BELGIUM

The adventure began at Folkestone, England boarding the Eurotunnel to France. Still at this point we couldn’t comprehend the trip we were about to embark upon. First stop was Ypres, Belgium. Navigating our way from Calais to Ypres was a mission- from French words to Dutch, to driving on the opposite side of the road and the reckless nutcases who drive the other vehicles. Eventually we made it to Ypres alive, to find a quaint little town steeped in war history.  Every way you turned you would face a church or a historic site, it was hard to take it all in. However we pulled up in Kermit by a beautiful river, close to a skatepark of course, and decided that this quiet parkland would be a safe place to spend our first night.  

At sunset, 8pm, we walked to the awe-inspiring Menin Gate down the road for the last post memorial. This memorial is performed every night to honor those fallen war heroes who bravely fought in World War I. From the British, Canadian, French and Australian soldiers who fought alongside the Belgian soldiers to protect their land, many lost their lives with 54,896 names inscribed within the walls that were unable to be given proper burials. This particular night, an Australian choir stood forth and performed our national anthem during the silence. It was incredibly moving and made me feel proud to be an Australian, singing the words silently with them. The sacrifices that have been made by our fallen soldiers have lead to the incredible life we now lead and this is celebrated and remembered every ANZAC day around the world and every single night in Ypres. It is truly incredible.

We spent this next morning, after a quick waffle breakfast (with some chocolate, of course in Belgium!) immersing ourselves in war history with the Flanders Field Museum, learning more about World War I. However after mid morning, we found ourselves historied-out (yes I made this word up) and ready to move on to the next town, Bruge. At lunchtime we made it to Bruge, just in time to enjoy some Moules and Frites (classic Mussels and Fries) by the canal. Bruge is known as little Venice, the historic city is filled with 17^th century churches and canals. Bruge is simply picturesque. We spent the next morning at the Chocolate Museum learning the history of chocolate from its use in Aztec currency to mass production now in Belgium for sale globally, fascinating for everyone, especially those who enjoy a free chocolate bar.  We then drove on to Ghent, after a “short” hour stop at a skate park, planning a short stop over for the night.

Ghent was a pleasant surprise. Entering the city we were greeted by stunning castles and canals, little Bruge it is often known as. Although Ghent had a more modern feel in some parts, with less tourists and more young people enjoying a bier (beer) down by the canal in the sunshine. We immediately fell in love, dubbing it our favourite and most picturesque city so far. We spent the rest of our time in Ghent wandering the streets and enjoying some traditional Flemish food.

The following day we made it to Brussels, which was somewhat of a let down, so after a walk around the city we moved on quickly to Antwerp.  We spent a night at campsite outside of the city that was a kids dream come true. The site was filled with obstacle courses, slides and all kinds of fun attractions that delighted Matt and I- we played for hours pretending we were ten again. We spent the next day in Antwerp city, window shopping in all of the high-end fashion lanes and marvelling at the copious amount of diamond stores. Fun fact- Antwerp is where 80% of the world’s un-cut diamonds are traded.  That afternoon we found ourselves searching the skate parks of Antwerp before calling it a night over the border in the Netherlands.

We thought we were roughing it before… well welcome to the life of the gypsies. We spend most of our nights by parks using nature’s finest facilities or local public toilets, unless we decide to sneak into campsites to use showers with hot water that feels like showering in rainbows and kisses. Splashing out is a full blown campsite, with power and water- luxury at its finest. Our bed becomes more comfortable with every night, especially after a long day or a few glasses of wine.  The adventure continues the following morning from Roosendaal in the Netherlands.