Trip to Belgium (Click on any image to load a larger copy)
Introduction
After spending a week with my parents in England (See Trip to England, I arrived in
Belgium for a week of vacation by myself. My plans were to see Brugge (a city with canals located in the north
western part of Belgium) and Brussels and to consume some of Belgium's famous products - Beer, Chocolate,
Waffles, Mussels, and Frites (French Fries).
After arriving at the airport in Brussels, I boarded a series of trains that took me to my first destination, Brugge. The first place I visited after checking into my hotel was the De Gouden Boom Brewery. There I toured the brewery and reluctantly (ha ha) tried their beer. On my way back to my hotel, I stopped at a Friteurs (a caravan that sells Frites) and had my first order of Frites with mayonnaise. They were real good.
The next day I started off early and began a walking tour of the town. With this tour were visits to some of the city's museums. My first stop was at the Groeningemuseum - a art museum. After looking at its exhibits, I next walked over to the next set of museums at the Arentshuis (The Kantmuseum and the Brangwynmuseum). At this point I decided to take one of the boat tours of Brugge that use the city's canals. The boat tour was nice until it started to rain but that quickly ended. The next museum I went to was the Gruuthusemuseum - a museum covering the history of Brugge. At the end of the visit to that museum, I walked over to the De Halve Maan Brewery where I had an escorted tour of the brewery and again reluctantly tried their good beer. For dinner that night, I had Belgium's national dish - moules-frites (Mussels and French Fries). I liked the fries but I am not much a fan of seafood.
On Tuesday I took it easy and only did two things. First, I climbed all 366 steps to the top of Belfort. Later I walked around the northern part of Brugge stopping to buy some lace and a small tapestry. The next day I took a train to Brussels.
The first place I went to In Brussels was the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinee, a museum dedicated to comics written by Belgians. One of my childhood interests were the Adventures of Tintin comics written by Hergé and the museum has an exhibits dedicated to Tintin. (See my Tintin page) I next went to the Grand Palace in the center of Brussels where I stopped to see the square and the City's Museum - where I saw a selection of the outfits worn by Manneken-Pis. For dinner, I went to an Italian restaurant which I enjoyed and the went to a Neuhaus shop to buy some of the best chocolate I have had.
Thursday was spent in museums in the Upper Brussels. I start at the Musee de L'Armee/Airmuseume where I saw the history of warfare in Belgium and by Belgians. I next crossed the street and saw Autoworld, a museum dedicated to cars. After my visit to Autoworld, I took the metro to the Stockel/Stokkel Station, which has two large murals with images from the Adventures of Tintin. I spent the remainder of the afternoon at the Musee de la Dynastie, a museum dedicated to the Belgian monarchy.
I spent my last full day in Brussels relaxing spend some time seeing some sights (Manneken-Pis and Jeanneke-Pis) and shopping. While I was taking pictures of Manneken-Pis, I saw a man come and change his little outfit. I wondered if this was a full time job, but decided not to ask. For lunch I had another one of Belgium's famous dishes - a Pita. Basically a Pita is donner kebab/gyro/shawarma dish. Later I had a waffles coated with chocolate (When in Belgium, you have to have Belgian Waffles).
The next morning I took the train to the airport, bought some chocolate at the duty free store, and flew back to the US.
After arriving at the airport in Brussels, I boarded a series of trains that took me to my first destination, Brugge. The first place I visited after checking into my hotel was the De Gouden Boom Brewery. There I toured the brewery and reluctantly (ha ha) tried their beer. On my way back to my hotel, I stopped at a Friteurs (a caravan that sells Frites) and had my first order of Frites with mayonnaise. They were real good.
The next day I started off early and began a walking tour of the town. With this tour were visits to some of the city's museums. My first stop was at the Groeningemuseum - a art museum. After looking at its exhibits, I next walked over to the next set of museums at the Arentshuis (The Kantmuseum and the Brangwynmuseum). At this point I decided to take one of the boat tours of Brugge that use the city's canals. The boat tour was nice until it started to rain but that quickly ended. The next museum I went to was the Gruuthusemuseum - a museum covering the history of Brugge. At the end of the visit to that museum, I walked over to the De Halve Maan Brewery where I had an escorted tour of the brewery and again reluctantly tried their good beer. For dinner that night, I had Belgium's national dish - moules-frites (Mussels and French Fries). I liked the fries but I am not much a fan of seafood.
On Tuesday I took it easy and only did two things. First, I climbed all 366 steps to the top of Belfort. Later I walked around the northern part of Brugge stopping to buy some lace and a small tapestry. The next day I took a train to Brussels.
The first place I went to In Brussels was the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinee, a museum dedicated to comics written by Belgians. One of my childhood interests were the Adventures of Tintin comics written by Hergé and the museum has an exhibits dedicated to Tintin. (See my Tintin page) I next went to the Grand Palace in the center of Brussels where I stopped to see the square and the City's Museum - where I saw a selection of the outfits worn by Manneken-Pis. For dinner, I went to an Italian restaurant which I enjoyed and the went to a Neuhaus shop to buy some of the best chocolate I have had.
Thursday was spent in museums in the Upper Brussels. I start at the Musee de L'Armee/Airmuseume where I saw the history of warfare in Belgium and by Belgians. I next crossed the street and saw Autoworld, a museum dedicated to cars. After my visit to Autoworld, I took the metro to the Stockel/Stokkel Station, which has two large murals with images from the Adventures of Tintin. I spent the remainder of the afternoon at the Musee de la Dynastie, a museum dedicated to the Belgian monarchy.
I spent my last full day in Brussels relaxing spend some time seeing some sights (Manneken-Pis and Jeanneke-Pis) and shopping. While I was taking pictures of Manneken-Pis, I saw a man come and change his little outfit. I wondered if this was a full time job, but decided not to ask. For lunch I had another one of Belgium's famous dishes - a Pita. Basically a Pita is donner kebab/gyro/shawarma dish. Later I had a waffles coated with chocolate (When in Belgium, you have to have Belgian Waffles).
The next morning I took the train to the airport, bought some chocolate at the duty free store, and flew back to the US.
Photo Info
I took theses photos with a Minolta Point & Shoot camera and used print film. The photos were digitalized
using a Visioneer scanner and were cleaned up a bit with Adobe PhotoShop Elements. Additional Camera Information
Brugge
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| Some restaurants in Markt Square | The Belfry tower in Markt Square | One of the canals in the city |
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| A nice section of the canals | An old house | One of the bridges crossing the canals |
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| View from a boat in the canal | Some house along one of the canals | One of the canals in the city |
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| Brugge from the top of the Belfry | Brugge from the top of the Belfry | The Belfry and canals of Brugge |
Brussels
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| The Grand-Place | Some guild houses in the Grand-Place | The Royal Palace |
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| Arcade du Cinquantenaire | My new temple |
Brussels - Manneken-Pis and Jeanneke-Pis
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| Manneken-Pis | While taking pictures of Manneken-Pis, I saw this man come and change his little outfit | Manneken-Pis in a new outfit |
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| Jeanneke-Pis | Close up of Jeanneke-Pis |