Tracking down JCVD

As we were checking out this morning from Bruges, it was important to get out and about early so we could get to Brussels at a reasonable hour. Unfortunately the hostel's breakfast only started at 8:45 and the owner was late putting everything out. So in the end after rushing along, there was no chance in hell of making the 9:30am train. It was better for us to take a bit more time walking with our heavy backpacks to the station, taking photos along the way of this gorgeous place.

Once we'd set off from the township of Bruges, we had arrived in Brussels under an hour later. First stop was to dump our bags in the lockers, so that we could cruise around freely in the city without the burden. Brussels was only ever going to be a half day, as we thought that it was the best way for us to get back to London taking the Eurostar train back under the channel tunnel.

Today we weren't successful in locating Jean Claud AKA The Muscles from Brussels. Obviously our paparazzi skills have waned over the time and we suspect he now resides in the USA somewhere anyway. You can't always have successes like the Queen, Silver K Man and Johnny Depp!

More seriously, we made our way with some difficulty into the city centre to the hub of the main tourist area. Brussels has an underground tram system which felt hard to negotiate initially, but we ended up working it out. We headed straight to the Grand Square which was certainly that! It was amazing to see the opulence and grandeur of this area, with every side as impressive as the next. Yet another place where the aristocracy seemed to have spared no expense.

We were a bit limited here for time, so it was a matter of grabbing a map from the tourist information centre and simply wandering around on our own. The main hub that surrounded the Grand Square was a hive of tourist activity, restaurants and shops. As mentioned in an earlier blog, the Belgians are famous for their production of chocolate. In one particular area close to the square, there was a chocolatier at least every third shop. It was hard to pass up!

Today's challenge was to spend the final 13€ on our Euro card. It seemed reasonable to go into a clothing or chocolate shop. The clothes didn't impress us much, but at the time we seemed to be looking for something around 13 so that was never going to work. Later we thought we could buy something for more and use the 13 on the card, then cash for the rest. We went to one chocy shop, who was cool to split but then said the minimum for the card was 15€. Stupid woman! No deal. The point of the card machine limits is that they want people to spend more, which we were going to anyway! Her loss!

Thankfully back at the main train station, a girl in a chocolate shop there helped us out and we finally got rid of the last 13€. We still have more cash, but we can just change that to Hong Kong dollars later. Small amounts on cards can sometimes be very hard to spend and you can't get it out at an ATM, hence the challenge! In the ended we bought some delicious chocolates, some for the train ride to London and some for home.

Today we're glad we took the extra effort to visit this great place. We were disappointed that we didn't have enough time to see the Atomium, but we decided it was better just to take our time rather than rush ourselves to see one more monument. We enjoyed a lovely lunch in an Italian pizzeria, this time opting to share a pizza, rather than one each on our own.

We headed back to the station to ensure that we had enough time to get our luggage from the lockers and go through customs. Once aboard the train, we cracked the red wine, broke out some of the Belgian chocolates and sat back, relaxed and watch a couple of Criminal Minds episodes.

Our biggest highlight of he day was meeting up with Spencer (Richard's old school friend) and Heidi at King's Cross Station. We actually met up at the 9 3/4 platform photo point, for all you Harry Potter fans! Of course we too indulged in a cheeky photo op. We're massive fans and will be having a Harry Potter-athon at our place in the near future and by chance we are going to the Harry Potter Studio Tour tomorrow.

We stupidly forgot to get a photo with Spence and Heidi, because we were having an awesome catch up and fantastic food, so we missed out. A fantastic night! It was cool seeing some Melbourneites overseas, a memory that we won't forget!

Taking on Bruges

Even after a bit of a catch up sleep yesterday, we still struggled to get our lazy butts out of bed. So after a cheap but basic breakfast, we set off from the hostel just after 11:30am. Still morning, so not as bad as it seemed. We always say, that even if you have sleep in, you can easily still go around and do stuff for 10 hours straight! So why rush if you're not feeling it?

Part of our distraction was chatting with a group of Kiwis about each other's travels, so that was good anyway. During that time, we found out about the renovations that were going on at the hostel and all the plans for it. These owners have only had it for a short time and it has been a bit of a nightmare for them. Apparently the last owners ran it into the ground and they have done their best to make some small temporary fixes, until the proper renos take place on each floor.

Setting off on our explorations, we headed for the outer river / moat area that surrounds the Old Town of Bruges. The first area called the Traitor's Skull was a gate used as a defensive structure in the Middle Ages to check those coming and going. This gate was hard to penetrate in its heyday, unless a traitor from inside the walled area opened it. A bronze copy of the traitor's skull still resides there today.

It was important for us to do a reconnaissance mission of the train station and its distance for our trip to Brussels. On the way there, we wistfully frolicked (hope you are all loving our descriptions) through the garden area adjacent to the moat. Anyway, we collected our train tickets and headed back towards the main town areas.

Rich: There was no frolicking by me!

Along the way we saw some people setting up for a music festival in the Minnewaterpark. We were devo that this water park wasn't more like Wet n' Wild. Given our massive walk with the loaded backpacks yesterday, it was actually nice to wander around without the stress of lugging the massive weight around. We would love some scales right now to weigh the bags.

Continuing on back through the busy squares, there was an absolute hive of tourists milling about looking out for photo ops. For lunch today, we both tried some local waffles...no not healthy, but so damn good! Thanks Belgium! We enjoyed stopping in a park area and were quite besotted with some old locals battling it out in a team game of pétanque. Just next to the game, there may have been a kiss of a frog at the statue, which is a new thing to the city for tourists. Locals are hoping a new tradition will start. We indulged!

After lunch we decided to have a bit of a look around the shops and ended up buying a few new things. Wandering around the shopping areas was good, but we held back in sheer anticipation of the shopping Mecca that awaits us in Hong Kong. Bring it on! We aren't buying any new suitcases as we have lots, so it is seriously looking like an Asian red, white and blue hessian bag filled with glamourous dresses and sensational shoes - and that's just for Richie Boy!! Hahahaha. We definitely share the blog writing, but he could never bring on the passion about shopping like lil' ol' me!

Once the shopping capers were over, it was timely to sit down for a much needed local beer. This was also a great chance to catch up some interneting (doesn't seem to be a recognised verb yet) and a check on bills, finances and the usual stuff that can't simply be just ignored when you go away. Of course Facebook got the biggest go! Hahahaha.

We'd considered heading over to the edge of town with the windmills, but the skies were super grey and rain was looming. The decision was made for us - back to the hostel it was. It was just a bit early for dinner, so we chilled back there for a bit and chatted with our American buds. Happy 4th July dudes.

Thankfully the really torrential rain had stopped and it was only spitting. Our four pound umbrellas from Bath can't seem to handle anything heavier. They got a go and we were happy, dry holiday makers! Yay!

We ended our fantastic time in Bruges with a delicious dinner and really lashed out, so we could spend the last of our euros remaining on our cash passport. Ok so the scallop entree was small and a perfect dish for this course, but the calamari was quite large, yet so friggen good. With drinks, bread and entrees already down, we freaked when we saw the ginormousness of our mains! We didn't eat a lot of it in the end, although they were nice. Initially the waiter thought we were unimpressed, but soon understood our predicament. "We Belgians eat big meals" proclaimed the waiter.

An early night for us tonight, as we are still tired from our recent partying and tomorrow is another day in two more cities - Brussels and London!

In Bruges

Three hours isn't a big sleep, but there were others who basically had none. About four needed a special wake up call and were still in the same clothes. These are good people, so no judgement here - walk of shame! Hahahahaha!

This morning after an early start, we saw the last part of The Netherlands, before making our way over the border to another new country - Belgium. Yay! The home of beer (surprise, surprise), waffles, chocolate, DIAMONDS and the Muscles from Brussels himself JCVD.

It has been hard to stop putting on weight with all of these tempting and tasty delights constantly surrounding us. As we said before, this is totally why we travelled to Europe - for the vast array of cuisine. It's definitely been a gastronomic adventure and we think we'll look into some cooking courses upon our return.

We had a short walking tour with our group before some free time for lunch. Bruges is a gorgeous city and we love the overall vibe of the place of what we have seen so far. It was a bit of a sad farewell to our new friends, but after a massive group hug we headed off on our merry way back into town to find our accommodation.

We spotted a laundromat virtually straight away and thought best to make the most of our opportunity to wash our clothes. This really was a smart move, as we won't have to worry for the rest of the trip, which is a load off our mind! Boom boom!

We were initially confident about finding our hostel after this and walked for a bit with our heavy bags. After walking around lost for a while, we headed to one of the squares and looked at the big map. We found our street and headed off again. It was a bit of a walk and it seemed an annoying distance to the Old Town. OMG it was the wrong street! A local pointed our mistake in that we needed the short version (like little Collins Street, not Collins Street), which was almost next to where we had read the map. We were both struggling along at this point, but managed to make our destination! Once checked in, a five hour sleep was required.

Eventually we got up for dinner and headed just around the corner to have two local delicacies - mussels and fries and also a Flemish stew. The mussels came out in a massive cook pot and they had been steamed with onion, celery, white wine and garlic. There were way too many and about 20 were left in the pot. It was enormous! We were highly impressed with both of our meals and went back happy campers.

Outside of the hostel, we chatted with some people from the USA, who had only arrived in Europe today. This trip has really shown us how easy it is to talk about travels with randoms. Everyone is travelling and subsequently, everyone is happy and up for a chat!

Our hostel....OMG it is a rickety arrangement! This is by far the worst place we have ever stayed together, but it is really all just part of the experience. This is only the second hostel we have stayed in and it is this type of hostel that gives them a bad name overall. The other hostel in Barcelona was awesome.

Here, the bathroom door in our room doesn't shut unless the other person pushes a chair up against it. You can hear the people next door having a cheeky wee and there are a couple of holes in the sheets, and a few springs jabbing at you. The shower is quite mouldy....Lyn (Tanya's mum) you would be freaking out right now. There is a handwritten note on the bathroom that says "use cold tap for hot water!" This place is a winner. Hahahaha! All good though, as it is so well situated and half the price of our daily budget. 'You get what you pay for' is certainly true in this case!

A final night of tour group fun!

For our final full day with the Top Deck Czech Mate tour, it was up fairly early for an included bike tour around the city of Amsterdam. This was fantastic and our third bike tour for our entire trip. Our guide was a young English guy, who gave us a very entertaining commentary as we went around. The bikes here are everywhere. It is the main mode of transport and you're more likely to be hit by a bike than a car.

Once handing the bikes back, 14 of us had a hankering for pancakes. We should have gone for poffertjes, as our pancakes resembled more of a crepe but were still nice. The waiter was a really poor listener and stuffed up our order at least 5 times. It was actually really funny, rather than stressful.

Next the group's size dwindled a little more and six of us headed to the Heineken Experience. This was an absolutely awesome place to visit. The amount of money that they have clearly pumped into it, to be fun and highly interactive was brilliant. We would go back again! The best bit was the interactive movie where we stood on a platform that moved and rumbled depending on what was happening. We were actually the beer itself going through all processes from mixing the four main ingredients, right through to bottling, transporting and being enjoyed - experiencing every moment! There are too many things to mention, but it is highly recommended to all people, even the non beer drinkers would enjoy this place. Yes Myles, even you!

After the Heineken Experience, we took their included water cruise to another part of the city. This was totally unexpected and a massive bonus. The guide on board was fantastic. We got a 20 minute ride around the canals and ended up near the other Heineken merchandise shop to collect our free aviator glasses gift. So in the end we paid 17€ each and did a fabulously interactive tour, with three beers, a pair of aviators and a river cruise! That's hard to beat.

The six of all us decided to head back to the Botel to rest and freshen up before we headed back out to dinner. We all tried Febo along the way, which is massive fast food vending machine service. The curry croquettes and burger were pretty damn tasty. The dinner tonight was at a floating Chinese restaurant on one of the big canals. This was the included farewell dinner, albeit a strange choice of cuisine for Europe. It was ok...but we have had MUCH better.

Next was the optional boat cruise with included drinks. It was only people from our tour group on board, so it was really fun. Our tour theme songs really pumped people up, the cameras were out and it was a good chance to get some group shots on our final night.

Some left after the cruise, but the majority of us headed out to some nightclubs. Unfortunately Carmella's efforts doing limbo on the slippery floor led to a dislocated knee and a trip to the hospital. She is still intending on committing to her travel plans after our tour, so luckily she is cruising with two friends in a car. We're assuming she'll call shotgun for the back seat! An added bonus was that the hospital did the cast in the colours of the Dutch flag, which was a nice touch.

The incident didn't seem to stop people too much though. Once Carmella and some of the others (including our tour leader) had left, we all resumed our dancing. Another fun night with such a brilliant group of people. It will be nice keeping in touch and meeting up in the future. The only good thing about departing from these guys, is the opportunity to catch up on sleep. That's what travelling is all about - good times....no, friggen awesome times and a truck load of memories!