long weekend with Heather’s Mum who was not very well during the weekend and so wandering Bruges we discussed what we wanted to do when we retired. This discussion was the seed in our desire to travel and so as everyone who knows us it’s exactly what we have been doing. Bruges is one of...

Oct 17, 2012 - In Bruges (without Colin)

Monday 15th October Bruges photos https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152250696125707.923910.746395706&type=3 It is an early start for us, we are up at 5am to catch the bus to Victoria at 5.45. It is still dark when we arrive at the stop, with a couple of minutes to spare. It takes 45 minutes to travel to Victoria Bus Station, and then we have a few minutes walk to the Coach Station. We arrive well before our 7am check in, and are surprised how busy it is at this hour. We are also surprised at the number of homeless who had been...

Sep 18, 2012 - Bruges

We woke this morning and headed out to do a bit of daylight sight seeing around the lovely town. Firstly it was the castle, which was just opposite the hotel Ali had arranged. Then I walked into the main city square, into the main city square area. I bypassed the restaurants along the canal, and went behind them. I was looking for a waffle shop to have breakfast at. I saw one, but thought I'd keep looking for a few other places so we'd have some choice. I went up past the old Post Office building and St Nicholas church, and towards the...

Aug 31, 2012 - Bruges, Belgium

After our morning walking tour in this favorite city our group had a special 'tour' of an artisan chocolate factory where we learned what artisan chocolates are and how they are made. We had a good demonstration of how to make 'pralines' (chocolate candy with filling). There are only 3 chocolate factories left in Bruges while there are about 50 stores selling chocolates. After seeing the steps involved in hand-making the candies we can better appreciate why they cost more. To our surprise and delight our 'free' sample was a box of 24...

Aug 3, 2012 - Waffles, Fries, Chocolate, Beer (Burp!)

Day three into our Belgium stay, we now have a few more adventures under our belts...belts that are being strained by a strange diet of waffles, chocolates,"frites" and grocery convenience foods...plus beer for the grown-ups...we are looking forward to the farmer's market today (Saturday) and hopefully some fresh produce. Our first full day here was a bit of a struggle. The crowds in Bruges are intense, especially right near the Markt. We had one experience in a chocolate shop where the proprietor was intent on making us feel quite stupid....

Aug 2, 2012 - Real Life vs. Make Believe

Days 3,4,5 - whew! So much happening in very little time. We've been transported from living amid the "real life" of Germany to the "make believe" of medieval Europe. We ended our stay as honorary Germans in Hannover on Wednesday morning - it was a sad moment to wave goodbye to Kai, Kai Jr., Joanna, Ania, and Mia. We'd spent Tuesday evening visiting the construction site where Kai, Joanna, Ania, and Frank will be moving their families sometime in late fall. The townhomes, 3 stories, will be very impressive and spacious by European...

Jul 24, 2012 - Rookie Mistakes

July 24, 2012 As Ash and Kels would say—the day started as a bit of a “shit show”. I decided to follow my “Arnie” gut to find the start of the route (as opposed to following the map)—11 kms later and back-tracking a number of times we finally found the start of the route—which we had passed at least once. Consequently, instead of a 60 km route, we went 71 kms (2654 calories). We traveled to another couple of beach resorts (Blankenberge and De Haan)---the Belgium people know how to stack themselves on the Beach and in Condos facing the...

Jul 23, 2012 - Back in Business

July 23, 2012 We are back with photos— I have procured the right cable to allow downloads. We set a record today—83 Kms (2900 calories burned) in the high 20s or low 30s. NB, my calorie counter does not take into account the weight of my tools that I am carrying (Lorne can attest to the weight) Sue and I are on the horns of a dilemma for which we may need some input—we had to use our GPS today to finish our ride and find our hotel. Per Lorne’s strict instructions, we are not to refer to our GPS as Emily—since that is Lorne’s loving nickname...

Jul 1, 2012 - Bruges, Belgium

Up at 5:45 to be ready to roll at 6:30, which we did. The ferry was late coming into Dover for our 2 hour trip across the English Channel to Calais, France. Started loading at 8:00, the time we were to leave the dock. Once on board (almost an hour late) we went to the cafeteria to have some breakfast as we skipped it in the rig – too early to eat! Spent most of our 2 hours waiting on line for food, eating and then visiting with our group members or editing photos. We landed in France just 20 min. late. We noticed right away that the land...

May 28, 2012 - Belgium - Bruges

19th May 2012 (Bed No 33) We’re on the road again, Goin' places that I've never been. Seein' things that I may never see again. And I can't wait to get on the road again. Willie Nelson must have gone through the same problems as us. By 10am we were at the Port of Dover ready to board a P&O ship to Calais. A pleasant 1½ hour trip and we were in Calais heading towards Bruges. We arrived at our hotel at 3pm where the lovely receptionist who spoke English really well gave us an area map and told us about the must see places in Bruges. She even...

Apr 16, 2012 - Bruges, Belgium

Today we decided to have a relaxing day. We got up late and after breakfast walked to a Camping/Outdoor store nearby which we were attracted to by the large map of New Zealand on the outside wall. On closer inspection we were amused at both the shape of our country and the spelling of some of the place names. After a little shopping there we went on to the Carrefour supermarket. This was our first visit to one of these stores and we were surprised of the range of goods on offer. You can buy just about anything! We only had a short shopping...