Belgium (and the Netherlands by mistake)

Sorry, lack of computer access...but we are back and I know you are excited!

So we got to Belgium after London and spent 1 night in the "beautiful" city of Brussels....the land where they don't clean anything and you are legally allowed to piss on a church (no joke, there is a spot for it). Now Brussels is an interesting city compared to where we have been so far. We did a lot of eating...a lot of drinking...and a lot more eating. There was one really cool bar called the Delirium Bar which holds the world record for the most number of beers on the menu...over 2,500, along with over 2,000 types of liquor and 150 types of Absinenth! I got to drink coconut beer out of a coconut shell...amazing (pictures soon to come again...). Other than that Brussels didn't have all that much to offer and we were only there for one day.

After the day in Brussels we headed about an hour north to a town called Brugge. It is literally the land of bicycles! You will never see so many in your life!!! So of course we had to rent them and find the ocean per usual. Ian rented us the bikes and I had my trusty little map (which only pointed in the direction of the beach off the map) and I figured we would just follow the canal and get there eventually. So off we go, pedeling past the pastures of cows, sheep, the typical windmills and the pretty canal. Well, about 2 hours later we decide we probably arn't going the right way. With no map at all (so we thought....) we are standing literally in the middle of nowhere. Luckily a nice lady pointed us to the beach which was still about 20 minutes away.

So we are off towards the beach and Ian is nowhere in sight.....so I wait a bit and here he comes working as hard as he can....and then goes my favorite quote of the whole trip......"There is NOOOO WAYYYY that YOU should be going faster than ME!!!! I must have a flat tire". Umm, no, no flat tire...just a tired Ian. So needless to say we eventually found the ocean and I was able to get beach sand from the "Nederlands" (which is the sign I failed to pay attention to) and not from Belgium.

So here we are 2 hours from Brugge and we have to peddle back. I stop to get us a water and come back to Ian reading the bike map that he was given at the beginning of the day that he failed to mention as we are biking from country to country. He's no longer in charge of maps.

OK, so in addition our all day, 50km bike ride, Brugge was amazing! Such a cute little town with amazing buildings, markets and tons of stuff to do! I would go back there again in a heartbeat...wait till you see the pictures :)

Belgium Top 5
1. You never have to worry about finding a toilet in Brussels...anywhere will do
2. It's true....Brussels is dirty and they like it....
3. Don't ignore a sign that says you are heading to another country....because you really are....it's not like the Disney World signs you see in South Carolina when it's still really far away
4. Belgium waffels are definatly all they are cracked up to be
5. Flat tires don't make you pedel slower....

Step count in Belgium: 50,161...plus 50km on a bike...which would be about 150,000 steps...but we wont add these unless we need them at the end ;)

Total count: 216,765