Travel – Europe: Belgium photo gallery — In the Clouds Photography

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Travel Photos – Europe: Belgium

Locations visited in August 2004 included Hotton, Brussels, and Brugge.

After exiting Luxemburg's Valley of the Eisch River, we meandered northwestward through the Ardennes from Arlon to Hotton, Belgium. Our next hotel reservation was not until the following night in Brussels, so we could pick any location between Luxemburg City and Brussels to sleep for the night. In Hotton, a light meal with Belgian beer (what else) on a cafe patio on a warm summer evening followed by a stroll along the river was immensely enjoyable. After almost a week avoiding any large cities, we were off to Brussels in the morning.

Bruxelles

Once in Brussels, we immediately parked the car near the hotel to avoid any further driving within the city. The guidebook advised against driving and we quickly learned it was wise to heed this advice. Then, we acted pretty much like tourists for the next twenty-four hours. We visited Place du Grand-Sablon, Grand-Place, the Manneken-Pis statue, and Musée des Brasseaurs Belges (Belgian Brewers' Museum). The latter was actually a major disappointment. In this regard, we were handsomely rewarded the next day when we traveled the short distance to Brugge (Bruges) a day later.

Brugge – 4 stars

A far more relaxing and romantic city is Brugge. To us, this was the jewell of the entire Benelux trip. While the touristy Belgian Brewers' Museum in Brussels was a disappointment, the Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan (Half Moon) brewery, where they make Straffe Hendrick beer was a treat as good as the best Belgian chocolate. As if the beer and tour were not enough, we were also invited to the roof for a terrific view of the city. Though not important to many others on our tour, this brewery has stickers from other breweries from all over the world, and we readily found the Left Hand Brewery of our town, Longmont, Colorado, among the amazing plethora of other brewers represented here.

Besides plenty of drinking, we rented bikes for our two-day stay in Brugge and biked in many parts of the city, stopped at the windmills, and took a leisurely ride along the canal to the nearby town of Damme. From there, we rode northwest to visit a meadery in Dudzele. It was a holiday that weekday so the meadery was closed. Disappointed, we began biking back to Brugge when we happened upon a house with a window display of car license plates from many of states of the USA. Upon making a remark to my wife, a friendly couple opened their window to talk and invited us into their home for a beer and friendly conversation (thankfully in English). It was another highlight of the trip to be invited into someone's home for over two hours to talk about travel, politics, and much more. Afterwards they proceded to call the owner of the meadery and arranged to give us a private tour of the Gallo Roman Wine House.

Map of Belgium photo locations

In the Clouds Photography

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Travel Photos – Europe: Belgium

Bruxelles

Brugge – 4 stars

Map of Belgium photo locations

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In the Clouds Photography

Online Shop

Travel Photos – Europe: Belgium

Bruxelles

Brugge – 4 stars

Map of Belgium photo locations

Sponsored links:

Suggested reading & related info:

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