Cities in Belgium

For 5 days, I stayed with my friend Julia at her place in Antwerp, using it as a home base for bike trips.  (see the Biking through Belgium post).  This time, I actually took the time to visit the cities of Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent.  I also had time to hang out with my firends Julia, Tony and Lew who are working in the city.  Thanks to Julia for letting me use her kitchen all week and to Lew for coordinating dinners.

The Belgians are famous for a few foods, all of which I tried while I was in the country: Beer, chocolate, waffles, and moules-frites.  They are all famous for good reason!  They are all good!  As pointed out by my friend Lew, this country has all the vices readily available for you anytime.  I found Bruge to be enchanting - thit city takes all of the things Belgium is famous for, including lace, and took it up a notch.  (They have had tourism as a major industry for almost a hundred years).  Antwerp takes its shipping and diamond industry very seriously.  Ghent is a cute medieval town that is trying to catch up to Bruges in restoration and tourism.   All of them are worth a visit.  So here is a random collection of pictures from each of the cities, including the visit to the Half Maan Brewery in Bruges and the Red Star Line museum in Antwerp.

Bruge

Bruge is a canaled city

The monastery with tree houses
in the courtyard

Beautiful views

Town square

At the top of the Half Maan Brewery

Bierkoeler (translation: heat exchanger)

Every beer in Belgium has its own glass
The tour guide at Half Mann said there
were between 14000 and 15000 beers
made in Belgium

Horse drawn carriages are everywhere
great way to get a tour guide too

The old toll house - built in the 1200s
Next to the canal, where the dockers
would meet

They also celebrate St. Arnold
who saved them from the plague
by recommending they
drink beer instead of water

Old timey-draw bridges!

Ghent

The Ghent Bell tower

Ghent Castle

Antwerp

I enjoyed of the Belgian specialties in Antwerp.  The Moule-frites overlooking the main square and a Chocolate covered waffle out front of Rubens house/musuem.  Luckily, I had a guide to the Belgian beer - my friend Lew has been working on this project for years and so has done a lot of scouting :)

The main square

The cathedral's bell tower

The enormous train station is a
marvel in and of itself

Stacked train platforms!

Antwerp is the 2nd largest port
in Europe.  

The Red Star Line Museum
showcasing immigrants hopes and dreams
for centuries

I found this letter back home interesting while at the Red
Start Line Museum.  Americans haven't changed much.

Next Stop: A farm outside Mazamet, France