Antwerp, Ghent & Brugge - 2/4 - 3/4
Day 2- We took a day trip to Antwerp, the 2nd largest city in Belgium, home to the largest diamond industry in the world and also Belgium’s shopping Mecca. No prizes for guessing what we did there…
The 2 of us went crazy, zipping in and out of shops on the main shopping street, discovering new shops and cool grunge clothes in small lanes… All this was enough to make you dizzy with excitement. And of course, the shopaholic in me emerged and I ended up splurging 55 euros on a pair of pretty leather pumps, and then 15 euros on a pair of Springfield’s red pumps as an afterthought, plus 10 euros on a white top (it was actually 50 euros and was on a massive discount!).
The Square in Antwerp
Special mention has to go to the fries, or frites that’s what they call them. You can’t go to Belgium without trying fries, but well… a little disappointing, oily and they just taste like fries. We sat by the waters munching on them…
Pretty day, lovely scenery, glorious sunshine, it’s what makes the perfect picture.
Plus this is a picture of my 2nd waffle.. with fantastic hazelnut icecream, but not so fantastic waffle.
Day 3- Deciding to fork out just a bit more cash, we went on a day tour, Ghent and Brugge, two other cities out of Brussels.
It was rainy ): and muddy in the morning, Ghent was pretty much like any other city, the main attraction being the Cathedral..
By the way, this is the amazing harp player.. the music is seriously captivating.
But Brugge, oh Brugge, it’s hard not to fall in love with it and to fall in love there, what with the river being called “Lake of Love”, it’s unbelievably romantic, packed with tourists of course, but sailing down the narrow canals in a boat, wandering along the meandering lanes, discovering quirky shops in each corner, not to forget chocolate and wonderful café food…
Yet another yummy waffle! This was expensive, 4 euros just for waffle and chocolate sauce.
Deciding to be touristy, we went on a boat tour of Brugge! We had the funniest boat driver, with a rather morbid sense of humor. His attempts to scare us innocent tourists, with stories of man-eating swans and crocodiles lurking in the river, amused all of us..
The most famous dog in Brugge, all the tourists snap pictures of him as they sail down the canals...