Brussels and Brugge and Luxumbourg ....oh my!

Whew! I'm back in my familiar room after a very long weekend in Belgium, Luxembourg and Paris. My travels began last Tuesday when Florence mentioned that she wanted to make sure she was in Brussels in time to catch her Wednesday morning flight to Scotland. Since I was planning to go to Belgium anyway to meet Loretta and her mom Bev on Wednesday, Flo and I decided to go up a day early, book two beds at a hostel and take in some sights in the capital of Belgium.

I was so glad we decided to do this! The last time Flo and I had traveled together was back in January on our plane to Holland... my how time has flown and it was such a pleasure to be travelling together once more after two months in a new country. The sunshine greeted us in Brussels and we were so happy to discover our hostel was very clean and trendy. We spent the afternoon taking in the famous architecture of the main sqare, trying the infamous Belgian waffels (the only thing that I have ever found almost too sweet to eat) and finding that famous little statue called the mannequin-pis!

One of our favorite parts of the day was just sitting right down on the cobblestones in the main square listening to her ipod as we took in the sights. I realized that the buildings I was looking at were oddly familiar.... three paintings hang above our living room couch back home.... those paintings belonged to my grand-great parents when they travelled to Belgium many, many years ago! How cool is that??

After a relaxing evening at the hostel we settled into bed. The sleep would have been great if it wasn't for a fog-horn snoring Texan in the room... but I guess that's the risk when you go to a hostel!! In the morning Flo and I went our separate ways as she was off to Scotland and I boarded the train for Knokke to meet Loretta and Bev.

Knokke was an unexpectedly beautiful little Belgian town right on the coast of the North Sea. Bev had a timeshare for an amazing suite that had a living room, kitchen, bathrooms and two bedrooms. Us three ladies had a really nice evening strolling the town, taking a dip in the indoor pool and watching some TV while we did our nails. Loretta really needed this relaxing time in Knokke as she had been on the go for over three months!

In the morning, we decided that we should go to Ypres, one of the key cities during the Great War. We did a tour through the 'In Flanders's Fields Museum' and were very moved by the fact that we were walking around a town where the war had actually happened! Ypres was completely demolished and had been rebuilt since. After the museum, we had been planning to go to Brugge, but we finally decided that as Canadians, we can't come this close to the famous Hill 62 Canadian memorial and not see it.

After finding the right bus that would take us just outside of Ypres, we began the now infamous trek. Now people, when we were told it was 'just at the end of this road', we thought we would be walking maybe 10 minutes tops before we would reach Hill 62. But after over 20 minutes of walking through tree-lined, country road in 2 inch heels, the only things in sight were more farmers' fields and manure. It was at this point we started to turn on each other, we doubted the way and were considering turning back. It was at that point I saw in the distance something that would save us.....

With my dashing smile and basic use of Dutch, I was able to flag down an old farmer driving his tractor up to some farther fields. "Kun ye wij helpen alstublief?" And he allowed all three of us ladies to squish into his tractor as he most happily drove us the remaining distance to Hill 62. We were quite the sight upon our arrival and the farmer's buddy was really impressed that his friend managed to bring with him not only three lady friends, but Canadian lady friends!!

Hill 62 was one of the most powerful monuments I had ever been to. It was amazing because in that area of Belgium us Canadians were treated with such help and warmth wherever we went. People were still grateful to our country. The farmers stood in the middle of the road waving goodbye to us as we made our way back to the bus stop. With the hours waning away we ended up in Brugge just in time for some dinner. Even in the dark, Brugge was an amazingly beautiful city. I couldn't wait to see it in the morning when we came back.

By Friday we had half a day to spend in Brugge before we had to be in Luxembourg to check into our hotel for the night. I cannot put into words how beautiful Brugge is! All I can say is if you ever have the chance to go... GO! It is the most picturesque towns in not only Belgium, but in all of Europe. The winding cobblestone roads, many old churches, and winding canals make this place a popular tourist destination. Among the highlights of our time was taking a lovely riverboat cruise and seeing a real Michelangelo sculpture (the Madonna and Child) in one of the churches. Whatever stereotypes you hear about Belgian chocolate... they are all TRUE! Never in my life has chocolate been so delicious and creamy!

There were many quirky stores and restaurants - one of Bev's favourites was the tea pot shop! While we were there, a movie was being shot in the main square and I learned that 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' had been filmed in Brugge as well. We were sad to leave but looked forward to being in another country. After a four hour train ride, we were in Luxembourg by 7pm. (Rookie's famous! Look at his portrait on the tea pot!)

Poor Luxembourg, we didn't really give this little country much of a chance to impress us. After dealing with a room mistake (two single beds for three people) we weren't in the mood to go out and had an early night. We woke up to a dreary morning but braved the weather to at least see SOMETHING of Luxembourg before our train to Paris. (Loretta, Bev and I waiting for a train)

I apologize to any Luxembourgers reading this but everybody we met seemed to be in a somewhat crabby mood. We made the unfortunate mistake of walking into a shop that was clearly owned by the soup nazi's cousin (Seinfeld joke). This souvenir nazi would not let Bev drink her water in the store and chastised me for putting my purse up on the counter to pay for my post card "Can yoo not zee dat I am VERKING!!" We got out of there as soon as possible. This funny little country no bigger than the lake Loretta's Albertan town in situated on was not all bad however, we did manage to see the amazing fortified walls that surround the place.

But three hours was enough for us and by 12:35 we were aboard for Paris!!