The Seaside Adventure...

Over the last couple of days we've done more than our share of touring around the country. We hopped onto a morning train to the city of Gent, in northern Belguim, yesterday. We only spent about four hours there, but it was sufficient to get a feel for the city. Much more modern than Brugges, but still a lot of very old buildings and several canals winding their way through the city. We walked up and down some very colourful streets, took a tour of the cathedral that houses Von Eyck's 'Adoration of the Lamb', and even peeked into a medieval castle that still stands near the centre of the city.

After making our way back to the train station, we continued on to the city of Oostende, on the North Sea. Oostende is Belgium's second largest port. This beautiful city is filled with seafood restaurants and markets, and the sand beach stretches on as far as the eye can see in both directions down the Belgian coastline. The day that we arrived was hot and sunny, so the beach was buzzing with activity. However, this morning was quite cool and cloudy so the beach had a very different look and feel.

After seeing many of the sights in Oostende, we made our way back to Brussels this afternoon and took a quick tour of the Africa Museum in Tervueren (on the fringe of Brussels) which Jennifer mentioned in an earlier post. This museum contained some very interesting artifacts that King Leopold II 'collected' from the Congo about a century ago.

Tonight, we're heading back into the heart of Brussels for tapas with Greg and Ross :-)

Thanks for reading,
Andy

Along the canals in the city of Gent.




An example of the beautiful architecture around every corner in Gent.




All of the graffiti in the city of Gent is found along this one alley.




One of the cathedrals located in the seaside city of Oostende.



Thanks to the beautiful weather the day we arrived, the beach was quite crowded.




One of the many stalls in the fish market at Oostende.




One of the exhibit rooms at the Africa Museum, close to where we're staying in Brussels.