My wife and I recently returned from vacation in Belgium. The country isn't an obvious travel destination for people in the States, but thanks to the book, Monuments Men (and I wouldn't have read it, if I hadn't heard of the movie by the same name), the trip we had planned to the Netherlands morphed into a visit to Belgium. We spent all of our time in Flanders: Ghent, Bruges, and Antwerp. Surprising for someone who plays Wings of Glory, we did not go to Ypres – our visit focused instead on medieval history and architecture (although in Antwerp we learned about the occupation of the city during World War I and the experience of the people who had to flee).
We enjoyed ourselves. It was easy to get around, we enjoyed the food and beer, and each place we visited lived up to the expectation and vision we had for what we wanted to do on holiday. I also had the pleasure of meeting in person my WoG wingman Thomatchef who had helped me design one of the scenarios I ran at a convention. We met over beers in Bruges where we talked about model painting, home improvements (of which we both have a lot of experience), parenting, and why Bruges is not more commonly known as Brugge.
The pictures below show some highlights of our trip. I highly recommend visiting Belgium. We plan to visit again, this time including Ypres in the itinerary.
Also, I highly recommend visiting the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp. It just opened about a year ago. It provides great insight into the experience of people who immigrated to Canada and the United States from Europe. If you have ancestors from Eastern Europe (like I do), there is a fair chance they traveled through Antwerp.
Ghent
my wife, me, and Thomas in Bruges
Belfort, as seen "In Bruges"
Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp
Bookmarks