In Belgium we decided that the main place we wanted to see was Brugge so we headed directly for it. We arrived before lunch and went to the Tourist information office to see what was accommodation was available, we thought that we may have some difficulty due to the holiday season and the town seemed to be very busy. We were able to get a B & B not far from the town centre with Jaak and Mary-rose DeCrop, they made us feel very welcome with the first hour being taken up with a cup of coffee while Jaak told us about the town and places to see and eat, he provided us with maps and information during our visit. Brugge is a lovely medieval town with canals that wind their way through the city streets. About 60 metres from our B&B was a great park with swans, ducks etc, very picturesque. The weather was not to kind to us and we had to purchase a couple of cheap umberellas, however this did not stop us from walking the town that afternoon. We ended up at a grill restaurant that Jaak had recommended, they had a wood fire with grill in the middle of the dining area so you could see your meat being cooked and chat with the chef and staff. We were so impressed that we booked another night to sample the big steaks, as we were not that hungry. The town itself has many attractions and I think we walked every street in the 3 days we were there, even with my sore back.
The pictures do not do this town justice and it would surely be on our list of places to be revisited, if we ever get the chance.
When we left Brugge we decided a couple of days in Brussels would be great, however when we arrive it was raining heavily and it looked like another large city so, a drive around satisfied our curiosity. Maggie found a location called La Roche in our guide books where a lot of Belgium people go for holidays so we thought we would take a chance on getting accommodation in that area. We found a great hotel at the site of an old mill and set up for 2 nights. The town was quite busy with tourists who mainly seemed to be from Germany and Belguim, not too many English speaking people. The town was situated on a river and had the usual lovely old buildings. My back was getting better every day so we spent most of the time between rain showers walking the streets.
