Random

Back to my posts about our Belgium visit in October 2005.

When planning the few days in Belgium, we came across the doubt: Brugge or Gent?

Brugge seems so lovely in all those pictures around the web; neverthless, some people mention Gent as the hidden gem - it is also so beautiful but with the major advantage that most tourist buses head to Brugge. So,our choice was made: Gent it will be. And we don't regret that choice at all. Don't get me wrong: if we'd had the time, we would have visited both!

A rainy Autumn day, which seems to be so common in this country, welcomed us to Gent, but that didn't let us down and we kept going. Anyway, there is a lot to see inside buildings, even if travelling with children: going up the tower or visiting the castle provide a shelter against rain and amuses both cildren and grown-ups.

A daytrip from Antwerp to visit Gent didn't give us much time to discover the third largest city in Belgium, but on the other hand it was more than enough to fall in love with it.

As the highlights of Gent I'd mention:
- the medieval houses
- the cannals
- the belfry
- the St Bavos cathedral (my favourite amongst all the churches I visited in Belgium)
- the castle of the counts

Gent's Tourism Office website is http://www.gent.be/gent/english/index.htm, and what I find most usefull about the website is that you may download pdf brochures with info and maps, avoiding you a visit to the Tourism Office itself. Anyway, if you need to visit the Tourism Office, you might find one by the belfry - the staff is nice but you might need to wait a little bit for your turn. The brochures and maps provided are free of charge; by the way, when in Brussels if you ask for a simple map of the city at the Tourism Office in Grotte Markt you must pay €0,50 for it; ok, it's not much but I don't remember having payed for that kind of stuff at the Tourism Office before Brussels.

We'll be landing in Greece for the first time in about 5 weeks. Still trying to decide what to see and do, but one thing is for sure: Meteora. Meteora fascinates me ever since I discovered about its existence. So, it's time to visit!

Also, Athens is 100% sure, although we don't expect to spend a lot of time there. Visiting the Parthenon, going up the hills and enjoy the fabulous view over the poluted city with the monumental ruins amidst the chaos, all this set against the blue, ... or the orange sea. Although some claim that Cape Sounion has the prettiest sunset, I am looking forward to this one. It isn't just about the orange ball of fire entering the sea, it is about the set, scenery and surroundings.

Chances that we visit Santorini are about 80%, as well as the Corinth Canal. Oh well, holiday time is coming to an end, and most likely Delphi, Sparta and Thessaloniki will have to wait for another future visit to Greece, not to mention other islands, such as Mykonos.

In October 2005 we decided to visit Belgium and Luxembourg as side trips from Paris and the Disneyland Resort. That proved a good choice and both countries surprised us.

So as soon as we landed at Orly Airport we rented a small yet functional Renault Modus and off we went. We drove through the beautiful region of Champagne in France till Lorraine, where we found an hotel for the first night. Next morning, Luxembourg was just "around the corner".

Luxembourg was a daytrip between France and Belgium. After visiting the city of Luxembourg we drove to Antwerp: our base to explore a bit of Belgium. In-between we made a brief visit to Dinant: wow!!

Dinant

So, I'll be writing about our Belgian adventure in my next posts.

There is always a start ...

My travel motto is "Don't stress, enjoy the places" and I believe that part of the joy of travelling happens when you start choosing the places and the planning.

Granada was my most recent travel (outside Portugal, my homecountry) and I hope to soon find the time to write my random thoughts about it.

Meanwhile, here's a photo of this absolutely fascinanting city:

Granada seen from the Alhambra

Enjoy your travels! A.