For The Journey Not just the destination…

Belgium weather is very mild – winters average at 6°C (42°F), and summers at 23°C (73°F). This July though, we had a day when the weather spiked up to 33°C (91°F). That’s also the same day that Reid, her daughter, and I headed out to Durbuy (pronounced duh-bwah), which is known for being the smallest city in Europe.

I’m not sure what qualifies as a city vs. a town, but Durbuy didn’t seem that small.  It has cobblestone roads, old stone buildings, a castle on a hill, and a river runs through it. We started our tour at the Parc de Topiaries where they have a ton of topiary plant sculptures – a good place to get out some toddler energy.

Afterward, we walked over to the city center and picked up some sandwiches for a mini-picnic by the river. We saw a bunch of people kayaking down the river Ourthe..another thing for my ToDo list here. :) I thought this pup sitting in a shop doorway was adorable.

After lunch, we had enough of the heat and loaded back into the air-conditioned car and headed home.  I had a hard time with my photos on this daytrip because of the harsh sun, but if you’d like to see the rest, they’re on Flickr:

• Daytrip to Durbuy (9 photos)

As a kid, I lived just a few miles from the beach – close enough to bike to it. It’s funny that I was so close, but never went. Recently, Thomas and I rode the train two hours to take our bicycles to the Belgian Coast. There’s a great boardwalk following the coast and we chose a 10-mile stretch from Oostende to Westende-Bad to trace. We had a great time riding, picnicking, swimming and sunning.

It was interesting to see some differences in the beaches I’ve been to and the Belgian one. There were a few…

• Erosion walls every mile or so
• Sail boats in the distance
• Life guards in kayaks
• Restricted swimming areas
• Oyster catcher birds on the beach
• People using rafts in the ocean
• People playing catch in the ocean
• Men in speedos
• Sunbathers using fabric walls to block the wind
• Rescue helicopters overhead
• Bunkers with old anti-aircraft guns across the street

Oostende was a really cute town and easy to get to by train. I’d love to check it out again. Maybe next time we can ride from Westende-Bad to De Panne. They make it easy with a tram that runs along the boardwalk and bicycle rental places all around.

I always have a great time hanging out with my friend Reid, so I was excited when she suggested a day trip to Namur last month. I didn’t know anything about the city, but I figured even if we get there and turn right back, I’ll enjoy the time chatting with her in the car. The car trip was fun, but we also found some nice sights in Namur.

It was stormy day with dark clouds hovering just overhead. We skipped the famous Citadel and spent our time looking in churches and wandering the shopping area. We found a really cute toy store where she found some goodies for her daughter and I found some cute wooden necklaces for my neice’s birthday.

I took my wide angle lens on this trip for a change of view and it was very helpful in capturing the churches we visited. The churches here so much fancier (and older) than in the US. They have gorgeous stained-glass windows, amazing architecture and details, and are just huge.

Namur was  a cute city, with some fun shops, but I wouldn’t put it at the top of a list for visitors.  Still though, we had a great time.  You can see more photos from our short trip on Flickr and on Reid’s blog.

• Day Trip in Namur (10 photos)
• Reid’s Blog Post on Namur

I live in a country that is the size of Maryland in the US. This means that you can drive across the entire country in just a couple of hours – we’re sort of in the middle. The 10 largest cities are listed below. I’ve now been to all of them except for #5 – day trip anyone?

1. Brussels, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale
2. Antwerp, Flanders
3. Gent, Flanders
4. Charleroi, Wallonia
5. Liège, Wallonia
6. Brugge, Flanders
7. Namur, Wallonia
8. Leuven, Flanders
9. Mons, Wallonia
10. Aalst, Flanders

This last weekend, Thomas and I went to #3 – Gent, for the day. Gent was a wonderful city, often described as a less-touristy Brugge.  It has the canals, the bicycles, and the medieval architecture.

We toured one of the medieval castles, Gravensteen, which now houses a torture museum. The torture devices were interesting – I still have a hard time believing that some of those methods were really used once upon a time, like water cure. My favorite part was the display of various weapons. Thomas has been talking about starting an English-speaking Dungeons and Dragons group here, and as we looked at the weapons, we started imagining what kind of character would carry each and how much damage they could do. Yes, we’re geeks! :)

We also took a canal ride, though I don’t think it was worth it, and also saw the famous Van Eyck painting, Adoration of the Lamb, in the Sint-Baafskathedraal Cathedral. Thomas was a lot more excited about it than I was, however, I enjoyed listening to a children’s choral and orchestral concert in the main area of the church.

We also enjoyed a tasty lunch of typical Belgian foods – Vol au Vent (creamy chicken in a puff pastry) for me and Waterzooi (creamy chicken soup) for Thomas. Gent has a neat tradition of meat-free Thursdays, which public officials, and soon schools, follow to recognize the environmental effects of meat production.

In addition to touring the city, we were able to meet up with Lilac-Colored Glasses, an expat blogger I’ve been reading for a while, and her fiance for breakfast. They took us to a neat cafe called Le Pain Quotidian. We ordered baskets of different breads, and the tables were spread with chocolates, jams, and honeys – just trade with another table if you want to try a different one. It was a cool place and I’m excited that there’s a restaurant like this near where I live.

So Gent…yes, I would rate it higher than Brugges, just because of less tourists.  I didn’t see the big squares like Grand Place in Brussels or Brugge, but even if Gent is a little more spread out, it was a lot more relaxing.  Because the city center is blocked to motorized vehicles, and it’s a university town, there are bicycles everywhere.  We talked about bringing our bikes along next time we visit to explore a little further out.

Thomas was the photographer for the day. If you’d like to see more of the photos, they’re on Flickr:

• Daytrip to Gent (25 photos)