May 4, 2008

Today dawned sunny and clear, a beautiful day. We had breakfast in the hotel and then headed south, after checking with the desk clerk to verify where on the map we were, as the town didn't appear on our map. It was a good thing as it turned out we were farther south than we had expected. We got on the freeway and travelled to Rotterdam, which we found quite unimpressive, in spite of the large harbour, and many new buildings. We were both expecting old construction, but realized as we were driving around that this city must have been destroyed during the war, and so all the buildings were relatively new.

We pushed on toward Antwerp, and saw a number of "windmills", although most were of the modern kind. We actually drove along the coast for a bit and saw the ocean and locks to let ships in and out of the canals.

For a while we drove alongside the train tracks (many tracks) and I wanted a fast train to come along and pass me at 300+ km/hr, but no such luck today! We finally arrived in Antwerp and managed to locate a parking spot on the sidewalk. We wandered around a bit, saw an interesting church, and a crowded square, where we had lunch.

I'm finding it increasingly frustrating over here, not having places to park. Most of the city centers seem to have a pedestrian only section, where cars aren't allowed, however, there are no signs advising people where to park while in there. It must be well known to the locals, but for tourists, who can't find a tourist information centre and can't read or speak the language, it is nearly impossible. We carried on to Brussels where we didn't really have an attraction to see, we just wanted to say we'd been there. LOL We then asked the GPS to find us another place to visit, and after winding through the narrow, crowded streets, we ended up at the train station?? We decided once again, that it wasn't worth our time to fight the crowds especially when we couldn't park anywhere again, so we pushed on toward Gent. Blondie put me into this tunnel that seemed to go on forever, and ever, probably 2 miles, if not more, and we actually lost sattelite reception, but when we emerged into bright sunshine, we were exactly where she wanted us.

When we arrived in Gent, we tried to visit the Grand Palace, and actually managed to get into the "parking" area, but could not find a spot. People in front of and behind us were getting spots, but I was just getting more and more frustrated. I'd much rather drive than park anyway. There was nothing else of interest to us, so we drove to Brugge. Now the fun started. We pulled off the freeway and followed her directions. At one point we were stopped behind a few cars, and I noticed that the bridge ahead of us was opening. We had arrived at a canal, and the boats were lined up just like cars at an intersection. We must have waited 15 minutes while boat after boat passed by, then they started going from the other direction....I thought we were stuck for good.

We got within 350 meters of the hotel, where the road was closed. There was some kind of "run" going on which happened to cross the road we had to go down, and no matter how I tried to go around I just couldn't get through. We finally went right around the town and came in from the other side, where we found some kind of carnival going on. After driving through this maze of streets filled with people and rides, we were sent back to where we originally started, and by this time, the road was finally open and we were able to go the extra 350 meters to get to the hotel. What a zoo. After checking in, we went out for a walk around the town, took some nice pictures, and had pizza at Pizza Hut, which we found to be the cheapest. Meals here seem to start at around 30.00 Euro, per person!!!

Tomorrow we're back to France if all goes according to plan. We hope to drive down the west coast visiting, Dieppe, Dunkirk, Calais, Normandy, and Ste Michel, if the tide is right.