Tour of Flanders (Part 5)

(part 5)

Overview--The pluses and minuses of Belgium

+ Sweet Liege waffles (as Liege is in the French part of Belgium, outside Brussels they are are just sold as waffles,)   Sold with lots of topping but really not needed.

+ Dark Beer served in large glasses marked with the brand.

+ Friendly people who all speak English

+ Women cycling in hot pants/ mini-skirts in Gent

+ Crazy statues (that John Ashcroft would put sheets over)

+ Picturesque canals, beautiful bell towers and old buildings in Gent and Brugge.

+ Train system that goes everywhere

+ Surrounded by majestic old buildings in the city centers

o Fries really nothing special, often served as "the vegetable" with the dish.

o Coffee real good, when a place you can get a cup quickly and cheaply is found (we paid e1-6e)

o Hard packed gravel paths

- Dog shit and cigarettes all over the place. In Brugge more horse shit than dog shit to step around.

- Bikes/ trolleys/ cars competing for narrow cobbled streets. Sometime a bike lane was going against one way traffic. I'd have a hard time riding in the cities.

- No street artists found

-Pizza was terrible

Sites

1. Brugge-Markt Square and Gothic Belfort
2. Manneken-Pis--with blocks of chocolate Pis and waffle Pis and City Museum Costume Pis.  (See Manneken Pis mania at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9bV_YWkDPg)
3. Muur of Geraardsbergen
4. Co-ed cyclists on cruiser bikes

Photos of Brugge



Just like Ghent lots of canals around Brugge.  May be more picturesque than Gent, though Gent more interesting,

 Brugge has a great Markt Square with a huge bell tower--Belfort--the
center of attention.  This one requires walking all the way up

View from Belfort, Markt Square below

 

Almshouses around Brugge that have garden courtyards open to the public.  

Gothic Hall on the Burg with very ornate Gothic Hall

Local Brugge brewery where guide shows off the secret ingredient for whatever ails (or ales) you.

A few windmills along the canal path.

Flanders Flags

Anniversary lunch along the canal

 

More great status

8

 

 We pose with cycling statue

 So why are naked maidens running around with fishermen fully clothed? (this is supposed to represent Brugge heritage)

What--no pissing statues....
but....

 Though cyclists on hard pack gravel canal paths, not as many cyclists on the streets as in Gent