Saturday October 29th, 2005
We land in the morning. As we go toward the exit of the airport, my friend is robbed. Our first time in Belgium doesn’t start in the best way. We try to rent a car, but with the postepay it’s not possible (but they block us a big amount of money, it will be a problem at the end of our trip). So we take the shuttle bus to the city center and go to our hotel.
We walk in the pedestrian streets and stop a lot at the Grand Place, the most important square of Bruxelles, with many beautiful palaces. At a short distance we see the Manneken Pis and then we go to Notre-Dame des Victoires au Sablon. A bit far from the main square there is the cathedral St. Michel (in front of it, on the road there are many renovation works). We end the day with dinner and a bit more walk in the city center.
Sunday October 30th, 2005
We move to Antwerp by train. It’s a beutiful sunny day. We visit the cathedral, Onze Lieve Vrouwekathedraal, and the Grote Markt. Near the river, there is the castle, Steen. We spend the night here in Antwerp.
Monday October 31st, 2005
Today we reach Gent (or Gand). We see the main square, the castle (Het Gravensteen) and the cathedral Sint Baafskathedraal. We move then to Bruges, we arrive in early afternoon. I really like this city. The channels and the buildings are beautiful: the main squares, the towh hall, the Hallen, Sint Salvatorskathedraal, Sint Janshospitaal, Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk.
We decide to take one of the tours by boat to see the city from the water. The weather is cloudy, but seeing the city from there it’s very nice. Later we walk to Begijnhof. Before dinner, while my friends take a break in the swimming pool of the hotel, I go for a walk, the lights are already on, and it’s raining a bit. In the underground of our hotel, we see a small museum.
Tuesday November 1st, 2005
After breakfast, we walk again in Bruges, it’s a wonderful sunny day. Next stop is Ostenda, where we see the small harbour, Sint Petrus en Paulus and the beach (it’s too cold for a swim). In Courtrai it’s raining. We reach the Grote Markt passing by the Beffroi, the Begijnhof and the Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk. We end the day in Tournai, we see a bit in the evening, but we will continue the next day.
Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
It’s raining again. We walk down the Grand Place to Notre Dame, St. Jacques, Ste Marie Madeleine till the Pont des Trous, St. Nicolas and the Grosse Tour. Last city we see in our trip is Mons, with the Cathedral and the main square. We proceed to Charleroi, where we stop briefly to buy some food, before going to the airport (we are running out of money due to the problems we got at the beginning) and we leave Belgium.
