Friday, January 16, 2009

Trip to Belgium

During December I went on a week long trip to Belgium. I visited the main Flemish cities of Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges; and the capital Brussels. Overall, it was a very nice trip. The cities were beautiful and all had unique and special things about them. Antwerp has a nice old town centre. There are many chocolate stores and fry ships. It's also famous for it's diamonds. I had a really good time in Ghent. I met up with a friend who showed me all around the city and shared with me many interesting facts about Belgium and it's people. The city also had a very nice castle, with a great view of the city. Inside the castle was a museum that had many interesting old weapons and torture implements. Even an old guillotine that had actually been used. I also had a chance to go skating on an outdoor skating rink, which was lots of fun. The next stop was Bruges, a town whose old centre is a UNESCO world heritage site. it was nice to look at for a day, but there was not much else to do. The final stop was the capital city Brussels. I've been to Brussels before, and it's one of my favourite cities in Europe. It really feels like a capital city of a colonial empire. Big grand buildings that really give it a certain atmosphere.
overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Belgium. It's a nice country with friendly people and many interesting quirks.
The pictures from my trip are here: